Florida’s Bona Fide Offer to Lane Kiffin Sparks SEC Firestorm

Upon further review, Florida is making a bona fide offer to Lane Kiffin, with sources putting an actual number down.

By CARLTON REESE

GatorBaitMedia.com

Forgive me while I crawl out from beyond the grid where I have been hibernating the past several days. The old saying goes that “you miss a day, and you miss a lot” is certainly true for someone who kept his phone and computer at home while camping in the wild.

Upon re-entering the so-called “grid” and its purported “civilization” I find the states of Mississippi and Florida virtually on fire over the recent report in GatorBait detailing sources claiming a bona fide offer is being made to Lane Kiffin through his agent Jimmy Sexton. Is this not the story we have believed would be coming down the pike?

Now I’m reading all the consternation regarding what amounts to seemingly inconsequential details regarding the duration of contracts allowed in the state of Mississippi and its role in Florida’s leverage in any negotiations in the matter. The original story with Franz Beard’s byline notes only the existence of such a cap, known as Section 96 of the Mississippi Constitution which limits the length of contracts for public employees (including coaches at state universities); the story makes no claim that such provisions can be lawyered out or structured privately, which they can and certainly have in this instance.

As someone coming out of his information vacuum and looking at all this from a dispassionate 30,000 feet, I cannot believe the fervor regarding this red herring aspect of the story; in fact, this is not even the story. I entered the daylight to read the real story: the University of Florida is making a bona fide offer to Lane Kiffin, with sources putting an actual number down: $13.6 million per year for six years.

More angst, mainly from Ole Miss people who are calling BS on the story mainly because of the line regarding Section 96, has sent a lot of arrows the way of GatorBait and particularly the venerable Buddy Martin. Make no mistake, though, this is about sources within the University of Florida, Ole Miss, the SEC, athletic boosters, etc. and whether or not one is to trust them. In that sense, this is more about trusting the journalists at GatorBait than it is about trusting a particular source. In this respect, my full confidence is with those journalists whose sources are and always have rested on the rock of credibility.

So, I’d like to recap in an effort clear the fog but also bring myself up to speed on the actual journalism sans the internet noise. What we have based on the recent story is simply a move beyond all the hope, talk and speculation that Lane Kiffin becomes the next head coach of the University of Florida football team. We have progressed to the point where we now know that the power brokers within Gator Nation have actually drawn up numbers on a contract for Kiffin and his agent to ponder. This is no small thing – it is a huge first step in a process that for now looks to end with Kiffin in Gainesville while offers are NOT being made to Eli Drinkwitz, James Franklin, Alex Golesh, et al.

Reporting what a credible source close to the situation is claiming is the obligation of any news outlet and no one should be apologizing. The basement trolls have had their knives out for GatorBait, and Buddy Martin in particular, claiming the story to be nothing more than “clickbait.” Such terms are used to undermine the integrity of the author and usually come from those who egregiously lack said integrity themselves.

Perhaps reading about UF making an offer to Kiffin seems premature at this stage of the process and making it public is of little service to that process; nonetheless, it is the truth. This is the big leagues, folks, and like it or not Gator fans want to stay up to speed on this process and that’s exactly what they will be – informed.

Over the years, GatorBait has evolved in its mission. These days, the art of the sports columnist has been revived in its digital pages, but that does not mean journalism has been set aside. For one, I am profoundly excited to read such journalism grounded with inside sources the way this game used to work. How all this ends up may or may not be the conclusion of this particular arc, but it is an arc nonetheless, and I for one am paying attention.