GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU football coach Brian Kelly apparently hopes his reign as king of the Transfer Portal is not just a one-year wonder.
Kelly, whose 2025 portal class has been No. 1 in the country in 247sports.com’s rankings for virtually all of this year and is No. 2 in On3.com, has dipped into the Ole Miss portal dynasty. The Rebels under coach Lane Kiffin were No. 1 a year ago and No. 2 in both 2022 and ’23 in the 247sports.com rankings before a No. 4 finish this year.
And Kiffin is Ole Miss’ most successful coach since Johnny Vaught in the 1950s and ’60s. Kiffin turned in the program’s first 10-win regular season in history in 2021 and is 21-5 over the previous two seasons with an 11-5 mark in the SEC.
Kiffin’s coordinator of recruiting strategy Kelvin Bolden was heavily involved with the above portal classes since 2022. Well, now he is LSU’s assistant general manager. Bolden also helped Kiffin sign the No. 16 traditional, high school recruiting class in 2025 after the No. 21 class in 2024 and the No. 23 class in 2023.
One of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make… but I just want to say:
— Kelvin Bolden (@_kbolden) July 8, 2025
Thank you, @OleMissFB for a great 3 years.
For the memories, the relationships, and the opportunity to be a part of something special. I appreciate the coaching staff and everyone apart of this… pic.twitter.com/Po9zXJBSxJ
Ole Miss’ current recruiting class is ranked just No. 31, but Kiffin has always valued the portal more than high school recruiting since the NCAA instituted immediate eligibility for transfers beginning in 2021 along with NIL.
Bolden, 35, will work under LSU senior associate athletic director for football administration Austin Thomas, who works as LSU Football’s general manager. Bolden previously worked under Thomas at Ole Miss in in 2022 and ’23 when Thomas’ title was chief of staff for Rebels’ football.
There are a lot of titles in the ever-growing area of talent procurement, especially with the portal craze in recent years.
Bolden is the fourth Ole Miss recruiting aid Kelly has hired away in the last 18 months. Other than Bolden and Thomas, Kelly hired Ole Miss director of player personnel Preston Tiffany in February of 2024 for the same title at LSU. He left LSU last month for a yet named personnel position with the Philadelphia Eagles, but they’ll think of something to call him.
And Kelly hired Ole Miss assistant director of player personnel Jai Choudhary last spring with a promotion to associate director of player personnel.
Bolden is a native of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, who played wide receiver at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Southern Mississippi. Before going to Ole Miss, he was Florida’s assistant director of player personnel in 2021 and was Central Florida’s assistant wide receivers coach and director of recruiting relations before that.
Kelly’s 2024 portal class was ranked No. 43 in the nation by 247sports.com with just nine additions. He doubled that in 2025 and has often called his roster entering the 2025 season as his best yet at LSU, where he arrived following the 2021 season from Notre Dame.
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