Florida has interviewed close to a dozen candidates since firing Billy Napier on Oct. 19. The 50-year-old Kiffin was the prime target until Nov. 28.
Sources familiar with the UF coaching search process have confirmed to The Gainesville Sun that Tulane’s Jon Sumrall and Washington’s Jedd Fisch are on the short list of candidates to become UF’s next coach.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said the 50-year-old Kiffin will announce his coaching future intentions the day after its Egg Bowl matchup with rival Mississippi State on Nov. 28. Kiffin had three choices — stay at Ole Miss, where he’s posted three straight 10-win seasons, leave for LSU or come to Florida and become the heir apparent to the coach he idolized, Steve Spurrier.
Kiffin declined answering questions about his future at his weekly news conference on Nov. 24.
‘I’m sure you’ve got a lot of other questions but I’m just answering questions focused on the team and this season and our players,’ Kiffin told the Clarion-Ledger.
Kiffin re-iterated that stance in his interview on the SEC Network before the Egg Bowl.
If Lane Kiffin says no to Florida football, expect Jedd Fisch, Jon Sumrall to be in mix
Should Kiffin not choose Florida, the Gators are prepared to quickly pivot. Florida would prefer to have a coach in place before National Signing Day for the early signing period, which is Dec. 3.
Sumrall denied an On3 report he was scheduled to interview with UF on Nov. 20, but sources have confirmed there is mutual interest on both sides. A former Kentucky linebacker, Sumrall knows the SEC, having also served as a linebackers coach at Ole Miss (2018) and Kentucky (2019-21).
Th 43-year-old Sumrall has posted a combined 41-11 record in four seasons as a head coach at Troy and Tulane, leading Troy to back-to-back Sun Belt Conference titles in 2022 and 2023. At Tulane, Sumrall has gone 18-7 in two seasons and has the Green Wave in position to land a College Football Playoff Berth.
Auburn and Ole Miss (should Kiffin leave) are also interested in Sumrall, a defensive-minded coach whose Green Wave ranked second in the American Conference in total defense last season, allowing 323.5 yards per game.
Fisch, 49, is a 1998 Florida graduate who worked as a graduate assistant under Spurrier from 1999-2000 before going on to a successful 25-year career that included offensive coaching stints in college and in the NFL as offensive coordinator at Miami (2011-12), the Jacksonville Jaguars (2013-14) and UCLA (2017).
After leading Arizona to a 10-win season in 2023, Fisch has spent the past two seasons at Washington, where he’s posted a 14-10 record. Fisch’s offense at Washington currently ranks fifth in the Big Ten Conference at 426.5 yards per game.
According to sources close to the search process and a report from On3’s Chris Low, Florida also interviewed Clark Lea last week. But Lea signed a six-year contract to remain at Vanderbilt on Nov. 28.
Florida, on the way to its fourth losing season in five years and is in search of a coach to revitalize a program that hasn’t won an SEC or national title since 2008 under former coach Urban Meyer.
Former Florida linebacker great and current UF staff member Brandon Spikes sent cryptic social media posts during the week claiming that UF already has a coach in place and knows who it is.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
