Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin appeared to take a subtle swipe at Ohio State and Ryan Day this week, following an ESPN report detailing how the Buckeyes assembled a “national championship or bust” lineup with $20 million in NIL monies.
Kiffin tweeted a link to Jake Trotter’s piece but provided no additional criticism in his post.
That changed on Wednesday, when Kiffin addressed with the media ahead of the Rebels’ season opener against Furman on Saturday night. When asked about his tweet, Kiffin deflected by saying he thought the piece was just “interesting.” However, Kiffin made an amusing remark when asked how $20 million in NIL financing compares to the other top programs in the sport. “I would definitely think, from my knowledge, that would be the extreme high end,” Kiffin told reporters.
Whether the claimed figure is accurate or not, Ohio State made the most of its recruiting efforts in the 2024 cycle. The Buckeyes signed the No. 5 high school class and, perhaps more importantly, the No. 9 transfer class (247Sports). Pulling players like All-American safety Caleb Downs and All-SEC tailback Quinshon Judkins made a big statement, establishing Ohio State’s team as one of the greatest in the sport.
However, Ole Miss had comparable success by signing the No. 1 transfer class, which included former five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen (Texas A&M) and Alabama safety Trey Amos. Though the Rebels apparently put more stock in the portal than the high school class, which finished 21st in the nation. It is unknown what Ole Miss is dealing with in terms of the NIL budget.
Spending a lot of money on NIL doesn’t help with blocking or tackling, which is what these two top-five programs are focusing on for the 2024 season. No. 2 Ohio State will face Akron on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (CBS), while No. 6 Ole Miss will face Furman at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+).
