Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin kicked off the final day of Southeastern Conference media days at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday.
Kiffin was asked about using artificial intelligence for recruiting and the NCAA transfer portal in the future.
“Well, I’m the first to say up here, when I know a lot about an area, I’m going to answer, if I don’t, I don’t,” Kiffin said. “The artificial intelligence and using that in recruiting, I don’t know about that. I can give you coach-speak and pretend that I do.”
Artificial intelligence could help with challenges of forming a roster each offseason with recruiting, graduate transfers, the NCAA transfer portal and junior college transfers. AI could expedite a coaching staff finding student-athletes that fit their football program, scheme and philosophies.
“The challenge on the roster is because of the different windows that you don’t know what you have,” Kiffin said about the transfer portal era in college football. “You don’t know what you’re losing. I mean, think about it this way, imagine in professional sports — really, I’m going to give you another window because grad transfers can still leave. They can leave in training camp. Imagine like in professional sports, which again, we are — so as far as it is with players, that you’re coaching a player in camp, and then you know what, I don’t like the way you’re coaching me. I graduated, so I’m going to go. I’m going to go play for another team. Teams know that. People, pre-portal, they know who is going in and who has graduated, and they are dealing with that, too. That really messes kids up. It’s really challenging for a kid. He’s working out with his team in the offseason, but then other schools are calling him about going there, and him being fully invested when the strength coach yells at me or I don’t like where I’m at on the depth chart, and I can go, I can leave. That’s not a good set up.
“I feel like in college sports, we usually always look at professional sports like, let’s learn. They are usually ahead of us when it comes to systems and rules of the play on game day, so we usually copy them, and in this situation, it’s like, they have this model that works about free agency windows, about long-term contracts, again, like I said, look at all those great players, they just leave any time during training camp, and for whatever reason, our model is not at all near theirs. It’s very difficult, and you’ve got dynamics in locker rooms. Again, these players talk, they know what players get paid and you’ve got dynamics around the country of, oh, I’ve been here, I’d made these plays and that guy just got here and he’s going to make more money than me? Again, not a good setup.”
Kiffin served as Tennessee’s head coach in 2009, compiling a 7-6 (4-4 SEC) record.
Brian Kelly on AI in college football
LSU head coach Brian Kelly discussed artificial intelligence in college football on Monday at SEC media days.
“It’s an intriguing opportunity,” Kelly said. “I think there’s room for it. I think it has some intriguing opportunities in recruiting. We spend a lot of time on profiles, recruiting profiles and the intangibles or the traits that we’re looking for particular players.
“I think AI has an opportunity, maybe to create that kind of model for us relative to who is that kind of player out there all over the country, without making a mistake. I think that there’s going to be room for it, and I think it’s exciting and something that we’re about to venture into.”
PHOTOS: The night Lane Kiffin left Tennessee for USC
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