The rumors of Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin going to Florida have ballooned into a crisis, one where it is hard to see if there's truly a fire where there's smoke.
Cleveland.com's Jonathan Simmons believes the fire is indeed there since Kiffin to Florida is "practically inevitable."
"But according to Bleacher Report’s College Football Reactions podcast, this isn’t just another coaching carousel rumor—it’s practically inevitable," Simmons writes, referring to Bleacher Report’s College Football Reactions podcast with Mike Ola Jr. as the host.
The main reason in Ola Jr.'s lineup was the magnitude of the Florida job, including the financial, NIL, and craze for the program.
“I just think where there’s smoke, there could be fire here,” Ola Jr. explained, highlighting Florida’s abundant resources and recruiting advantages. “Florida is one of the premier jobs in the SEC. They are a big fan base, a big university. They’re in a state that’s always been a recruiting hotbed and we saw with Billy Napier this last year, they’re willing to pony up,”
"The premium I think for this job is going to be on SEC head coaching experience,” the host continued. “This is a conference that right, wrong or indifferent, I think puts a lot of premium on that.”
Kiffin has been one of the top names in the rumors, sure, and his silence on the topic has just made it worse. His success rate at Ole Miss is enough for Florida to offer him a lucrative contract, but him leaving the Rebels mid-season and missing out on making what could be a successful college football playoff run seems highly unlikely.
"While nothing is official yet, the podcast’s confident tone suggests this coaching move is more a matter of 'when' than 'if'," Simmons further writes.
Only time will tell whether it's all just smoke or if there's any fire as well.