SEC

Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin: ‘We’re a professional sport’

Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated has an interesting interview with Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin about NIL and the current state of college football.

It’s Lane Kiffin. Of course it’s interesting.

Three quotes from the interview:

“We’re a professional sport and they are professional players.”

“You take a 17-year-old who, a lot of them, don’t come from money and family doesn’t come from money … if any person tells you that their NIL is not the No. 1 thing … take 100 of them and ask about the No. 1 thing that’s going to make the decision … it’s not the size of the stadium, not the head coach, not the campus or the conference, the No. 1 thing will be money.”

“It’s totally changed recruiting. I joke all the time about it. Facilities and all that. Go ahead and build facilities and these great weight rooms and training rooms, but you ain’t gonna have any good players in them if you don’t have NIL money. I don’t care who the coach is or how hard you recruit, that is not going to win over money.”

Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin watches on during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Vanderbilt in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. No. 10 Mississippi won 31-17. (AP Photo/Thomas Graning)
Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin watches on during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Vanderbilt in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. No. 10 Mississippi won 31-17. (AP Photo/Thomas Graning) Thomas Graning AP


Read the entire interview here.

Read Next
Read Next
Read Next
Read Next

This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 9:18 AM.

John Clay
Lexington Herald-Leader
John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky, he covered UK football from 1987 until being named sports columnist in 2000. He has covered 20 Final Fours and 42 consecutive Kentucky Derbys. Support my work with a digital subscription
Sports Pass is your ticket to Kansas City sports
#ReadLocal

Get in-depth, sideline coverage of Kansas City area sports - only $1 a month

VIEW OFFER