Florida’s coaching carousel just took another twist — and this one has Vanderbilt fans raising eyebrows. According to a report from Chris Low of On3 Sports, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea recently interviewed with the University of Florida for its open head coaching position, despite reportedly finalizing a new six-year contract extension with the Commodores only days earlier.
Lea, now 44, has quietly led one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Vanderbilt football history. Across nearly five seasons at the helm, he’s guided the Commodores to a 25–35 overall record — numbers that might not wow at first glance, yet tell a story of steady progress. After a 7–6 finish and Birmingham Bowl victory in 2024 — their first winning season and bowl triumph since 2013 — Lea’s 2025 squad has stunned the college football world with a 9–2 record and a peak at No. 9 in the AP Top 25. One more win this season would lock in Vanderbilt’s first-ever 10-win campaign and keep their faint College Football Playoff hopes alive. It’s no wonder the SEC named Lea its Coach of the Year last season.
A Vanderbilt alumnus himself, Lea once played fullback for the Commodores between 2002 and 2004, having previously started his college athletic career in baseball at Birmingham-Southern and Belmont. His homecoming story has made him a beloved figure in Nashville — which makes Florida’s interest all the more intriguing.
But here’s where things get complicated. Florida has long had its sights set on a more high-profile target: Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. Sources say athletic director Scott Stricklin and other key Florida decision-makers met with Kiffin’s representatives on November 20 as part of their ongoing coaching search. Yet reports now suggest the Gators have widened their candidate pool, indicating that Kiffin may not be the only name under serious consideration.
Lea isn’t the only surprising contender. Tulane’s Jon Sumrall was also reportedly in the mix, with a meeting originally scheduled for November 20 before being abruptly canceled. Meanwhile, according to Swamp247, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham turned down an opportunity to interview for the Florida job — a significant move, given how prominently his name had surfaced in early rumors.
Adding to the drama, Swamp247 also shared in late October that James Franklin, the former Penn State head coach, viewed Florida’s vacancy as the premier coaching opportunity in college football. Still, insiders claimed UF’s preference for Kiffin made Franklin cautious about pursuing the position. Interestingly, Franklin has since landed at Virginia Tech. Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, another name tied to Florida’s coaching search, took himself off the board by signing a contract extension with the Tigers earlier this week.
All this follows Florida’s decision to part ways with Billy Napier on October 19. Though the Gators had just clinched a tight 23–21 home win over Mississippi State, Napier’s overall 3–4 start in 2025 and two-and-a-half-year track record sealed his fate. His final record in Gainesville — 22–23 — places him among only six coaches in the program’s history to finish with a losing mark, dating all the way back to Jack Forsythe’s tenure in the early 1900s. Napier’s .489 winning percentage is the lowest at Florida since Raymond Wolf’s .359 back in 1949. No Gators coach since then had finished below .500 — until now.
Digging deeper, Napier’s record offers a clearer picture of his struggles: 12–16 against SEC opponents, 18–23 versus FBS programs, and just 4–16 in matchups against ranked teams. On the bright side, he went 17–7 at home, but the road was far less kind — 4–12 away and 1–4 in neutral-site contests, including bowl games.
So what happens next? Will Clark Lea — who has revitalized a long-dormant Vanderbilt program — be tempted to leave his alma mater for an SEC powerhouse? Or will Florida double down on its pursuit of Lane Kiffin, betting on star power over stability? Some fans argue Lea’s steady hand could provide the long-term rebuild Florida craves, while others insist only a headline-grabbing hire like Kiffin can relight the spark in Gainesville.
What’s your take — should the Gators go bold or go steady? And if you were Clark Lea, would you walk away from a historic Vanderbilt season for one of college football’s most pressurized jobs?