By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin, who is known as the master of the NCAA Transfer Portal, said it best about the portal last week.
“Everybody around the country is just going in, and the portal’s not even open yet,” Kiffin said on Saturday during the Texas Bowl between LSU and Houston on the LSU Radio Network. “Our coaches today were saying, ‘All these guys are in.’ I’m like, ‘It’s not even open. They’re not in. They’re just leveraging this.’”
The portal does not open until Friday and runs through Jan. 16.
So when news broke Wednesday that LSU sophomore safety Dashawn Spears was entering the portal, according to CBS Sports, he didn’t actually enter the portal.
And since that story broke, Kiffin and others from LSU spoke to Spears and/or his agent representation later Wednesday. And by Wednesday night, Spears had a better Name, Image & Likeness offer for the 2026 season and had decided not to enter the portal, which he can’t enter until Friday anyway.
Kiffin showed how much he wanted Spears – a blossoming talent who was the No. 2 safety in the country from Denham Springs High in the Class of 2024 when he signed with LSU – to stay, and now he is staying.
“I don’t blame players, because they all have agents now,” Kiffin said Saturday. “And the agents want to make them the most money. So, what’s the best way to do that? Go in the portal. Even if you’re where you want to stay, you’re still seeing them go in.”
For leverage, and Spears used that for a better deal.
“That’s kind of a newer thing,” Kiffin said. “I tell fans, and I tell our own coaches, ‘You’re going to have to get used to being uncomfortable.’ Because these guys are going to go in or say they’re going in, and they still may re-sign.”
Like Spears did.
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