The Athletic's Stewart Mandel on how Lane Kiffin uses the Portal...

[Maroon Eagle]

Three paragraphs stand out to me:

“I tell our (staff), find guys that are productive and playing well at the place they’re at, versus they were really talented but they’re not playing,” said Kiffin. “And find guys that the places wanted to keep versus that the places ran out.”

Instead, every player Ole Miss offers, whether he’s a high school prospect, juco transfer or portal entrant, is the product of a complex scholarship equation. How will this affect the program’s balance between short-term help and long-term stability? Will the player wind up staying for one year or three? Will he be a day-one starter or mostly help fill depth? Is it more important to add someone at his position or another?

“Most people say if you sign 25 high school kids, you’re building for the future more — but are you?” said Kiffin. “You don’t have 25 kids for five years like you used to, because they have the one-time transfer rule now. But now that one-time transfer can’t transfer again. So your analytics of that guy staying in your program are higher than the high school guy.”

Took a visit to Oxford recently to find out more about how Lane Kiffin (aka The Portal King) manages his roster. I learned just how complicated it is to build a roster in 2022. https://t.co/fCwkhyrsO1— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) April 22, 2022

 

[Smoked Toag]

We should be doing the same sort of thing, but not the way he does it. I really don't like his analytics. How many players are you truly going to find that are good enough to play in the SEC, but also that the other team didn't run off? Doesn't make sense.

Me personally, I think our strategy should be to raid Alabama/LSU/Texas A&M/Georgia/etc. of the 4 stars that are sitting the bench. They are obviously talented and now they have a chip on their shoulder towards their former team. That's the essence of MSU, that helps the 'dawg' mentality. Especially on offense.

I think we can recruit MS well enough to always have a stout defense. Bartoo said on OOB the other day that we are like 2nd in the SEC in NFL starts on defense over the past 10 years.

That's the beauty of college sports - you have to pick a general outline of your program. So many ADs and coaches just don't do this, or overlook it. I love that aspect. The Xs and Os are really secondary to how you acquire talent. All you need is a simple scheme and work on fundamentals. Nick Saban basically has no real scheme, they are just so sound fundamentally, and talent takes of the rest, well, because they can. We have to do a little more than that as far as scheming.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

We should be doing the same sort of thing, but not the way he does it. I really don't like his analytics. How many players are you truly going to find that are good enough to play in the SEC, but also that the other team didn't run off? Doesn't make sense.

I agree with you generally here but it appears that Kiffin has found enough folks. Look at the 247 Transfer Team rankings (link)

He's found a good way to game the system and therefore get the attention of student-athletes.

 

[patdog]

In hindsight, we should have hired Lane Kiffin when Mullen left.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

In hindsight, we should have hired Lane Kiffin when Mullen left.

I don’t think he would have worked very long for Cohen. He is a great fit at Ole Miss.

 

[MedDawg]

Dart didn't play that well at the school he transferred from and was not wanted by the school. Yet somehow he went from a four star HS recruit to a 5-star .99999 transfer after a 1,000 passing yard season.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I agree with you generally here but it appears that Kiffin has found enough folks. Look at the 247 Transfer Team rankings (link)

He's found a good way to game the system and therefore get the attention of student-athletes.

QB is a little different animal, as only one can play. I definitely think you can find value there. The RB from TCU is a good pull, but again it's TCU, so he's essentially dropping down a level to get him. I know they've had some good teams but they don't generally recruit like the SEC. It's an obvious step up for that guy. Are any of the other guys former starters?

 

[Smoked Toag]

I don’t think he would have worked very long for Cohen. He is a great fit at Ole Miss.

Agree, fit means a lot. And funny enough, he's trying to get out of Ole Miss, so he doesn't even realize he's a great fit there. BUT....he'd be a better fit at USC, Texas, Miami.

 

[PirateDawg]

Another good season and he be gone.

 

[Irondawg]

I’d take him over Leach as a coach I think, but he would have been miserable here. Not a culture fit at all.

 

[patdog]

And funny enough, he's trying to get out of Ole Miss.

Is he? I’ve got a feeling he’s not trying nearly as hard as a lot of us wish.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Is he? I’ve got a feeling he’s not trying nearly as hard as a lot of us wish.

It's not just us. All of the talking heads are pretty much in agreement on it.

Now, he wasn't going to LSU or Oklahoma or something dumb like that. He wanted USC and Miami.

These guys aren't all pure mercenaries. Some are, some are in the middle, some aren't. Neither are the majority of the players, even though that's all that makes the news now. Fit matters.

 

[patdog]

The talking head are very often wrong. They’re just speculating like we all are. What I do know is he leveraged that talk into an extension & raise. And in a sport where the average coach last 3.8 years, if he doesn’t leave this year he’ll beat the average.

 

[Smoked Toag]

The talking head are very often wrong. They’re just speculating like we all are. What I do know is he leveraged that talk into an extension & raise. And in a sport where the average coach last 3.8 years, if he doesn’t leave this year he’ll beat the average.

Agree to disagree, when everyone from Bo Bounds to Paul Finebaum know what's up (and Finebaum has plenty of agent connections), then Occam's Razor and all.

I mean, look at Mullen. I think we can all agree that he wanted out starting in 2010. We all knew it. Just took the right job to get him out. Of course Kiffin also has an aiming point too, and if he doesn't get it, well he'll just stay where he's at.

I don't think he hates Ole Miss at all. Mullen didn't hate MSU. Might prefer other places, but there aren't that many of those places. Kiffin may stay 10 years, but that doesn't mean he didn't want the USC or Miami jobs.

I'm not saying this out of fear or anything. I'm kinda over the Egg Bowl smack crap. I don't necessarily want him gone, it's not like he's unbeatable.

 

[patdog]

We don’t completely disagree. I’m not saying he’d never leave. He definitely would for the right job, whether that’s next week or 10 years from now. But it’s going to take a hell of a good job to get him. And I think he’s happy enough to stay as long as it takes to get it.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Wow...thats genius. Find guys that are productive and playing well and also not guys that the team is actively trying to run off. Who woulda ever thought of that ? Pure gold right there

 

[Tomas Smid]

Kiffin is the ninth highest paid coach in college football. USC and Miami just hired new coaches. He is on the verge of putting his brand on the program as one he successfully built. Where's he going to go? Maybe Tuscaloosa in 5 or 6 years when Saban hangs it up.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Kiffin is the ninth highest paid coach in college football. USC and Miami just hired new coaches. He is on the verge of putting his brand on the program as one he successfully built. Where's he going to go? Maybe Tuscaloosa in 5 or 6 years when Saban hangs it up.

He's not dumb enough to follow Saban. Dabo might be, though. He's got a lot of gump in him.

 

[Smoked Toag]

We don’t completely disagree. I’m not saying he’d never leave. He definitely would for the right job, whether that’s next week or 10 years from now. But it’s going to take a hell of a good job to get him. And I think he’s happy enough to stay as long as it takes to get it.

If Arch signs with him he's there for the long haul. Especially since USC and Miami aren't opening anytime soon. Texas is one you may keep an eye on, because I think the ex-drunk is on the clock.

 

[paindonthurt]

Not going to LSU is dumb in and of itself if he had the opportunity.

The only logical reason not to go there is if they are in trouble and if you just can’t stand the thought of Baton Rouge.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Yes, I have been trying to figure out what makes everybody think he is a special qb. I don't see any stats that tell that story.

 

[campshelbydog842003]

I agree with you generally here but it appears that Kiffin has found enough folks. Look at the 247 Transfer Team rankings (link)

He's found a good way to game the system and therefore get the attention of student-athletes.

Let’s see if all of those transfers are actually worth a **** before we say Kiffin has figured out anything with the portal. We saw what that team looked like last year without Corral and it wasn’t good. This is the first year that we have had transfer rankings. We don’t know how accurate they are.

 

[wdawg44]

UM lost a significant amount of production off of last year's team ( lots of COVID seniors). Kiffin had two options; sign a normal class with 4 or 5 transfers and probably suck this year or sign a **** ton of transfers and maybe be decent to good. He is good at self promotion ( one reason he is such a good fit at UM) so he pumped the portal king ****, but he had to. He won't be there long enough to have another SR class that loses 20 1st or 2nd string guys.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Another good season and he be gone.

If he wanted out of Ole Miss he could have easily got a better job last year.