FSU Reportedly Made 'Stealth Move' for Lane Kiffin Before HC Left Ole Miss for LSU

Before becoming LSU's head coach, Lane Kiffin reportedly was being courted by an ACC mainstay to take over its rebuilding project.

According to ESPN's Mark Schlabach, Kiffin was deciding between "four options: Remain at Ole Miss, where they had built a legitimate College Football Playoff contender; leave for SEC rivals Florida or LSU; or take over Florida State, which according to people with knowledge of the search, was making a stealth move to poach" him after back-to-back disappointing years under head coach Mike Norvell.

After winning the ACC title and going 13-1 in 2023, the Seminoles have fallen well below expectations, going 2-10 last year and 5-7 this season.

Schlabach noted that sources said that Florida State athletic director Michael Alford "was wooing Kiffin behind the scenes," as the two of them had worked together at USC from 2001 to 2003 when Alford was the associate AD and Kiffin was a member of Pete Carrol's coaching staff.

However, Florida State hadn't fired Norvell, allowing Kiffin to explore his other options. As Kiffin's stock continued to rise amid Ole Miss' 11-1 season, Alford reportedly hoped that would allow him "to justify spending $72 million to dismiss Norvell and his staff." Sources told Schlabach that the recruitment of Kiffin "continued into the middle of November," but after it was clear he wasn't coming, the Seminoles announced on Nov. 23 that Norvell would be retained for a seventh season as the head coach.

Kiffin is now tasked with leading an LSU program that went 7-5 this season back to prominence, while Florida State will wonder what could've been had Alford decided to move on from Norvell.