There was a moment last weekend when it all came together. The attitude, the big-game bravado, the winning.
And Lane Kiffin was nowhere to be found at Florida.
Not in the temporary hopes and dreams last fall of desperate Florida fans, not on the field last Saturday while the Gators were punishing the hottest team in college football under new coach Jon Sumrall ― and finally reestablishing their national presence
.The gift that never came last year just keeps on giving.
“First day we saw him, we knew things would be different,” Florida edge Jayden Woods said of Sumrall. “None of this is surprising to us.”
But it’s a whole lot of crazy to so many others.
It created one every Saturday
A brief recap: Florida wanted Kiffin, Kiffin wanted LSU or Ole Miss and eventually broke the news to Florida officials. Florida pivoted to Sumrall — even before Kiffin’s rejection — and the next thing you know, LSU is celebrating the hiring of Kiffin like he’s the second coming of Nick Saban.
And Sumrall is spending time at his introductory news conference asking a tepid, rabid fanbase to believe in what he’s selling.
Both coaches spent the next 10 months deep in the media weeds, Kiffin selling glitz, glam and celebrities, and Sumrall selling the idea of physical and mental toughness.
Kiffin made the cover of Vanity Fair, a football coach profiled in the hoity-toity pop culture magazine of Park Avenue. Sumrall spoke to just about anyone who would listen.
If you had a podcast, he had the time. If you had a question, he had the answer.
Kiffin gutted the LSU roster and brought in the No. 1-ranked transfer portal class. Sumrall retained a majority of the Florida roster, and brought in a quarterback and a handful of critical additions to the offensive line.
Kiffin was a special guest at the Lil Boosie concert, posting a video of the event on his social media feeds just ahead of his first official spring practice. You know, just in case everyone wasn’t aware.
Sumrall complained about his team’s toughness, and took away any apparel with a Gators logo because the players hadn’t earned it.
Kiffin and LSU spent nearly $50 million on a roster. Sumrall admitted Florida wasn’t among the top half of SEC spenders in the NIL world — and that it had to change.
Once fall camp began, Kiffin and LSU encouraged players from NFL training camps to use legal avenues to gain a fifth year of eligibility — then fought the SEC in court about it.
Sumrall spent fall camp dealing with a quarterback competition, and obsessing over an offensive line that was quickly taking shape — after he spent the entire offseason publicly challenging them.
Then came judgement day for both: Kiffin’s LSU team lost at Ole Miss on a last-second, 4th-and-goal incompletion.
Sumrall’s Florida team beat the brakes off the Rebels.
“I believe in our team, I believe in the direction we’re headed,” Sumrall said. “We still are not a finished product by an stretch of the imagination.”
But they’re one up on Kiffin, a step ahead of the guy who seems to be a step ahead of everyone else. The coach who had two of the bluest blue-bloods competing for his services, all while slowly and painfully breaking the hearts of Ole Miss.
LSU has done whatever Kiffin wanted over the past 10 months, including a dangerous game of player-eligibility chicken with the SEC that still isn’t over — despite LSU blinking at the last minute.
LSU, the university, has morphed into the Kiffin personality and persona by osmosis. Even got the governor of Louisiana involved in the charade — and nearly blew up its relationship with the most powerful conference in college sports in the process.
The Guv, and Kiff. A match made in delusion.
Meanwhile, Florida has done whatever Sumrall wanted, too. Threw a couple of million at a weight room that was barely a couple of years old — because Sumrall didn’t like the setup, and didn’t think it was functional.
Florida got rid of some staffers Sumrall thought were duplicitous, and hired others where they were lacking. Hired a former NFL general manager to run the shop, and negotiate player contracts.
The Show vs. The Grind.
One coach skulked off the field in the biggest game (to date) of the season. The other ran off the field to fans chanting his name.
Kiffin spoke at the Ole Miss post game, and admitted he had wonderful times in Oxford, and that it wasn’t all that bad.
Sumrall spoke, and said the Gators left points on the field. It could’ve been worse.
“I’m just proud that they’re playing with confidence, edge and swagger,” Sumrall said of Florida. “And a little bit of demeanor about them where we’re not gonna back down to anybody.”
The gift that never came just keeps on giving.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida lost Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes. It may have won something better
