Paul Finebaum: Lane Kiffin is a name to watch very closely right now

The college football carousel is beginning to heat up, with Florida becoming the latest school open on Sunday. Some of the top jobs in the country are available at the moment as well in LSU and USC.

When discussing who would be a good fit in certain places, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum brought up Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. He said Kiffin’s situation is something to monitor and could be the hire for two schools.

“I think Lane [Kiffin] is a name to watch very closely right now,” Finebaum said. “Florida, Miami, I think those are two very likely possibilities.”

Maimi has yet to fire Manny Diaz but athletic director Blake James was the first AD the Hurricanes ever let go of. The writing seems to be on the wall for Diaz, who can be 7-5 at best during his third season in charge.

Going to the state of Florida would not be an unfamiliar territory for Kiffin, though. After being Alabama’s offensive coordinator, he left Tuscaloosa to be the head coach at FAU.

Kiffin still has to finish out his season with Ole Miss before considering another job. He will have a rivalry game against Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, plus a potential New Year’s Six Bowl game.

Lane Kiffin could bring back recruiting at Florida

One of the biggest reasons Mullen was run out of town in Gainesville was poor efforts on the recruiting trail. Athletic director Scott Stricklin was asked if it’s something he considered when making the move.

“We look at recruiting, and that’s a really important part of putting that team together,” Stricklin said. “We want someone that can attract the best staff to coach the best group of players and take advantage of all the incredible resources and advantages that are at the University of Florida.

“A lot of times, the losses — or things that don’t go right on the field — those are symptoms of other issues, and I’m not going to get into all of that because I don’t think that’s fair to everyone involved,” Stricklin said. “But there are a lot of little things that you have to pay attention to.”

With Kiffin’s social media presence and reliability to high school prospects, he could be the one who brings back elite recruiting to Florida.

Currently, at Ole Miss, the head coach has the No. 32 class in the On3 Consensus. Four of the 12 commits come from Mississippi. Imagine what he could do with the in-state talent pool from Florida.