Florida‘s No. 1 target in its national coaching search is obviously Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
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There appears to be a three-way battle between SEC powers LSU, Ole Miss and Florida for the Kiffin sweepstakes. Kiffin reportedly plans to meet with Rebels athletic director Keith Carter on Friday about his coaching future.
The Gators reportedly had interest in interviewing Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall. But he has backed out of consideration this week amid the College Football Playoff selection committee projecting the Green Wave as a playoff team in the updated bracket released on Tuesday.
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Florida is a coveted job, and there should be a long list of names athletic director Scott Stricklin can pull from.
Cooper Petagna of CBS Sports projects Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key as “Plan B” for Florida if it cannot convince Kiffin to move to Gainesville.
“Key has built his reputation in the trenches, dating back to his playing days as an offensive lineman at Georgia Tech and his early coaching tenure under George O’Leary at UCF,” Petanga wrote. “After assuming interim leadership following Geoff Collins’s dismissal during the 2022 season, Key steadied a spiraling Yellow Jackets program, guiding them to a 4–4 finish and earning the removal of his interim tag.
“Since then, Key has delivered back-to-back 7–6 seasons while methodically reshaping Georgia Tech’s roster, culture, and expectations — progress that helped lay the foundation for the Yellow Jackets’ current 8–1 start and legitimate push toward the College Football Playoff.”
Since becoming the interim head coach of Georgia Tech in 2022 (he was named the permanent head coach in 2023), Key has helped close the gap between Georgia Tech and Georgia in the “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” rivalry.
GT lost the Dawgs 31-23 in 2024. It took eight overtimes for Georgia to knock off the Yellow Jackets 44-42 in 2024.
It would be a nightmare hire for Smart if Key went to Florida.
Key would have access to better resources with the Gators than he has in Atlanta. Florida has not defeated Georgia since 2020, but Key could give Smart a run for his money if he decides to take the Florida job.
However, Florida would have to convince Key to leave a blossoming program at Georgia Tech. The former Yellow Jackets right guard told the media earlier in November that he had no plans to leave the program.
“Since I came back here, since I was named the head coach here, outside of the time with my family, every waking second of my life, has gone towards building this program, to get to the point that it is right now,” Key said.Â
“So that in turn we can continue three years from now, five years from now, 10 years from now, continue to elevate this place to be in that conversation. Not to be in there for two or three weeks, but to be a consistent team, not when you lose one game, have people say the storybook is over.”
Key is 27-17 overall and 20-10 in ACC play at Georgia Tech. The No. 16 Yellow Jackets are 9-1 before getting set to host Pittsburgh on Saturday.
GT will finish the regular season against No. 4 Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Nov. 28.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.