OXFORD | Lane Kiffin has been talking about free agency in college football since the transfer portal went into effect last year, and Tuesday was a bigger reminder of that.

Ole Miss started spring practice, and the roster included more than 20 mid-year enrollees, including two were just announced by the school today — running back Ulysses Bentley from SMU and TCU transfer linebacker Khari Coleman.

Instead of springs in a past era that consisted mainly of returning players, the fast switch from program to program stuck out to Kiffin.

“We lost our top three (running backs) production-wise from a year ago so (Bentley is) an important addition who did great things there when healthy. Had some (Buffalo Bills running back) Devin Singletary runs and the unique timing of this and you add guys who are here today, its kind of crazy. I’ve made all the references to free agency, and we have free agency.”

Kiffin hasn’t been bashful about his thoughts regarding all big-picture elements of college football and has repeatedly discussed the pros and cons related to NIL legislation that’s closing in on its first calendar year of existence.

With a reported $8 million deal in the works for a member of the 2023 class, per The Athletic, the Ole Miss head coach for asked his thoughts on Tuesday about the expanding compensation surrounded high-level recruits.

During his signing day press conference, Kiffin referred to Texas A&M’s signing class and the eight-figure total NIL payouts that are widely discussed as being centered around that class. Jimbo Fisher indirectly referred to Kiffin as a clown during his press conference a day later.

Kiffin’s response on Tuesday was one of common sense. In what has amounted to salaries for players, it’s logical to assume that plays a role in where a player signs.

"I've said a lot about NIL from the beginning of it,” Kiffin said. “Let's make sure that we understand that I love that the players are getting paid, I just say how it is. So, you know, I guess I got called a clown before for saying how it is. NIL has a lot to do with where players go. And to not think that is crazy.

“It literally would be like being a head coach in the NFL, signing a great free agency class of signing guys, going out and getting these great players, and coming up here and saying 'The contracts had nothing to do with why the players came here, they just wanted to play for me.' So, obviously it has a lot to do with where players go and it should. You're talking about 17, 18-year-old kids. Adults choose jobs a lot of times for money, for salary, so why would a kid not.”

Tuesday was only the second media opportunity for Kiffin since the Sugar Bowl loss to Baylor, and a question more about 2022 caused him to revisit the 21-7 loss to the Bears.

The Daily Journal’s Michael Katz asked Kiffin about how to sustain the success of last season into a new year, but the response was more about the frustration that occurred on and after New Year’s Day.

The Rebels had 322 total yards and could only muster one scoring drive. Playing mostly without Matt Corral, Ole Miss threw an interception ini the red zone and wasted a notable defensive effort, as the Rebels held Baylor to 40 passing yards.

"We have kind of put that behind us,” Kiffin said. “I haven't talked to you guys a lot really since the last game. And, that was a difficult game. I felt we didn't play very well at all on offense. As head coach I take responsibility for that, and it was embarrassing, it was an embarrassing performance and we did not give them any issues at all schematically. So, I don't know that I've been a part of 10 sacks before like that. So that was really discouraging, and the problem is it's your last game, and you've got to live with that and don't have another one to play seven days later, so that was difficult to go out that way.

“And, especially as you go back and watch the film of the game you really see how well we played on defense. You guys know about my tirade after the Arkansas game and our performance on defense, I mean this is right on that level offensively. I mean that's as bad a performance you can have and unfortunately in one of the biggest games in the history of the program. So, we're moving forward."