'25 Portal Thread

#2,601
#2,601
Weezer said:
We need to be able to land some top 5 classes. The difficulty is finding the right type of guys. Our strength is we play as a team. We don't have pre-madonnas (VN lexicon) on the team. Everyone pulls in the same direction. But if we could land more elite talent, we could truly be a force.
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I don’t see us landing top 5 classes. It’ll be 8-12ish every year and we’ll keep winning.
 
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#2,606
#2,606
rockytop25 said:
Lost to a 4-8 Kentucky team, 8-4 LSU team and 7-5 Florida team

So no, it didn’t work out well for them
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OK.

They are also school who hasn't won anything in over 60 years, and they've had only nine 10 win seasons in their existence (and only 5 of those since their last claimed national title in 63). They lost a lot of talent to the draft/portal. Despite that, the won 9 win regular season games with a win against UGA and just barely missing out on the playoffs is still really friggin good for Ole Miss. So yeah, I'd say it worked out pretty well for them.
 
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#2,607
#2,607
The main issue I have with saying portal players are fools gold is that it ignores the fact the portal players have been in a college program competing against college players for at least a year. If they are productive, that is even more of a reason why a portal would be more valuable than a HS recruit.

Obviously, it would be hard to sustain success long term if you are focusing on portal players instead of high school recruits. I think you'll see SMU have a big step back in 2025 because of that reason. But it's also unfair to call them fools gold.
 
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#2,608
#2,608
Carp said:
OK.

They are also school who hasn't won anything in over 60 years, and they've had only nine 10 win seasons in their existence (and only 5 of those since their last claimed national title in 63). They lost a lot of talent to the draft/portal. Despite that, the won 9 win regular season games with a win against UGA and just barely missing out on the playoffs is still really friggin good for Ole Miss. So yeah, I'd say it worked out pretty well for them.
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I think everyone agrees that you can turn over a roster in a hurry with the portal, and that using the portal is necessary and critical to success. Ole Miss did a great job of it. But I’m interested in seeing whether Ole Miss can keep that level of performance year to year. Maybe it can be done, but it’s a new kind of development pattern if it works. Mullen at UF was the portal master… until he wasn’t and his roster was bare. Norvell at FSU built a great team through the portal that cratered spectacularly after an undefeated regular season.
 
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#2,609
#2,609
Visidog said:
I think everyone agrees that you can turn over a roster in a hurry with the portal, and that using the portal is necessary and critical to success. Ole Miss did a great job of it. But I’m interested in seeing whether Ole Miss can keep that level of performance year to year. Maybe it can be done, but it’s a new kind of development pattern if it works. Mullen at UF was the portal master… until he wasn’t and his roster was bare. Norvell at FSU built a great team through the portal that cratered spectacularly after an undefeated regular season.
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FSU is the quintessential example of how relying too heavily on the portal can tank a program. This staff does not take anything close to the same approach that Florida State does in the portal. They heavily prioritize culture and fit. They want to recruit and develop the majority of this roster and use the portal to fill in holes. Those fill-ins have to be the right fit, both from a system standpoint and a culture standpoint.

I would expect this to be the smallest portal class of the Heupel era. That is a reflection of the fact that they have built a strong roster through recruiting, so they have few holes to fill through the portal.
 
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#2,611
#2,611
Dadof2Vols said:
And the last time they beat Alabama or Georgia at Georgia? Heck who was the last person to win in Athens…
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That's NOT what I said. The more relevant case would be, when was the last time WE beat GA at home. My point was, they had the talent to beat anybody, they just don't always play like it.

I personally don't like the way Kiffin builds his teams, there's no way there's any leadership or chemistry in building a team that way. But, they did do something we haven't done in a long time. And I don't care what other teams do, TN is who I care about.
 
#2,614
#2,614
volinbama256 said:
This portal season will be very telling to the fans on how serious and dialed in this staff and admin is on really wanting to take that next step to get to a championship. We clearly now have gaping holes/depth issues in certain position groups, no one can argue against that, so it will be interesting to see what we do.

I personally think the days of doing more with less and "winging it with what we've got" mentality Heup had the first few seasons has now expired, even though he did an excellent job. He has proven that they can do an above average job of recruiting out of high school and have filled some spots with portal players here and there, being careful of the existing team chemistry of the current roster and pay grades... Now though, with another season under our belt and seeing where we fell short in certain areas of the game and still weren't quite there talent wise against some teams, they will need to step up and really get aggressive to get who they want to not only fill the gaps, but have the mindset to make it UPGRADES, which is certainly doable if we are willing to pay and play the game.

We take a lax approach again and let talent get scooped up where it could have helped upgrade this roster, and IMO it sends the message of ehhh, we're doing pretty good right now, let's just see what happens. With the clear rising costs of tickets/concessions and everything in between compared to other SEC schools, this isn't gonna fly and again, IMO, is the wrong approach that could end up biting them in the ass. We lose a few games next year like we did at Arky because we didn't have the talent on the field and could have gotten it if we wanted, it won't take long for the fanbase to take a step back.

Really hoping with all the funds we have at our disposal, our program being on the rise, in the playoffs, and making plenty of positive noise across all sports, this is the time to take advantage of our brand and go get who we want and indeed take that next step. We shall see soon enough!
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Like thos portal champions in Oxford and College Station from recent years.
 
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#2,616
#2,616
TheMookieMonster said:
Kiffin trying to buy another shot at the playoffs. Since that worked so well this season. Between this and the Bama CB, he’s tampering like hell.

Side note, how is Ole Miss throwing around more cash in the portal than even the big dogs? Kind of insane how Kiffin has amassed such a war chest at a mid-level SEC program historically.

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Nebraska and Mississippi both tampered with Missouri players this portal session.
 
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#2,617
#2,617
Stickseller said:
Nebraska and Mississippi both tampered with Missouri players this portal session.
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If it's a collective reaching out, it isn't tampering. Not to mention, for a couple of those players there were already ties to the new school that made it a fit.
 
#2,618
#2,618
Carp said:
The main issue I have with saying portal players are fools gold is that it ignores the fact the portal players have been in a college program competing against college players for at least a year. If they are productive, that is even more of a reason why a portal would be more valuable than a HS recruit.

Obviously, it would be hard to sustain success long term if you are focusing on portal players instead of high school recruits. I think you'll see SMU have a big step back in 2025 because of that reason. But it's also unfair to call them fools gold.
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You’ve got it. A portal guy is by definition older and is usually more experienced. You get to reap what somebody else has sown.

But the turnover is murder. Good players are often gone after a year and every transfer is draft eligible after two years. Even if every high school recruit you bring in leaves for the draft after three years, you still have them on campus 50% longer. Building team culture is so much harder. Just getting the right guys must be a challenge, especially if you have an obvious need and prospective transfers can push their NIL demands up. Then you have new guys with big money playing over guys who have been around and are making less… it’s a mess.

Every team needs portal guys, but I suspect that the Ole Miss model undervalues the continuity and cultural impacts of building a team primarily through recruiting.
 
#2,621
#2,621
Not trying to beat a dead horse here, but the portal is there for a reason. Those saying we should recruit better HS athletes - while that’s true wouldn’t you rather have a good culture fit who’s proven he’s ready to do it at this level?

I can only imaging you sitting around saying Dalton Knecht, Chaz Lanier or any of the baseball studs we didn’t home grow should’ve waited their turn here on the bench for 2 years before shining. Just not how it works anymore. If there’s talent in the portal, you take it.

No guarantees that 4* freshman you’re trying to develop is here in 2 years anyway. As long as we’re getting what helps (culture and talent + position) us each upcoming year, then that’s all that matters anyway.
 
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#2,622
#2,622
Stickseller said:
Nebraska and Mississippi both tampered with Missouri players this portal session.
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Or Missouri player’s agents were shopping them around before they officially entered their names in the portal? Ole Miss may be the most active portal program in football the last couple years so if you’re shopping someone to the highest bidder then it makes sense to give them a call.
 
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#2,625
#2,625
Moe/Thompson
Farooq
Suggs
Thompson Jr.
RB

Our portal haul.

Hope we take both Moe and Thompson even if Karic comes back.

Farooq as our WR just makes too much sense.

Don’t see Suggs or Thompson Jr getting better offers than us, unless we straight told them “nah, we’re good”
 
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