As intense as the Lane Kiffin to Florida rumors are, the only thing realistically making them concerning is Kiffin's silence.
"I didn't grow up thinking this was the final chapter of the story. Maybe it is," Kiffin said Friday, just a day ahead of Florida vs. Ole Miss.
That maybe has been the holdup of every discussion in why Kiffin could never leave Ole Miss. He has dropped a ton of hints, but never said "No, I won't leave Ole Miss" out loud.
He has a ton of reasons not to.
Lane Kiffin has built everything right here in Oxford
Throughout his six years in the Grove, the Rebels' head coach has built more than a good roster; he has forged everything from a winning mentality to program culture, to a brand out of the Rebels.
And finally, after years of work, Kiffin finally has the roster and the circumstances he needs to win a national championship right here with Ole Miss. They are already making it to the College Football Playoff this season, so a natty won't be too far either if Kiffin decides to stay.
Even if it isn't, the stakes on the reputation Kiffin has built in Ole Miss, after his history of infamously dramatic exits from FAU and Tennessee are too high.
The Tennessee fanbase still hasn't forgiven Kiffin even after a decade and half, and he was only there for a year.
He has been at Ole Miss for six years.
The sheer, white-hot rage among Ole Miss fans that would follow if Kiffin picks Florida would simply be unfathomable.
Kiffin is already getting everything he wants written on a piece of paper in Oxford, and there's simply no reason he needs to go looking somewhere else.
And, if we push aside every single external factor affecting Kiffin's decision, leaving behind something he spent the best of his head coaching years building and reaching to a College Football Playoff level, and simply leaving before it makes it impossible to believe.
Yet, the heart will always want what it wants. Only Kiffin could make the final call.