Florida lost Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes. It may have won something better

There was a moment last weekend when it all came together. The attitude, the big-game bravado, the winning.

And Lane Kiffin was nowhere to be found at Florida.

Not in the temporary hopes and dreams last fall of desperate Florida fans, not on the field last Saturday while the Gators were punishing the hottest team in college football under new coach Jon Sumrall ― and finally reestablishing their national presence.

The gift that never came last year just keeps on giving.

“First day we saw him, we knew things would be different,” Florida edge Jayden Woods said of Sumrall. “None of this is surprising to us.”

But it’s a whole lot of crazy to so many others.

A brief recap: Florida wanted Kiffin, Kiffin wanted LSU or Ole Miss and eventually broke the news to Florida officials. Florida pivoted to Sumrall — even before Kiffin’s rejection — and the next thing you know, LSU is celebrating the hiring of Kiffin like he’s the second coming of Nick Saban.

And Sumrall is spending time at his introductory news conference asking a tepid, rabid fanbase to believe in what he’s selling.

Both coaches spent the next 10 months deep in the media…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/