A team that seems to be on the rise in college football is Ole Miss. That, of course, is in large part due to Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin, who will be entering his fifth season in Oxford.
Under Kiffin, Ole Miss football achieved its best record in program history, going 11-2 and finishing last season with a Peach Bowl victory over the Big Ten's Penn State. Couple that with the work that Kiffin and his staff have done through the transfer portal during this last cycle, and there are now many eyes on the Rebels heading into 2024, especially with the inception of the expanded playoff next season. Plus, a Saban-less Alabama helps now as well, who Kiffin never could beat in five tries as a head coach.
Ole Miss finished off the December-to-January window of the transfer portal opening with the No. 1 ranked transfer class in the country, according to 247sports. They'll have 17 incoming transfers to 16 outgoing. Nine of those are three-stars, seven are four-stars, and one is a five-star, with seven transferring from within the SEC conference.
What's ironic about this is Kiffin is likely pulling off this feat and luring these high-caliber players to “The Sip” by utilizing all the things he has vocally despised, i.e., the transfer portal and NIL. But, he's at least been smart enough to understand and adjust to the current landscape of college football.
Out of Ole Miss' incoming 16 transfers, one possibly could be the sneakiest out of the group, that being former Notre Dame running back Logan Diggs.
Logan Diggs transfers to Ole Miss football
Ole Miss football lost one of their most important offensive pieces to the transfer portal in Quinshon Judkins. Judkins decided to transfer to Ohio State, leaving Kiffin and the Rebels behind. Judkins was the second-leading rusher in the SEC last season with 1,158 yards. Even with quarterback Jaxson Dart, the Rebels' second-leading rusher, not having Judkins was going to be a huge hole to fix, as he was a pivotal part of the offense.
Judkins' departure left only senior Ulysses Bentley IV as the most experienced running back, who finished the year with 95 carries for 540 yards and four touchdowns. The other was junior Matt Jones with 12 carries for 79 yards.
This left Kiffin digging into the portal for help at the running back position, which eventually led him to former Notre Dame and LSU running back Logan Diggs.
Logan Diggs was a former three-star prospect ranked as the No. 34 running back in the country and No. 17 in the state of Louisiana. As a transfer this season, he was ranked as the No. 145 overall player in the portal and No. 15 running back, according to 247sports.
His best season of football was his second season at Notre Dame, where he racked up 1,033 yards from scrimmage. As a runner, he averaged five yards per carry with four touchdowns, with another two receiving. Last year with LSU, he eventually became the top back for the team, starting eight games. He finished the season with 653 yards and seven touchdowns.
With how much Kiffin enjoys running the ball, not to mention Diggs' abilities to catch balls out of the backfield, Ole Miss could be looking at their next productive running back. Like he turned into in Baton Rouge, he likewise could find himself becoming the lead back in Oxford in 2024.
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