Jon Sumrall rejects comparison to LSU football coach Lane Kiffin

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Head coach Lane Kiffin making his way to LSU football was just one move on a chaotic coaching carousel to end the 2025 college football season. The Florida Gators, who were also in the mix for Kiffin, made a change at the top, hiring Jon Sumrall away from Tulane.

Kiffin and Sumrall were tied together because they were both sitting head coaches of playoff-bound teams, but also targets of coaching searches. It put both men in an uncomfortable position ahead of the CFP. At SEC Media Days, Sumrall was asked about the comparison.

"Lane said we're going through the same thing," Sumrall said. "I said no, we're not. You're leaving an SEC school. I'm leaving Tulane. If any university said I couldn't coach in the playoff, I don't think I would have taken the job."

Despite accepting the Florida job, Sumrall coached Tulane in the first round of the CFP at Ole Miss. The Green Wave lost, ending their season. Kiffin, however, was not allowed to coach Ole Miss in the CFP. Ole Miss AD Keith Carter drew a line in the sand. If Kiffin accepted the LSU job, he was done at Ole Miss.

Kiffin pleaded his case with Carter in an attempt to keep coaching, but he wasn't successful. During SEC media day, Kiffin said he regrets how the process played out after his six-year run with the Rebels.

"No two decisions are alike," Sumrall said. "Lane and I are friends. Lane and I talked several times through the process of October and November about what it was looking like for both of our schedules of how things were going to unfold."

LSU and Florida will not meet in 2026.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: Jon Sumrall rejects comparison to LSU football coach Lane Kiffin

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