Lane Kiffin bashes proposed SEC intraconference transfer policy
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Whether you like it or not, the transfer portal has become one of the most important cogs in the college football machine over the last several years, and it can now completely change the sport's landscape every offseason.
However, the SEC is reportedly considering a policy that would change that, requiring athletes to sit out a season if they transfer within the conference. The goal would be to curb player movement between schools in the conference and reduce alleged tampering during the season.
Unsurprisingly, the proposed policy is not going over well with coaches, and in particular, the "Portal King" himself: LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin.
“That would be terrible. I can't imagine a worse decision to be made,” Kiffin said Thursday evening on his coaches show.
Why is Kiffin so against the possible change? It's fairly simple: If you stop an athlete from transferring to another SEC school, it won't necessarily stop him from transferring elsewhere. Instead, he's just going to find a new team and a new conference, which would upset the balance of power across the landscape, notably between the SEC and the Big Ten, which has been a major topic of conversation over the last few years.
“When a kid goes to transfer from the SEC, he can't go in the SEC. Well, he's going to go to other conferences,” Kiffin said. “So we would just be handing away a lot of players every year and limiting them that they can't go to the other 15 SEC schools that they've grown up fans of, or maybe in the same area where they're from, and they'd be forced to go to other conferences and play against us and play for other conferences.”
With the Big Ten holding the metaphorical championship belt at the moment, owning the last three national championships in the sport, this is obviously a concern for the SEC and its 16 members. The last thing the conference needs is to drive more of its top players away as they work to regain some national capital and goodwill.
SEC presidents are expected to meet next week to further discuss the potential change.
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Lane Kiffin bashes proposed SEC intraconference transfer policy
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