Lane Kiffin Would Have Been Prime Target For Florida State If Mike Norvell Had Taken The Alabama Job: Report

Nick Saban retiring from his post as the head coach at Alabama this offseason is the shakeup of all shakeups, but the trickle-down effect of what may have been if the Crimson Tide didn't hire Kalen DeBoer as his replacement could have shaken the college football world to its core.

Based on every rumor and report, there were two coaches at the top of Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne's coaching candidate list, DeBoer at Washington and Mike Norvell at Florida State. According to ESPN's Chris Low, Byrne had "serious conversations" with both coaches the day after Saban retired.

DeBoer ultimately landed the job in Tuscaloosa and Norvell stayed put in Tallahassee, but if Norvell would have been the man tapped to take over the Tide, the Seminoles reportedly had their sites set on one man: Lane Kiffin.

"In fact, in the wee hours of that Friday morning, the fear among Florida State officials was that Norvell was close to trading his FSU garnet for Alabama crimson," Low reported. " Sources told ESPN that Florida State was poised to move quickly if that happened and that Kiffin would be a prime candidate."

While this entire scenario is now completely hypothetical given DeBoer was ultimately hired by Alabama, this is college football we're talking about, a sport that loves hypotheticals and drama unlike any other sport in existence.

(Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

Kiffin being a "prime candidate" as Low described him for the FSU job had Norvell left for Tuscaloosa shouldn't come as a surprise given his success since taking over at Ole Miss in 2020. Kiffin was coming off of an 11-win season in Oxford, is one of the great offensive minds in the sport, has turned himself into his own brand, and boasts a 34-15 record as the Rebels' head coach.

Of course Kiffin would have been on the very, very short list for potential replacements for Norvell at FSU. 

Continuing the hypothetical game then leads us to the question of whether or not Kiffin would have entertained an offer from Florida State?

Money likely wouldn't have played a major role in any decision. Ole Miss has proven since Kiffin's arrival with contract extensions they're more than willing to pony up to keep Kiffin in Oxford. Kiffin has been among the 10-highest-paid coaches in college football for multiple seasons now.

The biggest factor to consider - other than Kiffin would have been moving closer to the ocean where he could fish more regularly - are the two conferences at play. 

Leaving the SEC for the ACC would have been seen as a death wish given that Florida State went unbeaten in 2023 and was still left out of the CFB Playoff. With the CFB Playoff expanding in 2024, however, coaching a premiere program in the ACC isn't too bad a gig. The SEC will have multiple teams make the playoff, but adding Oklahoma and Texas to the mix doesn't exactly make the road any easier to play for a national championship.

Kiffin was very much in the rumor mill surrounding the Miami head coaching vacancy in 2022, but nothing came of that, for how little that is worth in hindsight.