The NCAA has a serious problem, and it isn’t with name, image and likeness deals anymore. Although NIL is still relatively new, teams are still adapting and evolving to its protocol. The current issue is with the calendar and transfer portal, which is changing how college sports are played, making it unfair to athletes who have worked with a coach all season toward a goal for them to just leave right before big games.
The expansion of the College Football Playoffs was a big deal when it was announced in 2022 and set in motion in 2024. Going from four teams to 12 teams allowed more flexibility to decide which teams get a shot at the championship, making it more competitive. However, this only made the schedule for the transfer portal and recruitment more difficult.
There are early national signing days this week, and the official signing day for all sports is Feb. 4. The transfer portal opens Jan. 2, which is a day after the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs. Although this has a lot of implications for players, it means even more for coaches. It gives coaches at larger schools a limited window to recruit whom they need or want.
Lane Kiffin was the head coach for the Ole Miss Rebels football program for six years. Kiffin built the program into a national championship contender, only for him to leave right before the College National Championship playoffs started to coach for Louisiana State University. However, the blame is not completely on Kiffin.
Kiffin said he wished to stay at Ole Miss for the playoffs and start at LSU after the playoffs are done; however, Ole Miss did not allow for that to happen. Kiffin is leaving Ole Miss with a 55-19 record and has never coached a playoff game or been in the Southeastern Conference title game. People cannot completely blame Ole Miss or LSU for the way Kiffin's time at Ole Miss is ending. It’s because of the calendar that the NCAA has expanded the College Football Playoffs.
Of course, players want to know who they are playing for before they sign with a team and they have to transfer before the spring semester starts at the school in which they’re playing.
It was perfectly reasonable for Ole Miss to tell Kiffin he cannot coach for it while actively working for one of its rivals. It was also perfectly reasonable for LSU to ask Kiffin to start work with them right away, seeing as they have to recruit early.
It’s not fair to the players; Kiffin has devoted so much time and was about to make a run to the College Football Playoffs just to not be the coach during the playoffs. The players are basically being penalized for something that is not their fault. Although Kiffin isn’t entirely to blame, he should have some guilt.
LSU fired former coach Brian Kelly on Oct. 26 of this year. It is unknow when Kiffin was originally offered the job at LSU, but he could have chosen to leave Ole Miss earlier, giving the program more time to adjust to a new coach before the playoffs.
College football has changed a lot to become a somewhat semi-professional league for the NFL, but didn’t adapt the NFL’s policy on coaching changes. The NCAA needs to change the way it deals with coach changes midseason because the current system is unfair to the athletes and remaining coaches.
Cassie is a senior studying communications at Ohio University. Please note the views expressed in this column do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Cassie? Email her at cb086021@ohio.edu.
