Lane Kiffin Reacts To Ohio State’s 'Extreme' Reported Roster NIL Value

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin seemingly took a subtle shot at Ohio State and Ryan Day this week following an ESPN report that outlined how the Buckeyes built a "national championship or bust" roster with $20 million in NIL funds.

Kiffin tweeted the link to the story by Jake Trotter but did not provide any additional commentary on the matter in his post .

That changed on Wednesday when Kiffin spoke to the media ahead of the Rebels' season opening matchup against Furman on Saturday night. When a initially asked about his tweet, Kiffin deflected by stating he thought the article was simply "interesting."

But then Kiffin made an intriguing remark when asked how $20 million in NIL funds stacks up against the other top programs in the sport.

“I would definitely think, from my knowledge, that would be the extreme high end,” Kiffin said.

Whether the reported figure is true or not, Ohio State made the most out of its recruiting efforts in the 2024 cycle. The Buckeyes signed the No. 5 high school class and, perhaps most notably, the No. 9 transfer class (247Sports). Pulling players like All-American safety Caleb Downs and All-SEC tailback Quinshon Judkins made a huge splash and has set up Ohio State's roster as one of the best in the sport.

But Ole Miss also had similar success in its own right by signing the No. 1 transfer class, headlined by former five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen (Texas A&M) and Alabama safety Trey Amos. Though the Rebels clearly put more stock into the portal than the high school class, which finished at No. 21 in the nation.

It's unclear what Ole Miss is working with as far as NIL budget.

Spending massive amounts of money on NIL doesn't block or tackle, though, and that's the focus for these two top-five programs entering the 2024 season. No. 2 Ohio State will open against Akron on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (CBS) and No. 6 Ole Miss will take on Furman later that evening at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+).

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