After landing a key offensive line transfer from Auburn in former five-star recruit Calvin Ashley, Lane Kiffin is speaking up with some legitimate concerns about the transfer portal.
The Palm Beach post shared some quotes from Kiffin about some reasons why he's not necessarily the biggest fan of the transfer portal as it currently sits.
For one, college programs aren't able to replace players from their program that enter the portal and end up transferring as NCAA rules prevent teams from bringing in more than 25 players as part of any given class. While each team is given an 85-player limit, Kiffin notes that if teams were to lose 25 players to graduation and another ten were to decide to transfer, you'd lost 35 players in total, but be limited to replacing only 25. Come spring and fall, those extra 10 players you're missing can make quite the difference.
In Kiffin's eyes, that becomes a player safety issue.
“I think you have an issue and that’s really opposite of what has been the new thing to do, which is player safety and getting more players on the field so players don’t play as many snaps. And now, this portal is making that go backwards.”
All Kiffin wants to see is the ability to replace outgoing players, whether it be graduation or guys entering the portal, and I think that's a valid concern. Why not be able to replace the amount of transfers as well? What's the harm in that?
That's not the only issue Kiffin has with the portal. The attention it feeds to a generation starving for instant gratification is the other. Here's an excerpt from the Palm Beach Post piece.
“I can get in this portal so I can get some attention - we’re in a generation of just wanting attention no matter what - so now, I can go in this (portal), get an article written about me, and get re-recruited because I don’t like exactly how something’s going,”
Head here to read the full piece, including more thoughts from Kiffin.