Lane Kiffin’s Portal Mastery Pushes Ole Miss Up to No. 1 in Transfer Rankings
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and his Rebels now own the No. 1-ranked transfer portal class in the nation, according to 247Sports Team Rankings, following commitments from USC transfers Jaxson Dart and Michael Trigg Saturday.
Reports: Jaxson Dart and Michael Trigg are Ole Miss Rebels! #PartyInTheSip https://t.co/R0b2iexmbv
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) January 29, 2022
Ole Miss currently has 9 transfer portal commits who will join the recruits who signed with Ole Miss in December, 2021. (Click here to see the list of December signees.)
The Rebels have also moved up the combined recruit-plus-transfer rankings, coming it at an overall ranking of No. 13 in the nation — and No. 5 in the SEC behind Alabama, A&M, Georgia, and LSU.
Rebels Get Commits from Five of the Top 50
Consider this, Lane Kiffin and his staff have now notched a star-studded portal class that includes five of the top 50 transfers nationally:
No. 3 Jaxson Dart (QB, USC),
No. 7 Zach Evans (RB, TCU)
No. 31 Michael Trigg (TE, USC)
No. 33 J.J. Pegues (DL, Auburn)
No. 50 Ladarius Tennison (S, Auburn)
Additionally, the Red and Blue have also expertly addressed areas of need via the portal, picking up No. 58 Troy Brown (LB, Central Michigan), No. 61 Mason Brooks (OT, Western Kentucky), No. 83 Isheem Young (S, Iowa State), and Jordan Watkins (WR, Louisville).
“Free Agency in College Football”
The NCAA now allows players to transfer one time without losing a year of eligibility. Under previous rules, players needed a hardship exemption or they would have to sit out a season.
After the early signing day in December, Kiffin made it clear the Rebels would have a heavy presence in the portal — a system he likened to the pros. “[National Signing Day is] basically your draft class, but then you have your free agent class,” Kiffin explained.
He was asked about the transfer portal and what the one-time “free” transfer means to schools.
“I don’t think people really say it this way, but let’s not make a mistake: we have free agency in college football. Free agency has been created in college football except you can’t lock people into a contract. This is a whole new thing to deal with.”
Lane Kiffin on the transfer portal
It looks as if Kiffin and his staff have sure learned quickly how to deal with it all.
Stay tuned for more news as Ole Miss is not done yet!
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Herring-Olvedo sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
