Lane Kiffin details how NIL augmented the initial transfer portal design

Two earth-shaking changes to college sports came along over the past couple seasons. Players are now allowed enter the transfer portal and change schools once without having to sit out any longer. Also, players are allowed to make money off of their name, image and likeness (NIL). But Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin believes the effects of those changes on each other are scary.

Kiffin told reporters, “you have a combination of two things happen at the same time which created this monster.” In reference to the changing of transfer and NIL laws over the last few years. He believes the explosion in NIL opportunities for the players is leading to them being temped to use the portal.

Kiffin says the portal was originally intended for guys who weren’t getting the playing time that they wanted and believed they could get somewhere else. But now, good players, “players who have produced,” are entering the portal to look around and see if they can get more money. Even though the desired money may not always be there.

He calls it a “system where you can opt into free agency whenever you want.”

Players see a star like Bryce Young making literally millions of dollars and think there has to be a load of cash waiting for them somewhere. The transfer portal makes that process easy. Players can enter and talk with other schools, look around and see if another school is willing to negotiate better NIL deals than they had at their previous school. And if these players don’t find the NIL opportunities they hoped for, they can exit the portal and come back to school. The only problem is that the school may have also taken advantage of the portal and replaced them with a new guy.

Kiffin, Ole Miss load up in transfer portal

Lane Kiffin himself has no problem taking guys from the transfer portal. In fact, he uses the portal to his advantage as much as any coach in the country. Per the On3 transfer database, Ole Miss has two top-10 transfers committed and six of the top-50 total players. Also nine of the top 100. The Rebels certainly re-tooled their roster after a 10-3 2021 campaign.

Some of those transfers also project to have a hefty NIL valuation. The 7th-ranked transfer in the country, former TCU running back Zach Evans, has an NIL valuation of $395,000. 10th ranked transfer and future Rebel Jaxson Dart, a quarterback from USC, also values at north of 300k at $367,000. Surely possible NIL opportunities played a role in these stars’ decisions to head to Oxford.

NIL and the transfer portal may be a flawed marriage, but guys are using both to further their careers financially and on the football field. Even some of Lane Kiffin’s players.