Curt Cignetti embraced what Lane Kiffin failed to fully appreciate.
When you’re the Portal King, with a strong NIL collective at your disposal, you can acquire the talent necessary to win a national championship.
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An Indiana or Mississippi national championship would offer proof of concept. The Hoosiers and Rebels were the most transfer-leaning teams in the College Football Playoff field.
Kiffin played the transfer game as well as anyone these past several seasons. At Mississippi, he de-emphasized high school recruiting in favor of building rosters with proven transfers. Kiffin earned his crown, as the ruler of the transfer kingdom. Then, he abdicated his throne when he left Ole Miss for LSU.
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Kiffin plans to evolve his roster building strategy at LSU. In Louisiana, a superior in-state recruiting base makes it easier to sign four- and five-star high school recruits than it is at Ole Miss — or Indiana.
As Kiffin told ESPN, he intends to “build through high school” recruiting and supplement “through the portal.”
That aligns with how Georgia, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee build rosters. Notably, none of those schools reached the playoff semifinals. In fact, Oregon is the only semifinalist that signed a top-10 recruiting class a year ago.
For someone who prides himself on being a non-conformist revolutionary, Kiffin’s swap of Ole Miss for LSU amounts to an embrace of conventional wisdom, which says the teams signing the most high school blue-chippers enjoy the inside track to a national title.
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Cignetti might like a word.
Transfers win. Google it.
Curt Cignetti becomes Portal King, as Lane Kiffin gives up throne
Cignetti seems only too happy to inherit Kiffin’s crown and wield the scepter in the Portal Kingdom.
The Hoosiers are cleaning up in these early days of the portal sweepstakes.
Quarterback Josh Hoover (TCU) and wide receiver Nick Marsh (Michigan State) highlight Indiana’s transfer haul that’s trending toward being Cignetti’s best portal class yet.
Indiana’s haul, so far, dwarfs Kiffin’s at LSU.
Shoot, the Hoosiers even secured a running back named Turbo. You can’t make this up. The Hoosiers’ run game is now Turbo charged! That’s the royal work of the new Portal King.
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Who needs top-100 high school prospects? Not Cignetti. Nearly all of Indiana’s prep signees are three-star prospects.
That aligns with Indiana’s history. The Hoosiers recruit from a state that’s not exactly overflowing with blue-chippers.
Mostly, Indiana’s stars are transfers, including Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Cignetti doesn’t build by collecting SEC backups, either. He’s not seeking guys who couldn’t play at their last school. Indiana thrives by assembling standouts from places like California, James Madison, Kent State, NC State and Maryland.
Blend the transfers, supplement with some homegrown three-star recruits, and voila, you’re No. 1 and undefeated.
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“The one thing I can say about Coach Cig is, the stuff that you get in his office on a visit and he’s telling you this and that, it’s actually true,” said wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, in explanation of why Indiana’s transfers vibe with Cignetti.
“He’s not going to say it’s going to be easy, … but you see the vision that he gives you, and you really believe that you can achieve it.”
Sarratt, like several other Hoosiers, followed Cignetti from James Madison.
“We are all blessed to have the opportunity to come with Cig here,” said running back Kaelon Black, one of those JMU transfers.
Indiana doubles down on transfer strategy
Cignetti can’t count on bringing in his former players anymore, but that’s not slowing his transfer roll.
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If anything, Indiana’s success makes it a more appealing destination for transfers.
Perhaps, it’s not as simple as I’m making it sound or Cignetti’s making it look, but he’s not alone.
Kiffin made it look easy, too, throughout his six seasons acquiring and meshing transfer talent at Ole Miss. Kiffin’s approach allowed the Rebels to compete with the SEC’s blue bloods in a way they hadn’t since the Johnny Vaught era.
The Rebels’ stars came from places like Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Wake Forest. Kiffin paired them with a quarterback from Division II Ferris State. The concoction became good enough that Ole Miss set a school record with 13 wins.
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Kiffin left for LSU, but the transfers he left behind gained steam. The Rebels avenged a lone loss to Georgia with a comeback win in the playoff quarterfinals.
Every CFP semifinalist starts a transfer quarterback. Three of those quarterbacks are in their first season at their current school, including the Rebels’ Trinidad Chambliss.
Last year’s championship pitted quarterback Will Howard against Riley Leonard, transfers in their first and only seasons playing for Ohio State and Notre Dame, respectively.
Each of the past four Heisman winners transferred during his career.
Kiffin told ESPN “the sky’s the limit” at LSU with his strategy of roster building with blue-chip recruits, including an emphasis on in-state talent. He’ll shift to using transfers as supplements, although he’ll need numerous transfers in the short term, at least, as he attempts to rebuild the roster.
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Maybe, that’ll work, particularly if he acquires a quarterback as good as Chambliss has been for Ole Miss. Nothing prohibits LSU from pursuing a national championship with Kiffin’s adapted strategy. Kirby Smart won back-to-back SEC championships the past two seasons at Georgia while relying on developing premier high school talent.
And still, Cignetti declined to pivot in that direction. Like Kiffin, Cignetti could have pretty much called his shot in this active coaching carousel. A job hop to Penn State or Florida would’ve better positioned Cignetti to chase top-10 recruiting classes. Instead, he inked an extension and accepted a raise to stay at Indiana for the long haul.
“I plan on retiring as a Hooiser,” Cignetti said earlier this season.
That’ll come with more portal raids.
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Cignetti must appreciate that it’s good to be the king.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Curt Cignetti, Indiana become Transfer Portal King, with Lane Kiffin at LSU
