Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin is starting to look more and more like a pipe dream to the Gators fanbase after months of circulating thousands of tweets asking him to come to Gainesville.
While Kiffin still remains a top candidate for Billy Napier's replacement at Florida, more and more reasons suggest that he would not leave Ole Miss for the Gators.
As the search for Napier's replacement continues, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg floated three other names that have been in the Florida talks alongside Kiffin to replace Napier.
Although highly eclipsed by Kiffin, these head coaches look more and more like Florida's next hire.
Eli Drinkwitz, Rhet Lashlee, and Jeff Brohm floated as top Florida hires
"Florida clearly has interest in Kiffin, but what if he's not the guy? Drinkwitz and Lashlee both seem ready for a jump and could be good fits in Gainesville," Rittenberg wrote.
"They're both in good situations, though, especially Lashlee after making the CFP last season. Missouri has capitalized on its SEC schedule across the past two campaigns but hasn't beaten a ranked opponent in the league. Next season, the Tigers will visit Georgia and Ole Miss, and they will host Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Florida."
Rittenberg further credited an industry source saying: "They're not going to have this path. Drinkwitz is smart enough to know he's got to get out."
Missouri's Drinkwitz is looking more and more like the person Florida would ultimately shake hands with.
He also somewhat fits into the aggressive Steve Spurrier-like play-calling image that the Florida fans are desperately expecting from Kiffin, were he to come to the Swamp. Drinkwitz is the closest they could get after Kiffin.
That said, Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm is another candidate who is highly rumored to get the job besides Drinkwitz, if we keep Kiffin out of the picture.
"Brohm is another option, especially because of his big-game record. He is 4-4 against AP top-five opponents following an Oct. 17 win at Miami. Although Brohm also has struggled in losing games he shouldn't, his big-game success and creative offense are appealing. He also is extremely rooted in Louisville -- both at the university and in his hometown -- so it would take a lot to pull him away," Rittenberg stated.
Only time will tell whether it will be Drinkwitz, Brohm, or Lashlee, or even Kiffin, that shakes hand for the Florida job.