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There isn’t a single football program in the country that’s used the transfer portal to its advantage ahead of the upcoming season than Ole Miss, and Lane Kiffin acknowledged that reality while nonetheless calling for major changes to a “horrible” system he thinks is in need of some serious reform.
It’s been six years since the NCAA introduced the transfer portal that streamlined the relocation process for student-athletes who were interested in taking their talents to another program.
It was a significant development, but it wasn’t one that seemed poised to have a dramatic impact on the landscape of college sports at the time it was instituted. However, that’s certainly ended up being the case based on the current state of affairs.
In 2021, the NCAA repealed the rule that had previously required most student-athletes to sit out for a year before becoming eligible to play at their new school if they decided to transfer (which had obviously disincentivized going down that particular path).
The tweak was originally positioned as a one-time exemption, but the floodgates officially opened earlier this year courtesy of a new policy that grants unlimited transfers with no penalty in the vast majority of cases.
As things currently stand, Ole Miss leads the pack when it comes to the college football programs that have capitalized on the transfer portal ahead of the 2024 campaign; Lane Kiffin landed a grand total of 24 players, which includes major gets like former Texas A&M defensive lineman Walter Nolen, ex-Florida DE Princely Umanmielen, and one-time South Carolina WR Antwane Wells Jr.
During a recent interview with The Athletic, Kiffin (who’s been the head coach at Ole Miss since 2021) was more than happy to admit the Rebels have taken advantage of a system he absolutely torched while sounding the alarm about its ability to stoke complacency among players he asserts are at an increased risk of being taken advantage of by unscrupulous actors.
Kiffin was hesitant to float any specific vision, and while he repeatedly acknowledged he and Ole Miss have benefitted from the transfer portal to an unrivaled degree this year, he clearly hopes that status will add more weight to the concerns he voiced, saying:
“The current system probably benefits us as much as any school in America. And I’m telling you it’s a horrible system, so what does that tell you?
I should be sitting here saying don’t change anything. But it’s really not good. Maybe when I was younger I wouldn’t say a word, because I’d be like, ‘This is great, selfishly, for where I’m at.’ But it’s not at all for the big picture of college football or the student-athletes.”
One of Kiffin’s primary concerns is the way the transfer portal has taught players to handle adversity, saying,
“When things don’t go exactly their way, they, in the middle of the season already, mentally go, ‘I’ll just go in the portal the next window or in spring ball. You know, I don’t really like this. I didn’t get enough balls today in practice. I’m gonna go in the next portal window.
I don’t think that’s good. So there’s been some, in my opinion, some negative come out of this, for the player.
At this point, the transfer portal is inextricably tied to NIL deals, and Kiffin also called attention to the lack of transparency surrounding how much money is actually changing hands and how that can lead to players being misled, noting:
“They also get lied to by people and told, “Oh, you need to go in the portal because you’ll get $500,000 at these schools because that’s what DBs are making right now in the portal.”
And people can just make up whatever they want. It’s the agents trying to push them in the portal.”
It’s pretty clear something needs to change, but at this point, it’s hard not to wonder if college football will reach the point of no return before the necessary tweaks are made.