Lane Kiffin explains how the transfer portal helps create greater competition at key positions
Ole Miss has become known for its extensive use of the transfer portal under head coach Lane Kiffin. For Kiffin, this is because he sees numerous benefits in dipping into the portal for talent, including raising the level of competition at key positions.
Kiffin explained that the transfer portal creates greater competition after the spring game. However, he also wanted to emphasize that there are multiple reasons for bringing in transfer portal depth.
“We hang on this competition because we preach that and you guys report that because we talk about it all the time, but it’s not just competition why you bring people in, it’s to make your roster better and I think that gets forgotten sometimes with the kids or the parents that they don’t understand,” Lane Kiffin said.
“Does it mean you don’t have confidence in our kid? No, it doesn’t. It means we want to win games and we want to have really deep rosters at positions so when things happen, other guys are ready to play.”
Perhaps no position better exemplifies this at Ole Miss than the quarterback position. This offseason, Lane Kiffin brought in Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard from the transfer portal. They’re competing with Jaxson Dart, last year’s starter and a previous transfer into the program in his own right.
“So, it’s not just the competition aspect, it’s the improvement of the overall roster in the specific roster for that position,” Kiffin explained. “That one keeps getting attention, and I think as you look at that, it’d be really hard to argue that we made poor decisions in what we did if you watched today. You saw three guys making a lot of plays and you saw, if you were here a year ago in the spring game, to me you saw a position that looks a lot better than it did one year ago.”
Lane Kiffin has previously explained the logic in bringing in so many transfers to that position
“I said the other day in an article, we’re not here to please the individual player or their family. We’re here to look at the big picture, which means bringing in people, even though they don’t want to. Even if they’re veteran players and it creates competition. And not just competition, injuries happen. You’ve got to play those guys,” Kiffin said.
“Spencer has been very limited because of injury, so I’d like to see him play a lot today. Walker had, obviously, last year redshirted over there at LSU, hasn’t played very much. Great to see those guys play a lot today. Lot of chances in the passing game.”
Lane Kiffin explained how Ole Miss has been effective in the transfer portal
It’s one thing to want to be aggressive in the transfer portal. It’s another thing to be aggressive and good. Ole Miss is both and Lane Kiffin was able to explain how that has happened.
“I think the portal, much like free agents in professional sports, they look at the immediate. I may be signing a one- or two-year contract in free agency, I’m not looking at being there four to five years. So you may look at it differently. I’m not saying what places are better, but you may look at, ‘Hey, it’s a lot more important how do I get featured in the offense or defense I play in?’ vs. ‘Where do I live? How close am I to my family to come to games?'” Kiffin said.
“I think we’ve had a lot of success because kids have looked at ‘I’m going to play for that staff, this is how I fit in their offensive, defensive system,’ and a lot of these guys that you look at, they were guys that weren’t coming to Ole Miss out of high school. They weren’t coming to Ole Miss.”