Scott Stricklin conversation spooked Lane Kiffin amid Florida Gators’ coaching pursuit, per report

Football

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Image Credit: UAA

As pressure mounts regarding the continued employment of Scott Stricklin as Florida Gators athletic director, further information has been revealed about Stricklin’s failed pursuit of Ole Miss-turned-LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, including, specifically, how Stricklin may have botched the effort at the outset of the process.

Kiffin pursued the Florida job in 2021 and likely could have been plucked for the position after the 2024 season, too. Instead, Stricklin decided to stick with head coach Billy Napier, who was only 19-19 in three years but won four straight games to conclude that campaign.

With Kiffin likely making it known through back channels that he was again open to moving away from the Rebels, and Napier’s continued positioning as Gators coach becoming untenable following a disastrous start to the 2025 season, the door was suddenly open once again to a union that many in the college football world long expected to come.

And then Kiffin spoke with Stricklin by phone.

As Only Gators reported on Nov. 19, among Kiffin’s chief concerns with joining Florida was his potential working relationship with Stricklin. Their first conversation did not ease those worries; in fact, it only exacerbated them, according to CBS Sports’ John Talty, who penned an in-depth breakdown of Kiffin’s move to LSU.

“At the time, Florida was the biggest job available and had the perceived leverage to dictate some of its terms. That included wanting a general manager with an NFL background who wouldn’t report directly to Kiffin. This was a non-starter for Kiffin, who strongly believes in the abilities of Ole Miss general manager Billy Glasscock, and it got the pursuit off to an awkward start,” Talty explained.

“There was something just beneath the surface, too. Multiple sources familiar with Stricklin’s thinking had long cast doubt on his desire ever to hire Kiffin, a brilliant offensive mind with a penchant for stirring up drama. There was a reason, after all, that his mother used to call him ‘Helicopter’ growing up. Stricklin, a more buttoned-up personality, had preferred Napier’s no-nonsense approach over Kiffin’s antics the last time around.”

While Stricklin nevertheless pursued Kiffin due to pressure from Gators boosters and the fans, he questioned individuals who knew Kiffin as to whether the coach had changed, as he claimed. Obviously, that got back to Kiffin.

“It was the kind of thing that could have possibly been overcome if there were no other options, but Ole Miss all but allowed him to do whatever he wanted in Oxford and kept giving him more and more resources to push the program forward,” Talty explained. “… Kiffin was concerned about Stricklin’s meddling and how they would mesh, later telling confidants he had a ‘weird vibe’ about the situation.”

Stricklin on Monday — after introducing Jon Sumrall as the Gators’ new head coach, denied any negativity in his conversations with Kiffin or the recruitment process.

“I would say there’s a lot of just false information,” said Stricklin, according to The Alligator. “There’s a lot of twisted information, and a lot of people trying to create narratives that benefit themselves.”

Stricklin cited Kiffin’s visibility (name value) as the reason for the intense fervor over the process. He called Kiffin a “fascinating guy” and said he respects his decision, claiming they had “productive conversations” and spoke “three or four times during the process.”

While Stricklin may be sharing what he believes the truth to be from his point of view, he certainly cannot speak to Kiffin’s perception of their conversation(s), which is what was shared with Only Gators (and presumably CBS Sports, as referenced, along with other outlets).

Florida had six weeks — really, a year — to recruit Kiffin, including a massive head start on LSU, yet ultimately lost or conceded the battle to a program experiencing its own internal chaos.

As more comes to light about the Gators’ pursuit of Kiffin, one cannot be blamed for believing either that the process was all for show — to placate boosters and fans, making them believe the program was pursuing the candidate they desired — and/or that Stricklin was never as all-in on landing the coach, in direct contract to the sentiment surrounding the Florida program.

(There are a variety of rumors in the ether about the involvement of UF’s largest booster — some claiming sabotage, others suggesting impatience and an arbitrary deadline — sharing a similar sentiment as Stricklin. Only Gators cannot confirm as much at the time of publication; however, multiple boosters are angry and feeling severely misled by the process in totality and Stricklin specifically.)