Notes: Transfer portal could change look of Rebels' recruiting classes

OXFORD — Lane Kiffin enjoys discussing big-picture college football topics.

On Tuesday, Kiffin discussed some of the minutiae of the second week of Ole Miss’ spring drills, but when asked about some subjects that are changing the face of college football, the Rebels’ second-year coach expounded at length.

On Tuesday, Kiffin was asked about the Rebels’ focus on and use of the transfer portal. To this point, Ole Miss has used the portal somewhat sparingly, but Kiffin admitted that’s likely to change as transfers become a more prominent part of the sport.

“It’s not the old days where at a lot of programs, all you did was recruit high school players,” Kiffin said. “You have junior college players. You have grad transfers now and you have normal transfers. So that’s a lot to look at and it’s really why your personnel department becomes more valuable than it ever was before. We bring it up in staff when guys find guys and went in, cut them up (on film) and watched them and researched them.”

Kiffin often refers to the transfer market as college football’s version of NFL free agency. On Tuesday, however, he pointed out a huge difference.

“You can’t just go sign a bunch of guys as long as you stay under the salary cap,” Kiffin said. “Ours is very different because I’m sure most people out there only have a few spots and everybody doesn’t become a free agent at once, which is abnormal.”

Ole Miss is believed to have 3-4 spots available for transfers. One is already committed to Maryland transfer linebacker Chance Campbell, who is due in Oxford in late May. Kiffin admitted staff meetings often include conversations about players currently in the portal and weighing their value against hypothetical players who could land in the portal later this spring.

“There’s a very good chance there could be better players coming after spring, so I think there’s a lot more thought that goes into it now than ever before,” Kiffin said.

Kiffin said he believes different programs will start to specialize in different aspects of roster building.

“I think you’ll see success comes and people will start moving in that direction based off what happens,” Kiffin said.

Kiffin was asked how he thought the portal would impact Ole Miss’ recruiting efforts moving forward.

“I think that probably depends where your program is,” Kiffin said. “If you’re up there where you’re one of those top five programs where you’re signing a bunch of five-stars every year and you’re able to sign 25 what you’d deem pretty special players, you know, then maybe then you don’t (save spots for the portal). When you’re trying to get to that level of being a championship team and (having) a great roster like those few schools have, I think that you do (save spots). I think you’re going to see smaller signing classes because of it.”

Kiffin isn’t ready to single players out, not after just four practices, but he said Tuesday the Rebels’ newcomers — 18 scholarship players enrolled early to go through spring drills — are enjoying the benefits of a less pressurized start to their college careers.

“It’s so great on so many fronts,” Kiffin said. “The obvious thing is football, in that they’ve got 15 practices and fourth-quarter workouts but academically, it’s great because they get ahead. They graduate earlier at the end of it. I think fall is very difficult for true freshmen because now they come in and you have everything at once. You’ve never gone to college and now you’re playing and you’re traveling on the road and you’re playing these big games and you’re also going to college for the first time. That’s a lot. The first semester for a normal student without a sport is a lot. So to get a semester under their belt, I think, is great for them.”

Defensive lineman Tavius Robinson was given a crash course in SEC football and American culture last fall. The Canada native was cleared to play at Ole Miss in August and ended up playing a big role for the Rebels in 2020.

A year later, Robinson is far more comfortable in Oxford as he prepares to play an even larger role in 2021.

“As the practices go on and having a full offseason and all that, I understand the game more and I can read the practices a lot faster now,” Robinson said. “Day by day, things are getting better for sure.”

Robinson said he played last season around 245 pounds. He’s up to 260 now, he said Tuesday.

“I’m just trying to keep getting stronger and keep my speed at the same time,” Robinson said, adding he believes the Rebels have more energy on defense this spring than they did last season.

“Bringing the physicality and energy every day is basically what we’re looking for,” Robinson said.

Jonathan Mingo caught 27 passes for 379 yards and three touchdowns last season, including a combined five catches for 68 yards in the final two games of the season.

Those games were significant because they were played without All-American Elijah Moore, who opted out of the season finale at LSU and the Outback Bowl against Indiana to focus on his NFL future.

Mingo said he’s working this spring to be more consistent and having a more dominant mindset. Mingo, who is limited with an injury this spring, said he learned a lot from Moore, lessons he hopes to put into action this fall.

“Elijah is like a big brother to me,” Mingo said. “He took all the advice he got from A.J. (Brown) and DK (Metcalf) and other types of receivers. Every time I did something wrong, he would tell me what I needed to work on. He gave me lots of tips and pointers of what I could work on in the future. It was good to have him in there to show us the way.”