Lane Kiffin built his reputation as the self-proclaimed “Portal King” by always having the quarterback position locked down. Now, as he takes over at LSU, he’s staring at an empty cupboard at the most important position on the field.
Lane Kiffin’s LSU Transfer Portal Challenge at Quarterback
The math is brutal. Garrett Nussmeier is headed to the 2026 NFL Draft after an uneven final season in Baton Rouge. Sophomore Michael Van Buren Jr. started the final four games but didn’t exactly inspire confidence, throwing for 743 yards with five touchdowns in that stretch.
Redshirt freshman Colin Hurley has already entered the portal. Kiffin inherits one scholarship quarterback on the roster, and Van Buren isn’t the answer for a program that expects to compete for SEC titles.
Kiffin has never been in this position.
At Ole Miss, he inherited Matt Corral and rode him to a 10-win season in 2021. When Corral left for the NFL, Kiffin plucked Jaxson Dart from USC in January 2022, the move that prompted his now-famous “#PortalKing” tweet. Dart became one of the best players in program history and a first-round pick.
When Dart departed, Kiffin’s staff discovered Trinidad Chambliss at Division II Ferris State, and the lefty led Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff in his first SEC season.
The Rebels landed top-five transfer portal classes in every cycle from 2022 to 2025. Kiffin never had to scramble for a quarterback because he always had one waiting or one developing. LSU offers no such luxury.
The obvious target is Chambliss himself. Kiffin’s offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. helped unearth him from the Division II ranks, and six Ole Miss offensive assistants followed Kiffin to Baton Rouge.
The familiarity is there. The problem is eligibility. Chambliss has applied for a sixth-year waiver from the NCAA, arguing he deserves a retroactive medical redshirt for his 2022 season at Ferris State.
Initial feedback from the NCAA’s case manager wasn’t encouraging, and attorney Tom Mars has been brought in to expedite the process.
“I mean, I deserve it,” Chambliss said at Sugar Bowl media day. “I’ve only played three seasons of college football, and I feel like I deserve to play four.”
If the waiver comes through before Jan. 16, when the portal window closes, Chambliss reuniting with Kiffin in Baton Rouge makes too much sense. He threw for 3,298 yards with 19 touchdowns and just three interceptions this season while adding 506 rushing yards.
He knows the system. He trusts the staff. But the NCAA timeline creates massive uncertainty.
Sam Leavitt, Brendan Sorsby Among Top LSU QB Transfer Targets
Kiffin can’t afford to wait. Sam Leavitt and Brendan Sorsby sit atop LSU’s radar, and both entered the portal when the window opened Jan. 2.
Leavitt threw for 1,628 yards with 10 touchdowns in seven games for Arizona State before a season-ending injury, and he’s drawn interest from Miami and Oregon.
Sorsby put together a monster year at Cincinnati in 2025 with 2,800 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, five interceptions, plus 580 rushing yards and nine more scores. Texas Tech has been connected to the dual-threat quarterback.
Dylan Raiola’s name has surfaced in connection with LSU, though the former Nebraska starter seems more likely to land at a program where he’d face less pressure to win immediately.
The wildcard is Austin Simmons, who started for Ole Miss before Chambliss took over. Simmons looked like a future star in limited action, including a strong performance when Dart went down against Georgia in 2024. He has eligibility remaining and knows Kiffin’s offense.
Kiffin told ESPN’s Marty Smith after taking the LSU job that he just needs to “go prove things right.” Easier said than done when you’re building a quarterback room from scratch at a program that fired Brian Kelly mid-season because 7-5 wasn’t acceptable.
The Portal King has 14 days to find his guy. Given Kiffin’s track record, betting against him feels foolish. But he’s never entered a portal window this desperate for a quarterback, and the competition for the top available arms is fierce.
LSU’s 2026 season hinges on what happens in the next two weeks. The transfer portal window runs through Jan. 16.
