If the reports from On3 and ESPN are true, the Florida Gators are out of the running for Lane Kiffin. Gators Online first reported that the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes is down to Ole Miss and LSU and that Florida is moving on to its Plan B.
And despite Scott Stricklin's efforts to control the narrative that Florida was in the running up until this morning, one realizes in retrospect that putting any faith in Stricklin to pull this off was a foolish gambit in the first place.
Scott Stricklin continues to fail in Gainesville
Let's rewind to a little over a year ago, when Florida was annihilated by Texas. We wrote at the time that Gator fans were being gaslit into believing losses like that were normal, and we closed the piece by saying:
"And as Florida descends into being a national laughing stock, the powers that be want us to just smile and nod and act like everything is fine."
Those words continue to ring true today.
Stricklin could have pulled the plug on Napier last year, but he gaslit everyone into buying in for one more year. Two problems have emerged from that:
- Florida is 3-8 this season.
- Florida would have had the coaching market to itself last season.
By waiting one more year, Florida invited LSU into the picture, as well as an Ole Miss squad one win away from making the playoffs to have leverage on Kiffin.
But as the Kiffin saga marched along, Florida insiders were confident that the Gators were positioned well, even though everyone else around the country felt that Florida had no shot.
How does that happen?
Oh, right, because Stricklin and his cronies want to feed a narrative that Florida was in it until the very end, when in reality, they got left behind at the starting line.
That's not a shot at the insiders, by the way, as they can only report what Florida is telling them. That's a direct shot at the delusion and downright malpractice that Stricklin has when it comes to leading Florida's athletic department.
Florida is becoming the WWE
If you don't follow the WWE and/or UFC at all, they have both been under the control of a company called TKO in recent years. Both products have taken a noticeable nosedive in terms of quality over the past two years, and yet TKO isn't bothered in the slightest because they are still making money at a record pace.
For example, the cheapest ticket one can get to an upcoming WWE house show in Tampa, AKA it's not a televised episode, is $60. A seat in the 1st level will run over $100 per ticket, which was under $50 just a few years ago.
Again, for a non-televised event that has no bearing on the "storyline."
What does this have to do with the Florida Gators?
Well, much like the WWE, the Florida Gators haven't seemed to care about the quality of their product because they know they are going to sell out The Swamp no matter what, and they have TV contracts that are going to get them paid no matter what.
They have made it a point to highlight the sell-out streak, going to gaslight fans into thinking they are bad fans if they don't show up, and to pressure season ticket holders into renewing because "someone else might take your seat."
But at some point, the shell game runs out of steam.
Scott Stricklin has failed on almost every single hire he has made, and yet he keeps getting rewarded with an extension.
He's hired two soccer coaches, and they both failed. He's hired two women's basketball coaches, and they both failed. He has hired a men's and women's tennis coach, and they have both failed. He's hired a volleyball coach who is currently failing. And he hired the single worst football coach in Florida history since 1950.
Even his one success, Todd Golden, only happened because Mike White opted to leave on his own.
Stricklin will do everything he can to convince Gator fans that is Plan B option is just as good as Plan A.
And if anyone believes that, then we have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell them.