College football's lone transfer portal window for the 2026 season has, for all intents and purposes, closed. Thousands of players entered and programs across the country vigorously filled needs -- and in some cases radically overhauled their roster. Even in a condensed two-week window, the movement left behind a wake of change. Some programs prioritized retention and leaned more heavily on traditional recruiting, a path that can still produce winning results.
Newly-hired LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin on Thursday had some fun at the expense of ESPN's Paul Finebaum by referencing the commentator's rumored move to politics. Days earlier, Kiffin announced that he'd stepped down as the head coach of Ole Miss and taken the job at rival LSU. The move sent shockwaves across the sports landscape and even reached the world of politics, with many criticizing Kiffin's sudden departure from a team with national championship aspirations.
And this is why, you know, you can't turn a hoe into a housewife. Lane Kiffin is who Lane Kiffin is. And at some point, Lane Kiffin is gonna leave your football city with the town burning in the rearview mirror. And you can't act surprised when Lane Kiffin Lane Kiffs. It doesn't make it right. It doesn't mean he's a good guy. He's not. He makes it infinitely worse for people who hate him by the way he acts on Twitter, and the things he says, in trying to be cutesy.
As victims go, Lane Kiffin doesn't seem like one. He could have stayed at Ole Miss, made over $10 million a year, led his 11-1 team into a home playoff game and become an icon at a place he supposedly found personal tranquility. Or he could've left for LSU to make over $10 million a year leading a program that has won three national titles this century. Fortunate would be one description of such a fork in life's road. The result of endless work and talent would be another. But apparently no one knows a man's burdens until they've walked a mile in his hot yoga pants.
It could be minimal or it could be significant depending on which personnel and staff follow him out the door. The point spread will certainly be affected, but the bigger shift may come in offensive efficiency. With a defensive-minded coach likely taking the reins, expect the total to trend lower.
Kiffin and the seventh-ranked Rebels rallied for a 34-26 victory Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, against Venables and the Sooners. Venables said Sunday that he thought Oklahoma was "the better team" before conceding that Ole Miss "out-executed us." "That's an interesting take. That's a hot take [that] they have the better team," Kiffin said Monday when asked about Venables' comments. "I wouldn't have thought that people watching would say that."
