WHO WILL BE THE NEXT SWAMP KING?

In the days of Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, University of Florida football fans had it good.

The Gators were consistent winners on the highest of levels and the program had lots of stability. But that was long ago. Spurrier last coached in Gainesville in 2001 and Meyer left Florida in 2010. Since Meyer moved, Florida has run through four head coaches. Now, the Gators are searching for a fifth after firing Billy Napier, who was 22-23 as Florida’s head coach, and fan patience is running thin.

This time, more than ever, there is pressure from fans and alumni to get it right. Athletic director Scott Stricklin received a contract extension this summer and whoever he hires as his third head coach, will feel heat from fans to do what Spurrier and Meyer did  so well — pile up SEC championships and contend for national titles on a regular basis.

So, who will be given the hefty task of bringing the Gators back to national prominence? Let’s take a look at some of the fan favorites:

LANE KIFFIN

The current Ole Miss coach is the closest thing to Spurrier to come along in years. Like Spurrier, Kiffin is outspoken, confident and an offensive innovator. His personality and coaching style would play well with Florida fans, especially those who were around for the Spurrier era. Kiffin doesn’t have direct history with the Florida program. But the son of legendary NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin has plenty of history within the state of Florida. He was a ball boy for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when his father was building a defensive monster with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1990s and he had a stint as an assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars early in his coaching career. More recently, Kiffin had lots of success as the coach at Florida Atlantic from 2017 through 2019. He knows the football culture and recruiting territory of Florida well. He also knows the SEC. In addition to his time at Ole Miss, Kiffin was the head coach at Tennessee and had a tremendous run as the offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2014 through 2016. Kiffin has given some public indications that he might be at Ole Miss for the long haul. But he also has a history of jumping jobs. The Florida job, complete with the opportunity to resurrect a once-dominant SEC program, could be exactly what it takes to trigger  another Kiffin move.

JAMES FRANKLIN

His run as the Penn State coach didn’t end well. But, outside of State College, most fans don’t care. That’s because Franklin has a strong track record as a recruiter and a coach who has won a lot of games. Franklin did a masterful job of pulling the Penn State program out of scandal and NCAA sanctions. Before that, he made Vanderbilt a consistent winner. Plus, Franklin now has something to prove. His downfall at Penn State was an inability to win big games. At Florida, Franklin could pacify fans by making the Gators a consistent winner in the short term. In the long term, he could make fans ecstatic and vindicate himself by proving his critics wrong and winning some big games.

MANNY DIAZ

He currently is the head coach at Duke. That might not mean much to the younger generation of Gators fans. But the old-timers, who carry a lot of weight at Florida, might get a bit sentimental as they point out that, once upon a time, Florida hired Spurrier away from Duke. Plus, Diaz knows the state of Florida’s fertile recruiting territory well. He had a solid, but not spectacular, run as head coach at Miami. Since then, he’s enhanced his reputation with two stellar years as Penn State’s defensive coordinator and decent success at Duke last year and so far this season.

ELI DRINKWITZ

Whoever gets the Florida job would be helped tremendously if current Gators quarterback DJ Lagway, running back Jadan Baugh and wide receiver Vernell Brown III stay in Gainesville for the long haul. To offensive players like that, no candidate (outside of perhaps Kiffin) would be more attractive. At Missouri Drinkwitz has established himself as the type of offensive-minded coach most offensive players would want to play for. Drinkwitz has taken the Tigers a long way, but he might be willing to take a shot at running a program that has a history as a national powerhouse.

JEDD FISCH

Since 2002, Fisch has worked for seven NFL teams and six college programs. Conventional wisdom is that he’s ready to abandon his nomadic ways and put down long-term roots at the University of Washington, a program he took over in 2004. But conventional wisdom could go out the window when it comes to the Florida job. Fisch is well known among Florida fans. He’s a 1998 Florida graduate. He’s a Spurrier disciple and spent two seasons as a Florida graduate assistant to the self-proclaimed “Head Ball Coach”, who is the most iconic name in the school’s football history. Some fans may view hiring Fisch as a way to get back to the good times of the Spurrier days.

RHETT LASHLEE

The current SMU coach won 11 games in each of the last two seasons and the Mustangs are 5-2 so far this season. A former Arkansas quarterback, Lashlee is an offensive-minded coach — something many Florida fans want. Lashlee is one of the hottest names on the coaching carousel right now and he has SEC experience and familiarity with the football landscape in Florida. Lashlee had two separate stints as an Auburn assistant and spent two seasons as offensive coordinator at Miami before taking the SMU job.

JON SUMRALL

The current Tulane coach might not get fans excited like a lot of the other potential candidates. He’s not at all flashy and he comes from a defensive background that might not excite a lot of Florida fans. But die-hard fans and those in football circles aren’t likely to overlook Sumrall. He’s had success every where he’s been. Prior to his success at Tulane, Sumrall went 23-4 in two seasons as the head coach at Troy.

ALEX GOLESH

There was a time when Florida fans might have looked down their nose at South Florida, which didn’t start playing football until 1997. But those day are over and the final straw might have come when Golesh and his USF team defeated Napier and the Gators in early September. After going 7-6 in his first two seasons in Tampa, Golesh has the Bulls off to a 6-1 start this year. Golesh has a strong offensive background and he’s fared well in recruiting battles with the other schools within Florida. Golesh might need to prove himself at USF for another year or two. But, at some point in the near future, he’s going to be a serious candidate for jobs at elite programs.