The Florida State Seminoles quietly entered the race for Lane Kiffin before the former Ole Miss football coach took his talents to LSU, according to ESPN .

Florida State athletic director Michael Alford was wooing Kiffin behind the scenes last month at the same time SEC rivals Florida and LSU were recruiting the coach, sources familiar with the search told the outlet.

The Seminoles then announced on Nov. 23 that embattled coach Mike Norvell would be back for a seventh season after it became clear Kiffin wasn’t interested.

Kiffin and Alford worked together at USC in the early 2000s.

The Seminoles would have owed Norvell about $54 million if they fired him without cause, plus another $18 million to pay off his assistants.

During his introductory press conference at LSU on Monday, K

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