Ole Miss and head coach Lane Kiffin have already hit the transfer portal hard. The Rebels have landed big names like Antwane ‘Juice' Wells out of South Carolina, Walter Nolen out of Texas A&M, Gerquan Scott from Southern Miss, and Chris Paul Jr. out of Arkansas. However, they also lost their offensive centerpiece in running back Quinshon Judkins, who hit the portal and landed at Ohio State University.

The Rebels have a lot to build upon as well. Quarterback Jaxson Dart is returning, they are fresh off of an 11-2 season, and now Nick Saban is gone from the SEC West. But Ole Miss has not made the College Football Playoff since its inception, so continuing to add to their roster would make a lot of sense.

The latest series of college football head coaching movement has spawned another wave of players hitting the transfer portal. There are a couple of players, in particular, who stand out as potential options that Ole Miss should pursue.

Jonah Coleman, Running Back

Arizona football RB Jonah Coleman follows Jedd Fisch out the door

With Quinshon Judkins bolting Oxford for Ohio State and backup Ulysses Bentley IV out of eligibility, Ole Miss is going to need find another running back. Arizona running back Jonah Coleman is likely the best player available at that position in the portal.

Coleman was excellent for head coach Jedd Fisch and the Wildcats in 2023. Though his counting stats are not otherworldly; he ran for 871 yards and five touchdowns, but he did so while averaging 6.8 yards per carry. He also caught 25 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown through the air. Coleman really burst onto the scene nationally with his breakout performance against the USC Trojans, where he ran for 143 yards on 22 carries and caught four balls for 37 yards.

Coleman may not be a household name yet, but he can absolutely play. Arizona split their running back workload fairly evenly across three players, but Coleman got more work than the rest and was more productive with that workload than the rest. He is ready to take another step as a player and that would include going to a team where he can play more.

It's hard to find a team right now who needs a running back more than Ole Miss does. While it is more than plausible that Coleman ends up following Jedd Fisch to Seattle and transferring to the University of Washington, Lane Kiffin should do everything in his power to make sure that Coleman winds up in Oxford instead.

Julian Sayin, Quarterback

 

Julian Sayin is another part of the exodus of the Alabama program after the news of Nick Saban's retirement. Sayin is the third overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class who enrolled at Alabama early in January. Because he enrolled early, Sayin cannot exit out of his national letter of intent and would have to use the transfer portal to find a new place to play.

With that the case, why shouldn't Ole Miss be in consideration? Lane Kiffin did great work with quarterbacks while he was at Alabama. He helped Matt Corral get drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft, and has done great work with Jaxson Dart since Dart transferred there from USC.

In two seasons at Ole Miss, Dart has completed 63.75% of his passes, is averaging 8.8 yards per attempt, and has thrown for 6,338 yards and 43 touchdowns to 16 interceptions. Ole Miss began the 2022 season, the first year Dart started in Oxford, 8-1 and finished the 2023 season 11-2. That's a place where a quarterback can thrive and win.

Everyone is going to be after Sayin. Georgia and Notre Dame were reportedly near the top of his list before he committed to Alabama. Ole Miss didn't even offer him. But, there's a second chance for everything. After striking out on Arch Manning, Kiffin can secure Ole Miss' quarterback of the future if he can find a way to bring in Sayin.