Ole Miss football had a portal masterclass in the making—until the wheels came off at the finish line.
Despite all the coaching drama that went down in the Playoff, commits were coming in like clockwork. ESPN ranked the Rebels to have one of the hottest starts to the transfer portal.
The ultimate silver lining to Golding's smooth-going 2026 class were the returning star players from the 2025 squad.
All of it was much short-lived than anticipated as some leaked NIL documents ignited a chaos in the Ole Miss locker room.
The report of term sheets leaking internally in the Grove came just a couple of days on Jan. 14 before the transfer portal was set to close on Jan. 16.
"Term sheets and contracts have leaked internally at Ole Miss. Some players aren’t happy about new guys and returning guys are making more than they are," LSU insider CJ reported.
Term sheets and contracts have leaked internally at #OleMiss.
— CJ (@CJFWrites) January 14, 2026
Some players aren’t happy about new guys and returning guys are making more than they are.
Most notable name is starting LB, TJ Dottery, who the Rebels are scrambling to retain.
The blame, very understandably, landed directly on Kiffin's doorstep. After all, he was after the Ole Miss roster from the very second the transfer portal opened.
The dirty trick worked, as the top returning starters in Golding's 2026 roster started dropping out of the program like hot potatoes.
The most concerning ones were LB TJ Dottery, Princewill Umanmielen, Cayden Lee, Trey Hall, TJ Hendrick, De'Shaun Wommack, Devin Harper and more.
Ole Miss suffered a shocking loss of 21 outgoing transfers by the time the transfer portal was shut.
Roster problem loading for 2026?
Now, transfers like Austin Simmons and Winston Walkins were something Golding exopected, and even wished well for.
The real kicker was the players leaving in the final days, all but crushing the expectations Golding had for the 2026 season.
What'sm worse was the short noticed nature of the transfes didn't even let Golding have the time to add more transfers to his rosters.
This roster gap of experienced players is something that will surely hurt Ole Miss in the next season.
While they still have Kewan Lacy, the verdict on Trinidad Chambliss's lawsuit will decide the intensity the problem.