We are getting news from the SEC's spring meetings in Destin, Florida, and no one has been shy about opening their mouth and making headlines. That started with Commissioner Greg Sankey dropping some fiery takes aimed at the other conferences, but more recently, that includes Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
He has never been afraid to speak his mind as a head coach despite his high-profile status in the game, especially in the SEC. Kiffin has trolled people before and was very active on X, formerly Twitter, during last season's college football playoff when he was trying to defend the SEC and saying they deserved more teams in the field.
This week, he jokingly jabbed at Georgia head coach Kirby Smart when asked about winning the recruiting/NIL battle. Kiffin said, “Money. Like that Georgia coach over there. He outpays everybody.”
Article Continues BelowThe comment was light-hearted and should not be taken entirely at face value, but it does raise the larger point of how much money plays into NIL as the top factor. If you are the top spender, then there is an excellent chance that you will have a great recruiting class, potentially even the best in the country if you are willing to spend. Georgia has done so ever since it hired Kirby Smart and won two national championships.
Ole Miss is by no means cheap, either. Last season, the Runnin' Rebels spent the most they ever had on a roster. On3 valued them at $6.2 million, but that number is not official at all, and there is a high probability that the roster was worth even more with playmakers like Tre Harris and Jaxson Dart on offense and Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen on defense.
Thanks to Nick Saban's retirement, Georgia and Kirby Smart are the kings of college football. For that to be the case, the money in Athens has been top-notch and has to stay like that. They have challengers like Ohio State and Texas, but what Kiffin said is true: It's Georgia's world at the moment, and we are all just living in it.