When Florida was in hot pursuit last year for Lane Kiffin, most Gator fans were willing to look the other way at the hijinks of Kiffin as long as it meant winning. Kiffin has built himself up as one of college football's villains, and Gator fans were ready to become villains too.
But there was a segment of fans who were steadfast against Kiffin because they weren’t ready to win games in exchange for Gainesville feeling like a full-blown circus. After Kiffin’s latest act, those holdouts might have had a point.
Lane Kiffin continues to be the villain of college football
The hot button issue in college football (and basketball) is who is and isn’t eligible to play for the 2026 season. Since the NCAA passed its “five-for-five” rule, players who weren’t previously covered have been trying to sue their way back to college football. The comical part is that a number of these players are trying to bang on the gates of the NCAA, screaming “LET ME IN!” and have been taking part in NFL training camps and have appeared in NFL preseason games.
Let’s just state that the transfer graphics coming out seem like something from The Twilight Zone.
At the forefront of the line to welcome these players back with open arms is Kiffin. As of now, Kiffin has taken three players back, and he could be in a position to take more.
It quickly devolved to the point where the Big Ten has already said it's passing a rule that would ban any player trying to come back from the NFL, and the SEC is slated to discuss it. Whether or not those bans withstand various court challenges remains to be seen.
Jon Sumrall gives take NFL players
We are not that far removed from a world where if a player was declared for the draft, whether it was the NFL or the NBA, their elegibility for college was done even if they went undrafted. Now we have a system for 2026 where players at LSU are going to get cut because an NFL washout wanted their spot.
That would have been a tough pill for Florida fans to swallow.
Sumrall was asked about it all on Monday. The irony is that Sumrall talked in the spring about how he wished there was still a spring transfer portal to improve the roster, but now that there is essentially this one-time chance to grab from a newly opened portal, he claims Florida isn’t going to make any additions, as tempting as it may be:
“I'm always open to adding, if we can add. But the timing of who you add, how you add them. I had a guy from NFL training camp, but he's waiting to figure out, does he get cut or does he not get cut?
We're looking at all of it. We're following all of it. We've had conversations with some people, but there's been nothing that's felt like it could fit or make sense for us. And, look, I had a Jake Retzlaff last year on July 27th.
So I'm not like holier-than-thou, acting like I'm not going to add a player. If it's better – if it's best for Florida football for us to add a player, we'll add a player. But at the same time, I think you have to – we're already at a roster number right now. So if I add a player today, you don't have to do it. I have to go out there and cut one.”
Florida fans ponder what the cost of winning is
It comes down to whether or not one feels it matters to have respect from others while winning. Alabama won a ton, and people hated them for it, but they still had respect from people while doing it. Michigan, meanwhile, won a national championship that will forever have an asterisk attached to it in the eyes of college football fans.
Kiffin has always been one to needle the college football world, and until the SEC, NCAA, or a judge stops him, what he is doing is considered legal. But much like Chick Hicks winning the Piston Cup in the movie Cars, does climbing to the top of the mountain matter if nobody cares and everyone has tuned out?
In the end, Florida fans will never have to know.
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