OXFORD, Mississippi — Joey Chestnut finished his hot dog. Monte Kiffin was pushed in a golf cart race. The sororities competed in a tug-of-war championship.
On a beautiful 80-degree day inside Vought-Hemingway Stadium, this looked like the future of spring games. It was all about showing little actual soccer, focusing on having fun, and trying to get away without getting hurt. There will be no opportunity to overanalyze how good Ole Miss' backup quarterback was, as much of the fan base will no doubt do if they watch other spring games.
Instead, fans saw a slam dunk contest featuring football players, a disgusting amount of hot dogs eaten in six minutes, and a little 7-on-7 flag football. Chesnutt, who appeared after Rebels coach Lane Kiffin slipped him a direct message with an invitation, ate 20 hot dogs in 90 seconds and then gave the most post-spring game press conference in the country. He gave a memorable performance. Apparently the bread got stuck in his throat, which temporarily slowed him down.
“There are many techniques for eating hot dogs,” Kiffin explained.
It had a circus-like look and feel, making it perfect for Kiffin, college football's greatest showman, to be at the helm. Kiffin, long an innovator in his offensive X's and O's and now the king of the sport's portals, uses his unique brain to twist long-fixed formats and crave updates. I was there.
“Actually, in my opinion, the value of the spring game is overrated because you don't see a lot of play on offense or defense,” Kiffin said. “Most people don't do that unless they're trying to attract fans or TV with the game. They don't actually get much out of the game.”
Ole Miss has not announced official attendance numbers, but it feels like they easily exceeded the attendance numbers experienced at recent spring games. No, it wasn't as big as his 80,012 at Ohio State or his 72,358 at Alabama, but it was a vibrant crowd that embraced the absurdity of it all. Ole Miss allowed students over 21 to bring in alcohol and sit behind the end zone to recreate the environment of the right field seats at a baseball game at Swayze Field. It didn't happen.
It was nearly impossible to draw any concrete conclusions from the Globe Bowl about an Ole Miss team coming off an 11-2 season, but that seemed to be exactly the intention. Taylor Swift's music was played more often than any notable football play.
The first time I saw Walter Nolen, a huge 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive tackle who is ranked No. 3 in the nation by 247Sports rankings, was at a tug-of-war competition. (His team lost.) Former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge, who recently joined the staff, was also forced to participate in the tug-of-war contest. Quarterback Jackson Dart, an early preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, threw a pass wearing his backwards hat during a 7-on-7 play.
“I thought it was really fun,” Dart said. “There were a lot of players participating in different things. Throughout the day, the whole team was participating in all the activities. It was a lot of fun and the players just competed. I think that's what I learned from this game. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”The other team. ”
Underlying Kiffin's ridiculous and chaotic spring game format is a smart and deliberate strategy to minimize the impact of the transfer portal window that opens on Tuesday. College football coaches have long been paranoid about showing too much during spring games, but in today's era of name, image, likeness, and transfer portals, that concern has skyrocketed. There is. Kiffin had no interest in encouraging players to access the transfer portal between April 16 and April 30. This meant no actual football action, where there was no depth chart and players and those around them could count repetitions to determine standings. This isn't a guarantee that players will be prevented from leaving, but it will at least make it harder for them to justify leaving or for competing programs to poach players from the Rebels' roster.
Just last year, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, a longtime friend of Kiffin, had to deal with the downside of the spring game. Texas backup quarterback Malik Murphy looked like a star in the Longhorns' spring game with a performance that included a beautiful 79-yard touchdown pass. What happened next was predictable. Multiple of his SEC schools have reached out to people about putting Murphy in the transfer portal. According to Chris Hammer of 247Sports, Texas was ultimately able to fend off pursuit with a healthy NIL package. Murphy transferred to Duke after the 2023 season.
Kiffin insists he's not trying to start a trend, but in the copycat business it's all possible. There may be no coach more forward-thinking than Kiffin when it comes to embracing the folly of extreme spring games like the one seen in Oxford on Saturday. But with more and more coaches looking for ways to reduce the risk of transfers, moving away from the traditional spring game format feels like an easy adjustment. Even if some longtime fans are baffled by the change, for most coaches, the risks of a traditional spring game far outweigh the benefits. Kiffin has come up with a sensible alternative blueprint that others would be wise to follow.
Kiffin, for his part, hopes his peers don't follow in his footsteps at hot dog contests and spring flag football games.
“I would like to see the spring games continue so we can see all the players play in the spring,” Kiffin said.