The Auburn Tigers set the bar for Lane Kiffin's next contract that the Florida Gators must pass if they wish to pry the head football coach away from the Ole Miss Rebels. As The Mississippi Clarion Ledger's Sam Hutchens recalls, it was Lane's daughter, Landry, convinced Kiffin to renege on a deal to replace the fired Bryan Harsin.
The rest is now history, with Hugh Freeze writing unfathomable chapters of the program's history books since scooping in and getting hired on the Plains instead.
Hutchens left on a warning to UF to have a backup plan if Kiffin still doesn't want to leave his family in Oxford.
"Florida has a bar to clear if constructing a pitch to woo Kiffin. It must offer more than Auburn did," Hutchens wrote.
"Ole Miss' case to retain Kiffin seems to have gotten stronger.
"Landry is still a student in Oxford. Kiffin's son, Knox, has moved to Oxford and is making an impact as a quarterback at Oxford High School. Kiffin's ex-wife, Layla, has moved to Oxford as well.
"If Florida can't beat Auburn's pitch, it better find another candidate."
Auburn can make statement by outspending Florida for Lane Kiffin
It'd truly be something if Auburn decided to get back in on the Kiffin sweepstakes and outspend Florida for the 50-year-old. Of course, if anything has changed at all since he took a firm stand to remain with his family in the Sip.
If nothing else, it'd show that the Tigers no longer settle for their second choice. The 2020 search that circled in on Harsin whiffed on culture fit with the move, but it's accepted and revealed that Kiffin was Plan A in 2022. Freeze was plan B, and now Auburn is getting C- results at best; of course, an F in fourth-quarter offense.
Truthfully, Tiger fans would be better off hoping for the likes of Jon Sumrall, or on the more optimistic end, Eli Drinkwitz, if AU even moves on from Freeze. John Cohen has yet to commit one way or another, which means Freeze's future hinges on the results of upcoming games.
But the Kiffin-Auburn rumors would make for quite the interesting media fodder if the planets were to align, far-fetched as it seems now.
The Tigers and Gators play in 2026, to boot. Fun times ahead for SEC football.