Lane Kiffin Thinks Bryce Young Should've Tested The Transfer Portal For More Money

The ongoing conversation regarding NIL in college football has created further talking points around players cashing in on the transfer portal. One player in particular that Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin continues using as an example is Alabama's Bryce Young.

During a conversation with Sports Illustrated about the current landscape of Name, Image and Likeness, Kiffin used the NFL model of free agency when describing how a player should be able to get the most money off their likeness. Kiffin describes college football as a 'professional sport', especially given how much money some players are making.

In regards to Bryce Young, Kiffin thinks the Alabama quarterback could be making 10 times the money he is now, if he would've entered the portal and made the folks in Tuscaloosa pay him his perceived worth or match what others would have offered.

“Why did Bryce Young not go into the portal?,” Kiffin said. “If you are advising Bryce Young, why do you not go into the portal and walk into Nick Saban’s office and say, ‘Hey, I want to be here, but I’ve got to protect myself so I’m going to go into the portal. And I want to come back as long as it’s matched with what I get out there.’ The kid would make 10 times what he would have made. How’s that not going to happen all the time? It should. It will.”

The Ole Miss coach is adamant that boosters around these football programs are likened to NFL minority owners, stating that folks who are keen on giving money to the university could easily come up with the money to pay for players. Kiffin looks at the current model and thinks that if boosters can come up with the millions of dollars to pay for a coach, they can certainly raise funds for a potential student athlete.

"When people argue and say there is no way donors are going to come up with the money to pay players this much? Wait, those are the same donors that pay $30 to $40 million to one coach—when they fire him! But they’re not going to raise $20 million a year for players? Yeah, they are. It just means they’re not going to give it to other things on campus, like facilities.

"If there’s something big-money people are motivated to do, they do," Kiffin added. "Everyone wants to own an NFL team. It’s essentially like you’re a minority owner if you are a big-time investor . You get to show up on Saturday and see your product."

I most certainly agree that college football continues to change every day, with new deals being presented to potential recruits and current student athletes. The transfer portal is obviously a free agent market for the higher profile players and even with the NCAA acting as if they will do something about it, we all know that's unlikely to happen.

When it comes to players like Bryce Young, who Lane Kiffin has now brought up numerous times, the market is there if the player decides he wants to shakedown his current team for more money. I guess it all depends on how far certain players are willing to go before the current school decides it's not worth it.

In today's world of college athletics, anything is possible, especially when a player is trying to make the most money he or she can before moving on to an uncertain professional future.