The Daily Stakes - 10/22: Setting the Stage
Would Lane Kiffin leave for Florida? Pros, cons for Ole Miss football coach
Source: Mississippi Clarion Ledger - Sam Hutchens, October 20, 2025
Hutchens puts his own spin on the stability and culture at Ole Miss vs. allure of legacy at Florida. Read the full story.
Florida is looking for next Steve Spurrier. What does the Head Ball Coach think?
Source: USA TODAY - Blake Toppmeyer, October 21, 2025
A look at the top potential candidates for the Florida job, framed by an interview with Spurrier, who says the Gators crave a winner more than a name. Read the full story.
Ranking College Football’s Open Power 4 Jobs
Source: ESPN - Adam Rittenberg, October 22, 2025
Rittenberg ranks the open Florida job as second best in the country, just behind Penn State. Read the full story.
Kiffy’s Take
The dust is still settling on Napier’s firing. Although, there is a clear groundswell within the media that Kiffin is Florida’s #1 target, Kiffin has made it a practice to not publicly comment on his job during the season. So, we are going to see a lot of the ”what’s your opinion” content until later in the season.
Things will have certainly heated up by the time Ole Miss plays Florida on November 15 (can you imagine the circus that week in Oxford!), and perhaps something breaks shortly thereafter, as the Rebels are off the next week and that’s when these things tend to advance.
One thing to watch this week is how Ole Miss responds against OU. A loss doesn’t necessarily indicate anything material (the two teams are evenly matched), but looking bad in doing so might indicate a team that is caught up in the distraction of it all. It’s happened once before when Auburn came calling in 2022 and an 8-1 season soured into 8-5. There’s no indication a similar spiral this year would force the issue, but neither side wants to go through that again. On the flip side, an Ole Miss win this weekend puts them in a commanding position for a playoff berth, which will complicate matters from Florida’s perspective.
Finally, these news round-ups will be a daily feature. A few things to note:
Don’t underestimate Sexton’s use of the media. His job is to get his clients the best deal possible and leveraging media is one of the tools he uses to do that. It’s something you have to sift through.
We are likely to see more stories that lean “pro-Florida.” See point 1 above - it’s absolutely a strategy. But, the Gators are located in a bigger town, more populous state, more eyes = more media, etc.
One voice to pay particular attention to is On3’s Chris Low. Although not part of today’s update, he remains a trusted source of Kiffin going back to his days at Tennessee. It’s often said if Low is relating something about Kiffen or his team, it’s usually straight from the coach. Don’t be surprised if he’s who ultimately breaks the news of a decision.
