Report: Mike Norvell Considered Taking Alabama Job, Lane Kiffin Was Top Candidate For FSU

ESPN's Chris Low wrote a lengthy article this week about Alabama's transition from Nick Saban to Kalen DeBoer that touched on a variety of topics.

According to the article, Florida State head coach Mike Norvell was one of only two real candidates for the job and considered making the move to Alabama.

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From the outset, Washington's DeBoer and Florida State's Mike Norvell were at the top of Byrne's list. Both had what Byrne was looking for: a proven head coach who had won on a big stage and shown the propensity to develop players. Byrne declined to go into detail about whom he talked to first or his pecking order. But he had serious conversations with both coaches the day after Saban retired.

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Norvell ultimately stayed at Florida State and landed a new eight-year contract that will pay him more than $10 million a year.

Had Norvell taken the Alabama job, Low reports that Florida State would have moved quickly with Ole Miss coach Lake Kiffin being a top candidate.

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In fact, in the wee hours of that Friday morning, the fear among Florida State officials was that Norvell was close to trading his FSU garnet for Alabama crimson. Sources told ESPN that Florida State was poised to move quickly if that happened and that Kiffin would be a prime candidate to replace Norvell.

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Let's play a hypothetical: Say Norvell takes the Alabama job, and Lane Kiffin takes the Florida State job.

Who would Ole Miss go after to replace Kiffin?