Ole Miss/Transfer & 1st round New York Giants Quarterback Jaxson Dart discusses offense at the SEC Media Days about the upcoming College Football season Monday, Jul. 15, 2024 in Dallas, Tex. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)
by Hunter Dawkins, Owner/Publisher – editor@thegazebogazette.com or hdawkins@supertalk.fm
Since January of last year when the U.S. Department of Justice inserted itself into a multistate class action lawsuit, rules surrounding the NCAA transfer portal have altered the collegiate landscape – especially for college football – forever.
For some, this form of “free agency” is turning college athletics into a professional mindset, resulting in a loss of tradition.
For others, they point to numerous institutions that have benefitted from being able to bring players from other colleges who they may not have been able to bring in directly out of high school. Those same schools who have capitalized problems also saw ups in attendance and revenue.
Whether you’re a fan of the portal or not, something is clear – winning the portal has become the key to success in modern-day college athletics.
Bringing the focus to Mississippi institutions and their football programs, the portal has been vital to some and detrimental to others.
As for this offseason, some big names have already announced they’re moving to Oxford, Starkville, and Hattiesburg. Schools will get another chance since the window has opened back up to round out their rosters heading into the fall.
Lane Kiffin, the head coach at Ole Miss who proudly wears the nickname of “Transfer Portal King,” may be the best in the business when it comes to the portal. Kiffin has used the transfer power to amass 44 wins in 5 years.
The Rebels defense emerged as one of the best in the SEC this year, something that Kiffin is not widely known for, but seven transfers will arrive to replenish the defense in Oxford after losing a few key players to the NFL Draft.
Recently hired Southern Miss Head Football Coach Charles Huff has brought in just under 40 transfer portal players (36), most from his 2024 Sun Belt Conference Winning team at Marshall. Especially since bringing in Marshall’s 2024 Quarterback Braylon Braxton (Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year), who can significantly help the Golden Eagles to turn around their program from 1-11 in 2024 is showcasing the effect of the transfer portal.
Mississippi State’s football program has had a little bit of Jekyll & Hyde when it comes to the transfer portal. With obvious reasons, a 2-10 record in the 2024 Southeastern Conference (SEC) will leave you a lot to replace and restart your program, Head Football Coach Jeff Lebby has addressed a few key problems.
Even though they lost 2 quality wide receivers from the program (Kevin Coleman, Mario Craver), they picked up 4 along with a good freshman running back (Fluff Bothwell), linebacker (Jalen Smith), and 7 defensive linemen.
Mississippi College eliminated its football program in November of 2024 to focus on academics and its Christian identity, and to upgrade its facilities according to the school. The school also changed its name to Missis- sippi Christian University. Additionally, the college reported that a potential NIL (Name, Image, & Likeness) contributed to the decision to kill the program with plenty of historical success in producing talented players and teams, including a 1989 DII national championship team (that was stripped of the title because of NCAA Infractions).
Undoubtedly, the game of college football and athletics in general have changed NIL, the collective (college donors), and recruiting is completely different, but the traditions and the rivalries are much the same.
The portal gives power now to all college athletes to shape their futures.
Front Photo: Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin discusses the upcoming NCAA college football season at the SEC Media Days in Dallas, Texas, Monday, July 15, 2024. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)
