Acquiring talent has never been so wide open in the history of college football. The impact NIL and the transfer portal have had on the sport is immeasurable right now. Every coach seemingly takes different strategies when it comes to recruiting talent into their program.
Looking at Colorado, Deion Sanders seemingly wants to develop less talent and would like the “90% projects” coming in via the transfer portal. At Southern California, Lincoln Riley used the portal magnificently in his debut season luring in Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams and Biletnikoff Award-winning wide receiver Jordan Addison to a New Year’s 6 bowl berth. While the Trojans crashed this season largely in part due to their poor defense, Riley has continued to use the portal to fill gaps with defensive deficiencies.
Down in Oxford, Mississippi, the always interesting Lane Kiffin has embraced the transfer portal like Riley and Sanders has but also has remained consistent in traditional recruiting.
As the Rebels completed another Top 20 class, Kiffin was asked if he treated high school recruiting any differently than his approach to the transfer portal.
“I’m not going to come up here and give our whole studies and game plans to everything that we do, just like game day. I think that we’re pretty creative in those areas of research and analytics and studies. You’ve heard us say not just thinking outside the box but creating a new box and I think we really do that. Maybe someday I’ll explain why we do all this stuff, maybe it’ll make more sense, but there’s a lot into the breakdown of the high school players and the style of high school players that we take. The mentality of them, how they think, but I think that’s more important now, knowing that if things don’t go exactly how they want then other guys are going to go into the portal really fast. Then what do you really have? You’ve got nothing, and these collectives played this money out for these big star players, and a year from now they’re playing against you.”
— Lane Kiffin
Kiffin knows all too well about big star players playing against him, in his current transfer portal class, seven of the 11 incoming transfers are either current SEC opponents or will be in the SEC in the case of former Oklahoma safety Key Lawrence.
https://twitter.com/CFBRep/status/1736505184145068173
More Sports News
The results for Kiffin are mixed at Ole Miss.
On one side, Kiffin has guided the Rebels to a second New Year’s Six bowl in three seasons, the first time that has been achieved since the Hugh Freeze led teams in 2014 and 2015. In Kiffin’s four seasons at The Grove, the Rebels have the third most wins in the SEC trailing only perennial national powers Georgia and Alabama.
On the other side, Kiffin has never won a New Year’s Six bowl, has a combined 0-5 record against Alabama and Georgia, and has a career overall record of 2-15 in matchups against teams ranked in the Top 10. Ironically, Kiffin’s Peach Bowl coaching opponent is Penn State’s James Franklin, both I profiled on who is the nation’s worst big-game coach, another coach hoping to take their program from being a second-tier program in their conference into the top tier.
The importance of winning this Peach Bowl, which would give Ole Miss just their fifth New Year’s Six bowl win in 50 years and the program’s first 11-win season in school history, also translates to recruiting:
“It helps a lot. I think you guys know, I’m pretty realistic when I’m up here. From the beginning, NIL and collectives are important in this. People used to say they aren’t, but they are. But also, other things are a factor too, and I do think us winning helps. As you said, third most wins in the SEC since we’ve gotten here behind Georgia and Alabama, and I think it shows kids that you can come here and win. I definitely feel that helps. I feel that going into schools, family rooms, college campuses nowadays. I think that there’s a different feeling walking into Ole Miss than there was when we got here. Different acceptance level and different interest.”
— Lane Kiffin
With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2024, Ole Miss will be in the hunt for one of those slots.
The deck of cards that comprises the SEC gets tougher with Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference, and Ole Miss has an October 26 date at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and takes a year off from Alabama but instead gets Georgia at home two weeks later.
Ole Miss does have five Top 15 wins during Kiffin’s first four seasons. The only Ole Miss coaches to win five or more Top 15 wins since World War II besides Kiffin are Johnny Vaught and Huge Freeze. In that vein, Kiffin is historically as good as any Ole Miss coach.
However, the goal to achieve the program’s seventh SEC Championship, last won in 1963, is one that the Rebels will continue to chase.
While Kiffin has reaped and has been at the forefront of portal success, he hasn’t yet gotten that program-changing transfer like others have enjoyed.
Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Texas, and Florida State all have had transfer boons from the portal that have changed their programs for the better. Ole Miss hasn’t had a Jared Verse, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., Quinn Ewers, or Caleb Williams type of impact. When it comes to recruiting, according to 247Sports, Ole Miss has the 11th-best recruiting class in the SEC. With that kind of competition, that is the definition of a deck stacked against you.
Kiffin is the brand Ole Miss needs, he embraces his role and keeps the Rebels in the thick of things. The self-proclaimed “Portal King” can rack up all the portal crowns he wants, but none of that matters if Ole Miss can’t win a major game or bring home any significant bowl or conference championship.
