Lane Kiffin details big concern he has when the transfer portal reopens this spring
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin has earned a reputation as "the portal king" thanks to his ability to consistently land top talent from the NCAA transfer portal. Ole Miss added 13 players from the portal (per 247Sports) during this past recruiting cycle, including former LSU quarterback Walker Howard (the No. 5 overall quarterback […]
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin has earned a reputation as "the portal king" thanks to his ability to consistently land top talent from the NCAA transfer portal.
Ole Miss added 13 players from the portal (per 247Sports) during this past recruiting cycle, including former LSU quarterback Walker Howard (the No. 5 overall quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class).
Kiffin, however, isn't necessarily excited about the portal reopening this spring (the NCAA transfer portal will be "open for business" for a 15-day period this spring).
The Ole Miss head coach was asked about the reopening of the portal this week and he pointed out that it also means the Rebels will be at risk of losing players.
"I mean, everybody thinks that's good because they're like, ok, well you're gonna go get some pieces," said Kiffin when asked about the portal reopening. "You know, like we've seen, you lose pieces as well. I think that a year ago really, being the first big portal, you know, we got a lot in and not much out. A lot went out early on, and now you're seeing a little bit of both. So it's good because you can go add, but also kind of worried about what you lose, too."
It's easy to see where Kiffin is coming from with his comments. The transfer portal can be a great tool for coaches, but it also causes significantly more stress and work.
Coaches essentially don't know what their roster will look like from month to month, let alone year to year. And just because players can only enter the portal at certain times of the year (the winter and the spring), doesn't mean that players quit leaving programs during other times of the year. Players can announce their intentions to enter the portal at any time, which makes managing a college football roster a major challenge.
Unfortunately, there's no good answer right now on how to fix the roster management issue. I think most folks in college football believe the portal is a good thing, but it's created more headaches for coaches. And it's caused the offseason workload to increase for those same coaches.
I'm sure that eventually there will be a better method that benefits the programs and the student-athletes. But for now, it's the wild, wild west. And even the portal king has some nervousness when it comes to the portal reopening this spring.
