Okay, he knew what he was doing with that one…
As the saga of college football, NIL, and the transfer portal continues rocking towards lunacy, coaches are doing their best to keep up with this modern time where backup quarterbacks make millions and players are switching schools faster than Katt Williams runs the 40.
This new landscape has forced out some of the old guard, like Nick Saban, and caused new school coaches like Deion Sanders to focus his recruiting efforts on players that fit the culture, not necessarily the highest rated ones that will abandon ship when a bigger school comes calling.
While huge endorsement deals and “salaries” from boosters seem to be a common way to entice potential transfers to check out your program, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin went with a different approach when the Transfer Portal opened on April 16th.
Now, along with being a big name in college football coaching since being the offensive coordinator for USC, Matt Leinart, and Reggie Bush back in their heyday, Kiffin is never one to shy away from making a statement that lights the internet on fire.
Remember him flaming Brian Kelly’s strange dance video and saying he found his punter “down at the frat house at a keg party”?
Well, he’s done gone viral again, but this time it was for a not-so-cleverly disguised post to grab the interest of available football players. Kiffin posted a video to X of his dog, Juice, with a few sisters from the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority on campus, and let’s just say people immediately got the hidden meaning of it…
The title of Portal King does seem to be a bit warranted. In 2022 and 2023, Ole Miss ranked 1st and 6th for transfer pickups, according to ON3, and currently is ranked 2nd for the 2024 class.
Has that translated to great on-field play? Well, not exactly but things do look to picking up.
Kiffin took over a 4-8 team for the 2020 season, which as we know was all sorts of a mess, and brought their win total to a whopping 5. They have made 2 New Year’s Six bowls in the following three years, including a 2023 Peach Bowl victory and end of season Top 10 ranking, but they have yet to compete for an SEC title or make the College Football Playoffs.
With a slew of new talent pilling into Oxford, Mississippi, it seems like this team has potential to make a run for it in 2024, being named one of 7 potential championship contenders by Sports Illustrated.
Time will tell, but I do have to say, this is some high level marketing by Lane Kiffin.
