Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin: 'I used to say they should be employees'

NASHVILLE – Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said Thursday at SEC Football Media Days that he used to say college football players should be employees, which is an existential question as the NCAA’s NIL Era continues to evolve. While he called college football a professional sport, he also acknowledged that the employment status of football players could also bring additional issues.

“I used to say they should be employees, so they can have real contracts,” Kiffin said. “So, when you come you can sign somebody to a two, three, four-year contract. But there are way more issues. That solves one problem but then it opens up five, 10 more when they’re actually employees of a university. I don’t have the exact answers. I’ve always said, when asked, shorten the [transfer portal] windows, so at least we know what your roster is and not so many chances for players.”

Kiffin said he tells his staff he doesn’t like it when someone shares a problem but not a solution.

“I feel like that in this one. That I don’t have the exact solution because it is so complicated,” he said, when asked how he would fix the current environment.

Kiffin called college football a professional sport. He recalled a conversation this week with Texas coach Steve Sarkisian where Kiffin jokingly compared the SEC to the equivalent of the NFL after seeing the conference’s 2024 schedules. He contrasted roster building in college football to that of the NFL.

“Imagine in professional sports, which again we are, as far as it is with players that you’re coaching a player in camp and then they go, ‘You know what. I don’t like the way you’re coaching me. I’ve graduated so I’m going to go and go player for another team,'” Kiffin said. “And teams know that. People pre-portal and they know who’s going in. They know who’s graduated so you’re dealing with that, too.”

Lane Kiffin said players can get paid three times with NIL

Lane Kiffin said college football players can get paid through NIL deals at three stages of their college recruitment and career if they want.

“I like the players getting paid but there’s no other system like it,” Kiffin said. “I’ve told our players. I’ve told our parents of our significant players. It is a great time to be a kid or a parent with where college football is.

“I’m like they’ll probably eventually fix this, so you will be [in] this one window of a couple years where you literally can leverage your program every window or you can go into free agency and find the most money out there. And now we’re seeing you really get paid three times if you want to. You can get paid coming out of high school. You can one-time transfer, go in, get the most money, get paid again and then you can grad transfer and get paid again.”

“So, eventually you’re not going to be able to do that, I don’t think, and have that leverage basically every semester to do that. So, I’ve told them, it’s an awesome time for them.”

On3 recently obtained through a public records request a timeline produced by the Southeastern Conference that potentially affirms Kiffin’s point. The timeline outlines the current court cases, a California bill and an NLRB hearing that could implement revenue sharing or the employment status of athletes, or force the NCAA to pay a potentially crippling settlement.

The final event shown in the timeline – a potential federal court decision or appeal stemming from the National Labor Relations Board‘s complaint alleging USC, the Pac-12 Conference and NCAA are joint employers of football and basketball players – ends in November 2026.

I’ve said for a little while the “NIL era” might be halfway over, give or take.

NIL rights won’t go away but this timeline produced by the SEC shows the current court cases, state bill and federal agency that could determine what the next era looks like.https://t.co/n2bSG7ZKzE pic.twitter.com/FqA2k1khWa

— Andy Wittry (@AndyWittry) July 19, 2023