Lane Kiffin explains how NIL widened gap between haves, have-nots

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is against talking about the impact NIL deals will have on the future of college football. He believes that the sport is moving toward less parity between teams as the top tier further separates itself from the field.

During an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Lane Kiffin provided his thoughts on how NIL will impact teams attempting to execute an underdog story from outside the top tier.

“I’ve in my head put it into three tiers,” said Kiffin. “Here’s your 8–10 teams. This is no different than what’s been going on. How much money they put into recruiting, how much money they put into facilities. All of that. It’s just a different way, but it’s more important than all of it. It used to be ok. Those guys have had the most in the assistant coaches pool so they could hire the best assistant coaches! Or they’ve spent more on facilities!

“Then you have around 8–25 schools in the next tier. I talked to a coach the other day in that group, and he was asking about his player in the portal. I’m explaining it to him, and he’s not dealing with it at all because there’s no NIL at his level. I was like, ‘God, that’s got to be so refreshing—he’s just recruiting.’ Now, there are problems. The player is going to get taken. But it’s almost back to the purity of the game like high school football. As you go up, there is less purity.”

Lane Kiffin on top tier of college football

Lane Kiffin continued talking about the top tier gaining momentum with NIL, even going as far to say it has already impacted the recruiting trail.

“I think you’ve got three levels that are going to get really separated. People down there (25–130), they’ve got no money to give to players. And then you’ve got the middle ground (8–25), and then you’ve got the elite ones (top 8–10).

“In the recruiting process [with the elite ones], coaches can’t say it to recruits, but whoever is talking to [recruits], they say, ‘Just know, you’ll get more here than anywhere else! Whatever you come back with, you’ll get 20% more here.’ Those people are going to get the best players.

“I can recruit way better than you or you can me, but in the end, your school offers more money or mine does, and in the end, that’s where they are going. I could have worked my butt off for three years, and you could have done three minutes. There was a player who went to a school that we got beat on, and I asked him about the relationship with the head coach. He had never talked to him. NIL.”