After his Florida Gators lost to the USF Bulls in Week 2 at the "Swamp," Billy Napier is in the hottest seat imaginable in Gainesville. One more egregious loss, or a four-game losing streak to the LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Texas Longhorns, and Texas A&M Aggies, and "Sunbelt Billy" could be exiled from the SEC in record time.
In honor of the disastrous home loss to South Florida, the Sporting News' Bill Bender brought up the Lane Kiffin-to-UF scenario and explained that he can have a winner. Related: the Gators have an NIL fund that's roughly double that of the Ole Miss Rebels.
"Kiffin, 50, has found his coaching rhythm at Ole Miss, where he is 46-18 and has built a program capable of College Football Playoff contention. Kiffin has learned from past exits at Tennessee and USC. Love him or hate him, Kiffin can coach offense, work the transfer portal and develop quarterbacks. He would be able to win at Florida. Would he have a better chance at winning a national title in Oxford or Gainesville? That is a question he will have to answer," Bender wrote.
Josh Pate discussed this possibility last September, claiming Kiffin would leave Oxford, Mississippi, for Alachua County, Florida, "in a heartbeat."
"(Kiffin would leave Florida for Ole Miss) In a heartbeat," Pate said during the September 11 edition of Crain and Company. "Lane Kiffin would walk to Florida if they would give him the job. This is not a debate. I've got Ole Miss people in my very close social circle and they fight me on this. They're like 'What can you do at Florida that you can't do at Ole Miss?'"
Kiffin leaving Ole Miss would create a vacancy that almost certainly won't be replaced by a superior option. There's no obvious promotion candidate on the Rebels' coaching staff. It's possible the Mississippi State Bulldogs would take over the state.
The collateral damage wouldn't end there. The Auburn Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, and LSU Tigers would make more inroads in the state. Kiffin has kept Ole Miss relevant since Hugh Freeze unceremoniously left the program in 2016. The Rebels were in a bad place between Freeze and Kiffin's tenures.
Meanwhile, Kiffin may also get the most out of the Gators' NIL spending and vast resources. That would be a negative for the aforementioned SEC hyenas on the recruiting trail.
A lot would change across the conference if UF were able to upgrade that dramatically at the head coach position.
Time will tell if Florida and Mississippi can expect such massive changes.