Rece Davis: Lane Kiffin has a better job at Ole Miss than he would if he left for Florida
The noise continues to get louder around Billy Napier at Florida after a 1-2 start to the season. It’s also leading to potential Hot Boards for a replacement – with Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin coming up as a top name in the early going.
To Rece Davis, there’s a potential separator that could keep Kiffin in Oxford if UF makes a pursuit. On ESPN’s College GameDay podcast, he argued Ole Miss is a better job.
Davis said Ole Miss’ operation could be more of what Kiffin is looking for in a job. Between the NIL side of things – and, as a result, the ability to recruit in the transfer portal – he didn’t know if Florida would be an upgrade.
“We’re in the middle of September,” Davis said. “As I said earlier, I’m not the biggest fan about this, but you also can’t ignore the obvious and you also can’t ignore the obvious and pretend they won’t go after Lane Kiffin. As we sit here right now, in the current state of football – college football – and the way player acquisitions go and the way alignment goes and the way the coach likes to be in charge and have things his way, Lane Kiffin has a better job right now. He is … at best making a lateral move.
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“And it’s not because Ole Miss is better than Florida right now. It’s because they can get in on players right now. They’re aligned with their NIL, he makes the decisions, he’s in charge. Lane has a better job.”
The history with Florida is there, though. The Gators have won three national championships since 1995 while Ole Miss hasn’t won one since 1962.
But in the current college football landscape, Davis argued that history doesn’t necessarily make UF a better job. Because of the way Kiffin recruited in the portal and with the NIL alignment, notably with The Grove Collective – the No. 6-ranked NIL collective in the country, according to On3’s Pete Nakos – Ole Miss could have more to offer.
“In college football right now, until things change and you have to reassess this, I think we have to change the way we think about theirs of job,” Davis said. “Because you would think, because Florida’s won all these championships in the last 30 years … that that’s a better job.
“There are more players in the state of Florida. The court will stipulate to that. But everything else at this moment in time – alignment, money, power, meddling – he has a better job. He has a better team and a better job.”