What Lane Kiffin said about Ole Miss football's spring transfer portal outlook

OXFORD ― The spring transfer portal carnage Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin has been predicting for weeks is almost here.

A 15-day window where football players can register their names in the portal opens Tuesday. Unlike previous cycles, players can now transfer as many times as they wish. Some might transfer twice in one offseason without ever playing for the school they committed to in the winter transfer window.

"Like I've said before, it probably sounds weird for me because I think we take advantage and we maximize the system that's in place as well as anybody," Kiffin said after the Grove Bowl Games on Saturday. "It's benefitted us as well as anybody around the country. But it's a really poor system. And here we go again."

Kiffin has made it clear more than once during spring practice − which will conclude at Ole Miss on Monday − that he finds the prospect of a player transferring twice in a single offseason to be particularly egregious. He doesn't blame the players, just the flawed system that doesn't tie them down.

A high-profile example has already emerged. Offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor, ranked by 247Sports as the No. 2 player in this year's portal crop, transferred from Alabama to Iowa this winter. He is reportedly expected to return to Alabama once the spring portal period opens.

These scenarios create complicated situations in the NIL era. Iowa's collective said Proctor received a partial NIL payment through a sponsorship with a business, but did not collect payments funded by fan contributions.

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The Rebels added the top transfer class in the country, fueling significant offseason hype. Ole Miss has not been shy about its goal of qualifying for the College Football Playoff after its expansion to 12 teams.

Kiffin was asked whether he had concerns about retaining his prized transfer portal class. Those players couldn't move within the SEC, but nothing is stopping them from transferring anywhere else.

"I think we're really good," Kiffin said. "But you gotta stay on all of it...Players may be really happy, maybe everything's going great. They got a relative or something and they get pre-portaled and someone says, 'Come here ... and you'll make more money.' You gotta be ready for it."

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football transfers: What Lane Kiffin said of spring outlook