Jaxson Dart details craziness of entering transfer portal as quarterback

After a solid freshman season at USC in 2021, throwing for 1,353 yards and nine touchdowns, Jaxson Dart had enough of a resume to attract attention from coaches all over the country when he entered the NCAA transfer portal. The former Trojan’s successful, albeit limited history, was exactly what Lane Kiffin was looking for at Ole Miss.

Dart described what the nearly three-week process was like as the Rebels hit the field for spring practice.

“It’s crazy,” Dart said. “When I was being recruited in high school, my recruitment came really late so there were only a select amount of schools I was in contact with. It was like the second I got the email that I was going into the portal, I felt like I couldn’t even look at my phone. I just needed space. You have an idea that you’re going into the portal before you go in, so you have an idea of the schools you want to get contact from. You try to be respectful of all the coaches but you really only have a few that you’re looking at. But yeah, right when I got in, that was something that I never thought would’ve happened.”

On top of Ole Miss, Dart also considered Oklahoma and BYU as possible transfer destinations before landing on Kiffin’s high-powered offense. Coming out of high school, he had 12 Division-I offers, including Washington State, UCLA, TCU, Arizona State and BYU.

Since Dart opted to transfer early in his career, he had to plan long-term, not just for a single season. The NCAA’s new rules for transfers give every player one penalty-free transfer but a second transfer means a year on the bench.

Dart reveals why he chose Ole Miss

Dart made the move to Oxford to join a Lane Kiffin-coached squad that won 10 games a season ago, and said that he’s excited to play in the Rebels’ offense.

“I mean, ultimately just seeing the production that they had last year,” Dart said when asked what led him to Ole Miss. “Hearing about it on the news when I was playing at SC and watching highlights when I was in the portal and meeting with the coaches. … I loved how electric the offense is. It’s super quarterback friendly and I love the excitement and everything that carries around with it.

“I love how Coach Kiffin has really turned some things around here and has brought it back to where it used to be. That was something that really excited me.”

Dart – a former On3 Consensus four-star recruit – made the move to Ole Miss with hopes of replacing standout quarterback Matt Corral as the Rebels’ primary signal-caller. After a 10-win season in 2021, Ole Miss kicks off its 2022 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 3 at home against Troy.

On3’s Tyler Mansfield contributed to this report.