By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
And I thought Ole Miss fans had gone off the deep end.
On Monday, Jan. 5, I published a story for Tiger Rag on LSU football coach Lane Kiffin’s first three days of the transfer portal under the headline, “So, What Happened To ‘Portal King’ Lane Kiffin? LSU Opens Transfer Window With A Whimper.”
The opening paragraph said, “Kiffin has not exactly opened the NCAA Transfer Portal window with a splash. In fact, the splash of other programs getting major quarterback commitments is dousing Kiffin and his staff. Entering day four of the portal window that lasts through Jan. 16, LSU has all of one commitment. And that is the No. 40 receiver in the country in Jackson Harris of Hawaii.”
Now, this is #JustDifferent, as Lane Kiffin likes to say about LSU:https://t.co/dVoTnFjOaw
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 25, 2026
And, hey, Harris isn’t even from the mainland. A still-reliable LSU football recruiting source had told me on Jan. 1 that he expected Kiffin to gain five portal commitments on the first day of the window on Jan. 2. So there were expectations going into day one.
But key words … “window that lasts through Jan. 16.”
I can’t repeat most responses I received because of language. Many said I should wait before writing above. But had Kiffin grabbed five portal players on day one, we would’ve written that!
And as Kiffin gradually built the No. 1 portal class in the country, we wrote about that a lot.
And here is that All-Star class:
“Why didn’t you give it time?,” tweeted @tygerfuel, representing what many tweeted.
“Piece was only about start of the portal, not whole portal, much like a piece on an opening game – not a whole season,” I responded.
“Didn’t think of it this way, to be honest,” tweeted back @tygerfuel.
Thank you for some rare understanding by @tygerfuel.
Jordan Seaton is worth it. https://t.co/Dkvay39XwG
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 23, 2026
But regardless, the bottom line is that Kiffin came through like the Portal King he is, and with loads of lagniappe. In the end, Kiffin signed a whopping 41 players and capped it off with one of the very best portal prospects and one of the most needed positions in No. 1 offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, who was the No. 4 prospect in the portal from Colorado.
Seaton could perfectly complement No. 1 overall portal player and No. 1 quarterback signee Sam Leavitt of Arizona State.
Lane Train leaves Tennessee – and Smokey the mascot hound – in his smoke again by inking No. 1 portal QB Sam Leavitt 16 years ago to the day he left Rocky Top for USC after 1 season.https://t.co/KwhvZGqGG6
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 13, 2026
In all, Kiffin landed nine of the top 10-ranked portal prospects, according to 247Sports.com, and 16 of the top 28 as you can see in the above graphic. And there are eight positions amid those 16 signees. Kiffin operated as an NFL player personnel directdor, which is how former LSU coach Nick Saban once said he saw himself early in his tenure at LSU.
That’s how you build a roster. And this class is not just built for the short term. In addition to the star-studded, veteran talent like juniors Seaton and Leavitt, No. 1 senior edge Princewill Umanmielen of Ole Miss, No. 2 senior safety Ty Benefield of Boise State, No. 3 senior guard Devin Harper of Ole Miss, and No. 8 senior linebacker TJ Dottery of Ole Miss, there is a lot of youth in this class.
Of the 41 players, 21 will be redshirt sophomores, sophomores and redshirt freshmen as their LSU careers begin in 2026. That’s equivalent to a high school recruiting class right there, but with better experience than high school. LSU’s 2026 high school signing class (which includes junior college transfers), by the way, is ranked No. 11 by 247sports.com with 17 players. National signing day for that class is Wednesday, Feb. 4.
So, while Kiffin is looking excellent for 2026, his future talent is also promising for 2027 and beyond at the moment, should he be able to keep players as well as he attracts them.
For example, should Leavitt leave for the NFL Draft after one season with the Tigers, Kiffin has No. 7 portal quarterback and redshirt freshman Husan Longstreet of USC ready to step in.
There are some projects in this portal class for sure with many players not very highly ranked, some not ranked and some from lower level programs
But remember what a most reliable source told Tiger Rag about Kiffin shortly before he became LSU’s coach:
“Since Nick (Saban) retired, there has been no one who can inventory talent and use it appropriately better than Lane.”
In the end, this may be the best portal class in the history of the portal, which only began in 2021-22.
LSU’s class features 41 signees. Only No. 6-ranked Oklahoma State with 54 and No. 23 Colorado with 42 have more. The only other program in the top 10 in the 30s is No. 5 Penn State with 36 signees.
More than any other class, Kiffin’s 2026 portal class has strength in quality and numbers.
The No. 1 portal classes up to this point have not fared well, however. LSU coach Brian Kelly had the No. 1 class in 2025 with 18 and got fired before the Tigers finished 7-6. Kiffin had the No. 1 class in 2024 at Ole Miss with 26, but the Rebels did not make the College Football Playoff with a 10-3 finish. Colorado had the No. 1 class in 2023 with 52 and only finished 4-8, but that was a remarkable turnaround for first-year coach Deion Sanders from 1-11 the previous season. USC had the No. 1 class in 2022 with 20 and finished 11-3, but did not make the playoffs.
So, please remember the following line as much as many of you remembered the “LSU Opens Transfer Window With A Whimper” headline, which was accurate.
Lane Kiffin will be the first coach to win a Transfer Portal national championship to make the playoffs the next season.
LSU TRANSFER PORTAL SIGNEES (41)
– No. 1 By 247Sports.com
– No. 2 by On3.com*
Position Ranking … Name … Previous School … Size … 2026 Class
No. 1 Quarterback Sam Leavitt of Arizona State, 6-2, 205, Redshirt Junior
No. 1 Edge Princewill Umanmielen of Ole Miss, 6-5, 245, Senior
No. 1 Offensive Tackle Jordan Seaton of Colorado, 6-5, 330, Junior
No. 2 Safety Ty Benefield of Boise State, 6-2, 205, Senior
No. 3 Guard/Center Devin Harper of Ole Miss, 6-4, 315, Sophomore
No. 6 Edge Jodan Ross of Tennessee, 6-5, 246, Junior
No. 7 Quarterback Husan Longstreet of USC, 6-0, 200, Redshirt Freshman
No. 8 Linebacker TJ Dottery of Ole Miss, 6-2, 230, Fifth-Year Senior
No. 10 Safety Faheem Delane of Ohio State, 6-1, 210, Sophomore
No. 12 Defensive Lineman Stephiylan Green of Clemson, 6-4, 290, Redshirt Junior
No. 12 Wide Receiver Eugene “Tre” Wilson III of Florida, 5-10, 194, Redshirt Junior
No. 18 Defensive Lineman Malik Blocton of Auburn, 6-3, 291, Junior
No. 21 Guard/Center William Satterwhite of Tennessee, 6-3, 305, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 23 Offensive Tackle Sean Thompkins, Baylor, 6-5, 300, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 26 Wide Receiver Jayce Brown of Kansas State, 6-0, 179, Senior
No. 28 Wide Receiver Winston Watkins of Ole Miss, 5-11, 185, Sophomore
No. 31 Wide Receiver Tre Brown III of Old Dominion, 6-2, 180, Redshirt Junior
No. 37 Offensive Tackle Darrin Strey of Kentucky, 6-7, 322, Redshirt Freshman
No. 40 Wide Receiver Jackson Harris of Hawaii, 6-3, 205, Redshirt Junior
No. 48 Tight End Malachi Thomas of Pittsburgh, 6-4, 240, Junior
No. 58 Guard/Center Ja’Quan Sprinkle of North Carolina Central, 6-3, 295, Redshirt Junior
No. 61 Quarterback Landen Clark of Elon, 6-0, 186, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 72 Guard/Center Aliou Bah of Maryland, 6-6, 327, Fifth-Year Senior
No. 73 Running Back Dilin Jones of Wisconsin, 6-0, 208, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 89 Edge Jaylen Brown of South Carolina, 6-5, 265, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 93 Tight End Zach Grace of Oregon, 6-3, 238, Redshirt Junior
No. 95 Running Back Raycine Guillory of Utah, 5-9, 190, Redshirt Freshman
No. 114 Running Back Rod Gainey Jr. of Charlotte, 6-0, 175, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 121 Running Back Stacy Gage of Central Florida, 5-11, 210, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 128 Offensive Tackle Ja’Mard Jones of Nicholls State, 6-4, 295, Sophomore
No. 141 Wide Receiver Malik Elzy of Illinois, 6-2, 225, Redshirt Junior
No. 156 Safety Mason Dossett of Baylor, 6-1, 194, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 158 Defensive Lineman Achilles Woods of South Alabama, 6-3, 289, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 174 Wide Receiver Tyree Holloway of West Florida, 6-0, 180, Redshirt Junior
No. 187 Safety Treylan James of Southern, 6-3, 190, Redshirt Junior
No. 225 Wide Receiver Josh Jackson of McNeese, 6-2, 205, Redshirt Sophomore
No. 226 Wide Receiver Roman Mothershed of Troy, 6-4, 208, Redshirt Junior
Unranked Linebacker Theo Grace of North Dakota, 6-1, 230, Redshirt Freshman
Unranked Punter Hayden Craig of Florida, 6-1, 208, Redshirt Freshman
Unranked Long Snapper Mack Mulhern of Florida, 6-0, 225, Redshirt Freshman
Unranked Kicker Scott Starzyk of Arkansas, 5-10, 172, Sophomore
*On3.com’s rankings reflect the complete roster, taking into account the players that a school loses to the portal as well.
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