Georgia
Why Florida hiring Lane Kiffin could ruin Kirby Smart’s day
Georgia’s enjoyed a coaching advantage in rivalry with Florida since the day it hired Kirby Smart. Lane Kiffin would help level the scales.
Lane Kiffin: Ole Miss has ‘a lot to fix’ before Oklahoma
Lane Kiffin said Ole Miss needs to improve before what he called a big test in Oklahoma in Week 9.
- The Florida Gators fired head coach Billy Napier, a move the author suggests improves the team’s potential.
- Napier’s tenure was marked by coaching mistakes, holding the team back despite bringing in some talent.
- The firing gives Florida an opportunity to pursue Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who is seen as a worthy rival to Georgia’s Kirby Smart.
Sunday turned just a bit sour for Kirby Smart, because it became a good day for Florida. By firing Billy Napier, the Gators got better. Maybe that sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. Napier’s coaching had been holding Florida back.
By firing Napier, Florida gave itself an opportunity to level the longstanding coaching mismatch inside the “Cocktail Party” rivalry Smart’s ruled.
By firing Napier, Florida gave itself a chance to chase Lane Kiffin. If you’ve watched the Georgia-Mississippi games the past two seasons, you know Kiffin can go toe-to-toe with Smart. The Gators haven’t had a coach capable of doing that since Georgia hired Smart.
Dan Mullen gave Florida a shot with X’s and O’s, but Smart ran circles around him on the recruiting trail. Mullen managed to beat Smart once in four tries. Florida replaced Mullen with its very own version of “Ray Goof,” as Steve Spurrier once called the former Georgia coach whom he beat seven straight times. Napier brought some talent into Florida, but coaching gaffes defined his tenure.
If Florida lands Kiffin, it finally would employ a coach capable of matching sideline wits with Smart and who also could counteract his recruiting prowess. Smart still rules the old model of signing high school talent, but Kiffin’s aced the transfer free agency roster-building strategy better than anyone.
With Kiffin, Florida could hope to field a team as talented as Georgia’s, while having a coach as savvy as Smart. It also would have one of college football’s best quarterback developers. That goes a long way anywhere. It goes miles with Gators fans thirsting for the second coming of Steve Spurrier.
Even in Ole Miss’ 43-35 defeat in Athens, Kiffin’s schemes and play-calling gave Smart’s squad fits for three quarters until his Bulldogs rallied late, as is their style.
“A lot of credit goes to Lane and his staff,” Smart said after his team overcame a two-score deficit, one year after getting smashed by Kiffin’s Rebels. “Their team was really prepared to come into this game and start fast, as they did.”
Smart labeled Kiffin “the best in the country” at clock management.
What a contrast that would be for Florida. It spent the past four seasons competing with the nation’s worst clock manager on the sideline, and also a coach who struggled to master how to get 11 men — and only 11 men — on the field.
Ole Miss scored touchdowns on five straight possessions against Smart’s defense, while Napier had his hands full with Jeff Lebby and Mississippi State. True, Kiffin’s Rebels failed to land the knockout blow, but X’s and O’s couldn’t be faulted, at least.
Everything matters in coaching nowadays. The boss man must be a good CEO, a steady recruiter, a keen evaluator of potential transfer talent, and a glorified grifter who can help attract booster bucks. Actual coaching matters, too, especially in this era of increasing parity.
It’s still a game of Jimmies and Joes, but any school with a billionaire or at least a few motivated millionaires can hope to land a five-star Jimmy and some four-star Joes or snag some value buys out of the portal.
They’re not all going to Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State.
Check out a typical Saturday inside the modern SEC. Vanderbilt whupped LSU, and it didn’t count as an upset. Texas needed overtime to survive Kentucky. Missouri bested Auburn in two overtimes. Georgia survived Ole Miss in a thriller.
On a day when eight conference games were played, six were decided by one possession. The days of Nick Saban assembling a three-deep of all-stars and routinely creaming the field on a run of dynastic dominance are finished.
The game’s changed, and this is no time to employ a sideline stiff, not when in-game coaching can swing the difference in these white-knuckle SEC games that unfold weekend after weekend. Ole Miss has a coach that’s buoyed it into playoff contention and onto Georgia’s level. He could be the solve to Florida’s problems.
From Florida to Auburn to Georgia Tech, Smart’s owned each one of his most important rivals. Kiffin in a Florida visor would make the “Cocktail Party” a fair fight.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.