Not many days have gone since the frenzied ‘Fire Billy Napier’ cry has settled down a bit. The Florida Gators’ coach started the regular college football season on a pretty lackluster note, garnering a lot of flakes from the outside. As a 20-33 loss to Texas A&M hit the breaking point in Week 3, netizens made a petition to replace him right then. But somehow, the Gators’ coach survived the backlash but couldn’t get better. The stacks kept on getting worse as the weeks passed. They are out of the playoff conversation after facing three consecutive losses. As they are now gearing up for the Week 13 clash against the Rebels, a win can do much more than just silence the anti-Napier campaign in Gainesville.

Florida and Ole Miss players will butt heads on the Swamp this weekend, for the Rebels want to secure their trip to Atlanta, and the Gators look to play a spoiler on their big fat hope. But the real rivalry will pan out between the coaches. Lane Kiffin, 49, has widely been rumored as an ideal Gators’ fit if and when they replace Napier. If Gators can hand a clean defeat to Kiffin’s Ole Miss, it would be quite an answer to those who compared and vouched for Kiffin’s Florida connection.

”The chaos scenario is that Florida gets to take down the coach who everyone wants to replace Billy Napier. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that Florida fans were totally out on the Billy Napier era, and they just had little heart eyes looking at Lane Kiffin, but then they would leave the swamp. If Florida is able to pull off this upset victory, they will leave the swamp with immaculate vibes because you think you’ve got the right coach, you think you’ve got the right quarterback and you were just able to show to that head coach over there at Ole Miss that being at Ole Miss ain’t like being in Florida,” said CBS Sports Chip Patterson.

There is a legitimate chance that Florida will get their flowers at the Swamp. Firstly, the win over LSU broke their long-standing losing spree and revitalized the entire team. Thanks to DJ Lagway’s heroic injury comeback. As an insider revealed, Lagway isn’t likely to let his hurt hamstring get in the way of his team’s good going anymore. The kid will play with an apparatus that will work as an extra muscle to allow him to move comfortably.

Red zone for Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss! They must turn to some unique masterstroke to stop Lagway; otherwise, it’s going to be Lagway’s game and coach Napier’s very personal victory over Lane Kiffin. That said, on the flip side of the story, Kiffin doesn’t really look to come to Gainesville at all.

Lane Kiffin looks firm in his Ole Miss commitment

Lane Kiffin has been at the helm of Ole Miss football since 2020. Apart from the professional ties, he developed strong bonds with all the players out there. He knows how they function, what they need to flourish, and more. It’s more than being a head coach. Kiffin’s harmonious stewardship with the Rebels sits pretty well with the fans and veterans alike as well. His records have also been pretty decent so far. So, there is no single reason for the veteran coach to switch teams now. He sees all the vehement Florida coach narratives and doesn’t bother to pay heed. But in a passive stance, Kiffin plain sells his loyalty to the Rebels.

After Ole Miss’s mid-season victory against Wake Forest, fans flocked to hype it up on X. As a part of his active fan-engagement practices, The Rebels’ coach shortlisted a few tweets to reply. In a reply to one tweet, Kiffin reminisced about a similar win by his late father, Monte Kiffin, on the same ground back in 1981.

The HC genuinely connects with his present job in more than one way. He recently expressed how he wanted a safety net for Ole Miss by not qualifying for the death trap at Atlanta if he could. All these denote a single thing: Lane Kiffin belongs to Ole Miss, with or without Billy Napier giving him an answer.