Kiffin bemoans NIL, portal for football ‘disaster’

• Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff WriterJul 20, 2023, 12:20 PM ET

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  • Covers the SEC.Joined ESPN
  • in 2012.
  • Graduate of Auburn University.NASHVILLE, Tenn.– Ole

Miss coach Lane Kiffin didn’t await concerns on the impact of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness deals at SEC media days on Thursday. Rather, he resolved both topics during his opening declaration, calling the existing state of college football a”catastrophe.”Kiffin prefaced his remarks by stating he enjoys that players can get

paid however said the unexpected effect of NIL is a”pay-for-play”system where players follow the cash and the teams with the deepest pockets get the best talent.With the transfer portal, Kiffin stated,” totally free company “now exists– other than that, unlike expert sports, every college player can enter into complimentary agency twice a year with the spring and winter season transfer windows.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Said Kiffin: “We have actually got expert sports,”except without any salary cap or luxury tax, and the outcome is myriad”problems”for coaches.

“And I’m not grumbling about it ’cause we capitalize, certainly, of complimentary firm,” he added.Ole Miss has actually been among the most active teams in the country in the transfer portal.

At quarterback, the Rebs returned previous USC transfer Jaxson Dart, who tossed for almost 2,000 yards last season, and added a pair of transfers in former All-Big 12 selection Spencer Sanders from Oklahoma State and previous luxury prospect Walker Howard.Between transfers and high school employees, Kiffin tallied 40 new scholarship players on the roster this summer. “That’s the world we live in,”Kiffin said.”But at the exact same time, I don’t think that’s really good for college football. These huge overhauls of

rosters every year really is not in the very best interest of college football. “There’s sort of your state of union on the situation of

what all coaches are handling around the nation– really, a poor system that isn’t improving and now is going to get worse. Because once again, now we just take a look at hiring rankings and you’re visiting that they’re usually going to follow this donor base and what schools are going to choose to give the most money to the players. So it is what it is. We’ll deal with it like we make with everything else, however in some way it’s got to get fixed due to the fact that there’s no system around it.”Kiffin and his personnel have nevertheless browsed the system well, earning 3 straight bowl looks while going 23-13 in 3 seasons in Oxford.Ole Miss, which opens the season at home against Mercer on Sept. 2, returns among the leading running backs in the country in sophomore Quinshon Judkins, who led the SEC with 1,567 hurrying backyards last season.