Lane Kiffin calls NCAA Transfer Portal 'a really broke system that's got to be fixed'
Lane Kiffin has been playfully dubbed the “Portal King” for how he’s deftly utilized the NCAA Transfer Portal to great success over the past few years.
But that hasn’t stopped the outspoken Ole Miss head football coach from trashing the “broke system” given the litany of unintended consequences of the portal being open while postseason-eligible teams are preparing for their upcoming bowl games.
Kiffin went off again Thursday night following the No. 16-ranked Rebels’ dominating 52-20 win over Duke in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl from Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium.
“I think it’s a really broke system that’s got to be fixed,” Kiffin said. “To have the portal (open), and we lost guys going into the portal, a couple of starters that went into the portal that would’ve been playing, so it kind of affected us as much as (Duke), especially with their quarterback situation.”
The Blue Devils were without starting quarterback Maalik Murphy, who entered the transfer portal on Dec. 9, the first day it opened, and committed to Oregon State 10 days later. Duke reserve QB Grayson Loftis also entered the portal and committed to Charlotte. Henry Belin IV started Thursday’s bowl game and completed 25-of-44 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns to one interception against Ole Miss.
Meanwhile, Kiffin’s Rebels were without two transferred starters in right tackle Micah Pettus, who committed to FSU on Christmas Eve, and defensive back Jadon Canady, who entered the portal Dec. 19. Ole Miss starting safety Louis Moore and reserve receiver Micah Davis played vs. Duke despite both currently in the portal, with Moore doing so less than a week after he committed to transfer to Indiana on Dec. 28.
“That’s why I was proud of our offense, that was a really good defense that caused a lot of problems and didn’t have any opt-outs,” Kiffin continued. “So for them not having their quarterback didn’t have anything to do with whatever it was, 589 yards of offense. That was our offensive players playing really well against a really good defense with a tough scheme. So I was really pleased with that.”
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Ole Miss dominated in every way during Thursday’s game. The Rebels totaled 589 yards of offense – led by 404 yards and four touchdowns from senior quarterback Jaxson Dart – and held Duke to seven points until the final four minutes of the game.
Lane Kiffin takes parting shot at College Football Playoff committee after Gator Bowl win
Since the final College Football Playoff rankings came out last month, Lane Kiffin hasn’t hid his displeasure about Ole Miss’ absence. Following Thursday’s Gator Bowl win over Duke, he had one more message for the selection committee in him.
Kiffin took a parting shot at the committee as Ole Miss completed the 52-20 victory over Duke, saying the omission fueled the Rebels. He saw a team that wanted to send a message, and he thought the Rebels did just that.
Ole Miss came in as the No. 14-ranked team in the final CFP rankings. That made the Rebels one of the first teams out of the 12-team bracket.
“Glad the way our guys played today,” Kiffin told ESPN’s Taylor McGregor. “The quarterback played really well, the defense did. They made a statement to a committee that left them out that, ‘Hey, here’s an ACC team that won nine games,’ and came out and played extremely well. I think that was really important for them to come out and make a statement like that.”
Nick Schultz contributed to this report.