PHILADELPHIA– Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin may have landed two of the most coveted transfers– USC quarterback Jaxson Dart and TCU running back Zach Barnes– in college football. But because of the transfer portal and the new rules that allow players to be paid for name, image and likeness, he says it has become harder than ever for the Rebels to complete with elite programs for blue chip prospects.
‘We don’t have the same funding resources as some of the schools do for NIL deals,” he said at a pre-signing day press briefing yesterday. “It’s basically dealing with salary caps. Now we have a sport that has completely different salary caps and some of these schools have five to 10 times more than everybody else in what they can pay the players. I know nobody used those phrases but that’s what it is.’;
Ole Miss currently has the top 22 class nationally. But the Rebels rank 11th in the SEC, well behind Texas A & M, Alabama and Georgia, which have the highest ranked classes.
”In free agency in the NFL, players usually got to the most money,” Kiffin said. “Well, these kids are 17 and 18 years old They’re going to go there they paid the most. I’m not complaining it just is what is is. Whenever there’s things created, there’s a lot of times problems people didn’t think about You just legalized paying players like people used to cheat.”
The Aggies are posed to sign their fourth straight top 10 class nationally and first No. 1 class ever
“I joked the other day that i didn’t know if Texas A & M was going to incur a luxury tax in how much they paid for their signing class,” Kiffin said.
The Rebels had 13 players enroll at mid-season from transfer portal. but he criticized current NCAA rules that allow the players to be eligible immediately
It may be time for the NCAA to limit the number of scholarships college football coaches give in any given year or the rich will just get richer since there is obviously no limit on the amount of money a player can make in NIL.
”Like anything, transfer thing is not over,” Kiffin said. “Until they figure out how to do this better, you’re going to see a whole other group after spring ball that leaves places. this is an ongoing thing.
King suggested college football needs to adopt some of the transfer policy similar to the NFL, which limited when its teams can sign free agents.
“Obviously, you to the people who have done it a long time, they know what they are doing,” Kiffin said. ‘The NFL knows what it’s doing it’s not open free agency all year and for a reason and you’ve got long term contracts for a reason. Kids can’t leave at any point of any year all the time
“Somehow they’re going to. I bet, try to control NILO because now you’ve got these salary caps at places, giving players millions or dollars before they ever play a game, and other places not being able to do it what would the NFL look like if there were a couple of teams where their salary cap was 10 times more than everybody’s else salary cap. that’s where we’re headed, so they’re going to have to do something.”
