Joel Klatt lauds Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin for transfer portal work

Lane Kiffin’s footprints are all over the transfer trail. On Monday, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt praised the Ole Miss head coach’s success in the portal.

“Ole Miss is doing a wonderful job,” Klatt said. “They have three of the top 15 players right now out of the portal committed. It looks like they’re the favorite for the No. 1 overall player in the portal — that’s Walter Nolen. Lane could be the portal king.”

Ole Miss currently has the No. 3 transfer portal class, according to On3 Industry Rankings. The incoming group includes five former four-star prospects, highlighted by standouts such as EDGE Princely Umanmielen, WR Juice Wells and EDGE Tyler Baron.

Ole Miss has also minimized its losses. All 11 Rebels who have entered the portal are former three-star recruits or unranked prospects. As Klatt mentioned, Kiffin isn’t finished. Ole Miss is currently the favorite to land the No. 1 player available in the transfer portal: Texas A&M DL Walter Nolen.

Nolen was the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2022 recruiting cycle. He didn’t disappoint. Nolen spent two seasons in College Station, appearing in 22 games for the Aggies. He recorded 66 tackles, 11.0 tackles for a loss, 5.0 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass defended.

Ole Miss follows the money

Klatt claims Ole Miss’ success in the portal can be traced back to its state-of-the-art NIL collective.

“They’ve done an outstanding job with their collective at Ole Miss. I know really well the people involved with their collective… Good budget, good make-up, good model,” Klatt said. “They have the resources to go out and target and pull some of these resources in and they’re doing that.”

The Grove Collective – founded in early 2022 to support Ole Miss student-athletes through NIL opportunities – announced a relaunch in September 2022 that included new leadership, full-time staffing and more resources, as well as extensive programming opportunities for all Rebel student-athletes. 

After the relaunch, the collective was put into the hands of former Ole Miss player and former agent Walker Jones. He helped The Grove pivot to a subscription model that allows for a more sustainable revenue model.

The Grove has been one of the most aggressive collectives in the country, striking ambassador deals with double-digit players in football, basketball and helping facilitate teamwide deals with the women’s basketball program. Obviously, it’s enticed no shortage of transfers, either.

“Lane is obviously an effective recruiter,” Klatt said. “I’ll be really surprised if they don’t end up as the No. 1 portal class in the country when it’s all said and done.”