How a collective is fueling Ole Miss football's push to make 2024 College Football Playoff

OXFORD — Walker Jones was just happy to exhale.

As he waited for Walter Nolen — the top overall player in the transfer portal this offseason — to make his decision, Jones experienced the same emotional cycle that Ole Miss football fans everywhere endured. There was anticipation. Then came the worry. Finally, at last, the satisfaction that arrived with Nolen's commitment on Christmas Eve.

Jones — who leads The Grove Collective, an organization that raises and distributes NIL funds to Ole Miss athletes — appreciated the moment for what it was: The Rebels landing an elite defensive lineman who will help them win football games next season. But he also believes the landmark commitment sent a message.

"I just think it's really cool to be able to show the rest of the country that we can compete with anybody in this new world of collegiate athletics," Jones told The Clarion Ledger on Wednesday. "Because of the system, and the process and the work we put in, that was probably the most rewarding to me."

Adding Nolen moved the Rebels to the top three of 247Sports' transfer class rankings. If Ole Miss were to end the cycle there, it would be the program's third top-three finish in a row.

"From the beginning, NIL and collectives are important in this," Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said last week. "People used to say they aren't, but they are."

The college football establishment has caught on to the transfer portal's power. Still, Ole Miss is outperforming most of those programs. And that success is fueled by its collective.

Education makes the difference

One of Jones' first missions was among his most important: Ensure the Ole Miss fan base — and by extension, its donor base — understood NIL and what it could do for the Rebels on the field.

"A confused donor doesn't give," Jones said.

He pushed hard and early to ensure Ole Miss (10-2) did not find itself paralyzed by the uncertainty that NIL fostered when college athletes began to sign deals in 2021.

Jones sold it as a "great equalizer" for the Rebels, and that was no empty promise. Ole Miss football just finished its second 10-win regular season in three years. Before the onset of the NIL era, it had managed three 10-win seasons since 1970.

"Eighteen to 24 months ago, we really said, 'Look, let's educate our people,' because if they're confused or conflicted, then they're going to find somewhere else to spend their money," Jones said. "What happened this past month is a direct result of those things that happened 18 months ago."

Those efforts have created a mentality within the Ole Miss ecosystem that accepts and embraces NIL. It has pulled the Rebels level with programs that have larger fan bases and more decorated histories. They need only look across the field during the Peach Bowl on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN) for a counterexample. As of this past summer, Penn State coach James Franklin was still trying to cajole his constituents into embracing the change.

"For the first two years (of NIL), we weren't bold and aggressive with that rule. When the rules change, you better adapt, and you better adapt quickly. We didn't do that," Franklin told Adam Breneman on his podcast. "We're starting to make some significant progress . . . but we're two years behind."

Lane Kiffin's role in an organized effort

Kiffin, by contrast, has not needed to make recent public requests for support.

His approach to the offseason, according to Jones, replicates that of an NFL general manager. Kiffin has NFL head coaching experience with the then-Oakland Raiders, who he led for 20 games in 2007-08. And he has been calling the offseason portal plunge what it is for years: free agency.

"I'm not complaining about it, because we take advantage, obviously, of free agency," Kiffin said in July at SEC Media Days in Nashville. "I don't think that's really good for college football, these massive overhauls of rosters every year."

Despite his objections, every winter, Kiffin does his best Howie Roseman impression and dives into the portal, looking for free agents to plug holes. The Rebels use metrics to drum up player valuations, Jones said, and the collective distributes its NIL funds accordingly.

"We're not just assigning these arbitrary numbers," Jones said. " 'Oh, I think you're worth this or I think you're worth that.' . . . With Lane's history in the NFL, with my history at Under Armour and CAA as an agent, both of those worlds collide to give us the ability to put a really good process and roster management system in place."

BUILDING THE DEFENSE: Why Pete Golding's Ole Miss football defense may always be under construction in this transfer era

All in for next year — and beyond

Even as Ole Miss constructed its 2023 roster, it kept a long-term goal in mind: Taking part in the 12-team College Football Playoff in 2024.

"This was last year, planning now for putting a team in place to make a legitimate run to be in that first 12-team playoff," Jones said.

During bowl buildup and the early signing period last week, Ole Miss staff members have described they now feel the impact of their recent success when they talk with a prospect. Playing on college football's biggest stage in 2024 and performing well would, in Jones' mind, intensify that impact and motivate donors.

"It's going to help you sustain the model," he said. "And continue to raise money. And have a well-funded collective. And to recruit nationally. And to go get those portal transfers to plug holes for you. So I just think it all works together."

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How NIL is a difference maker for Ole Miss football, Lane Kiffin