Grading every first-year Power Four coach's transfer portal class: Lane Kiffin, Eric Morris earn high marks
Most new coaches, but not all, received passing grades on their report cards following the 2026 portal cycle
By
Carter Bahns
•
9 min read
The transfer portal only just closed on Friday, but the vast majority of notable movement was complete in advance of the window's entrance deadline. That is especially true for those programs with first-year coaches, who in most cases have been working on their portal hauls for weeks. Many times, the schools that see the most movement both in and out of their rosters are the ones with new coaches, and that is true of the 2026 cycle.
Take Oklahoma State and Iowa State as examples. Those two teams alone combined for nearly 100 commitments as Eric Morris and Jimmy Rogers constructed their respective debut squads.
The caliber of talent that moved into these programs varies dramatically. Lane Kiffin stacked blue-chip commit on top of blue-chip commit to build the top-ranked class in the country, per 247Sports. With eight four-star additions and a five-star pickup in Sam Leavitt, nobody scoured the portal with as much success as the new LSU coach. But not all of his colleagues were so effective on the recruiting trail.
Financial resources, admissions standards, coaching acumen and myriad other factors determine what makes a landing spot attractive to a transfer. Programs with all different setups have new coaches in 2026. Some punched above their weight class in talent acquisition while others fell flat.
Below are grades for the transfer portal classes at the 17 Power Four programs with first-year coaches.
Transfer portal class grades
| Team | Coach | 247Sports Class Rank | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Tavita Pritchard | No. 112 | Accepting transfers at Stanford is never easy because of the academic factor. To only secure three commits amid a coaching change is particularly troublesome. At least one of them is a quarterback in Davis Warren, who figures to win the starting job due solely to a lack of competition and the desperate need to upgrade at the position. This is the lowest-ranked transfer class at the Power Four level by a wide margin. Grade: D- |
 | Tosh Lupoi | No. 14 | It is quite impressive that a defensive-minded, first-time head coach made his biggest transfer splashes at the offensive skill positions. Wide receivers Chase Hendricks and Ian Strong, running back Adam Mohammed and tight end Dorian Thomas are all four-star prospects who will give returning quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele a plethora of options. While one school in the Bay Area struggled to acquire talent, Tosh Lupoi made sure that was not the case at California. Grade: A- |
 | Morgan Scalley | No. 42 | While it lost its share of players to the portal -- the most talented of which followed Kyle Whittingham to Michigan -- Utah avoided a mass exodus by elevating Morgan Scalley from his defensive coordinator role. He did a decent job of retaining players, and he found a plug-and-play weapon at receiver in Braden Pegan. Outside of that new aerial threat, though, the newcomers are not flashy. That should not be a problem for a program that is rooted in player development. Expect Scalley to get the most out of his three-star-heavy class. Grade: C+ |
 | Collin Klein | No. 36 | Kansas State returned most of its key starters from 2025 and thus the portal wish-list for Collin Klein was mostly composed of depth pieces. The first-time head coach did find a couple of very promising likely starters, though. Edge rusher Wendell Gregory arrives by way of a conference rival, and linebacker Mekhi Mason could factor into the lineup straight away after a move up from the Group of Five. It is not a special transfer class, but it checks the boxes and provides a bit of upside. Grade: C+ |
 | Jimmy Rogers | No. 57 | It does not get much better than this from a volume perspective. Jimmy Rogers acquired a whopping 43 players from the portal. It was out of necessity after Iowa State watched 55 players bolt at the end of the season. For the most part, though, this is a case of quantity over quality. Not a single one of the 43 additions is greater than a three-star prospect. Time will tell if the 15 players Rogers brought with him from Washington State (and numerous others from the Group of Five) can play in the Big 12. Grade: C- |
 | Eric Morris | No. 6 | Congratulations, Eric Morris. You have the largest class in the 2026 transfer portal cycle. It is a 51-man haul for Oklahoma State, and it is stacked with a handful of the most highly regarded prospects in the country. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker is the headliner as the No. 3 overall player in the portal and looks poised to shred Big 12 defenses through the air, and two of his most prolific North Texas teammates moved to Stillwater with him in running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young. The North Texas offense was the nation's top scoring unit in 2025, and its top players are Oklahoma State-bound. Grade: A |
 | Bob Chesney | No. 30 | Running back Wayne Knight led the Sun Belt with 1,373 rushing yards, and he just proved he can cause problems for Big Ten defenses with a 110-yard effort against Oregon in the College Football Playoff. The beauty of Bob Chesney's transfer haul is that Knight is not even one of the five highest-rated pickups. Former SEC starters Sammy Omosigho and Aidan Mizell lead the group and represent talent upgrades at linebacker and wide receiver, respectively, for a program that now has a chance to pull itself out of the conference basement in Year 1 under Chesney. Grade: B |
 | Will Stein | No. 8 | Will Stein is poised to sign the best portal class Kentucky has seen. Given his track record as an elite offensive coordinator, it is not hard to see why so many top players on that side of the ball are set to become Wildcats. The offensive line gets a major boost with Lance Heard, Coleton Price and Tegra Tshabola jumping on board, and that Stein pried quarterback Kenny Minchey away from Nebraska after he committed to the Cornhuskers could prove game-changing for a program that is invigorated with new life. Grade: A- |
 | Pete Golding | No. 2 | Not only did Pete Golding lead Ole Miss on a thrilling College Football Playoff run, but he also set himself up for success entering his first full season at the helm with the nation's No. 2-ranked transfer class. He has his quarterback in former top-100 recruit Deuce Knight and a number of ready-made SEC starters on the defensive side, like four-star cornerback Jay Crawford and defensive linemen Michai Boirea and Jehiem Oatis. If the majority of the newcomers hit (Knight, most importantly), the Rebels might be right back in the playoff hunt. Grade: A |
 | James Franklin | No. 17 | It is hard to find reasons why Virginia Tech cannot compete in the upper tier of the ACC under James Franklin. A strong transfer class gives the Hokies a chance to do that right out of the gate. The influx of former Penn State talent will help Franklin hit the ground running, especially if quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer delivers on expectations as a former top-10 recruit at his position. He will have a rising star tight end by his side in Luke Reynolds. Ex-Nittany Lions also construct a sizable part of the defense, which is promising given the program's reign of dominance on that side of the ball. Grade: B+ |
 | Ryan Silverfield | No. 25 | Priority No. 1 for Arkansas this offseason is rebuilding a defense that surrendered the eighth-most points of any group in the country. Ryan Silverfield understands the assignment. In comes four-star linebacker Khmori House and four-star cornerback Jahiem Johnson, as well as a number of other future contributors on a unit that was way below par in the SEC last season. The Silverfield hire itself may not have been the most awe-inspiring move on the coaching carousel, but his transfer pickups give the Razorbacks the horses to compete against their conference counterparts. That was lacking in 2025. Grade: B |
 | Pat Fitzgerald | No. 51 | Michigan State hit the offensive line hard, filling its most glaring position of need with four pickups. Building an offensive line through the portal is a treacherous endeavor, though, so the jury is out on whether the Spartans will take a necessary step forward in the trenches. That is essentially the only group that Pat Fitzgerald addressed with potential upgrades, though, unless his pickups at other positions prove to be hidden gems. That six departing Spartans rank higher than the program's top newcomer is telling of which way the talent is flowing this cycle. Grade: C- |
 | Alex Golesh | No. 13 | Byrum Brown led the sport last season with 347.2 yards of total offense per game and is now an Auburn Tiger. The prolific dual-threat quarterback is the best of 13 USF players to follow Alex Golesh to the SEC. There is now hope for an offense that has been dormant of late, even though it lost a couple of studs from its receiving corps. The offensive and defensive lines are question marks, but Golesh found a group of newcomers that at the very least should prevent a dip from 2025. Grade: B+ |
 | Matt Campbell | No. 5 | The Penn State Nittany … Cyclones? Continuity is the name of Matt Campbell's portal approach with an astounding 23 players following him from Iowa State. Generally, loading a Big Ten roster with Big 12 players is not a recipe for conference championship contention. But if Campbell maximizes his roster like he did at his previous stop, these additions will not look out of place against tougher competition. That is a safe bet. Rocco Becht will be an upper-half-of-the-conference quarterback, which helps tremendously. Grade: A- |
 | Jon Sumrall | No. 23 | Eric Singleton Jr. is an immediate upgrade in the Florida receiving unit. It is up to first-time starter Aaron Philo to make good use of him. Philo is an excellent fit for the Gators at quarterback considering he will rejoin forces with his old offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner, a prized addition to Jon Sumrall's staff. There are a number of fun additions on that side of the ball that should help the Gators improve upon their Billy Napier-era woes. Grade: B+ |
 | Kyle Whittingham | No. 16 | Many of the best players in the Big 12 are headed to Michigan. Edge rusher John Henry Daley will be a beast in the Big Ten, and a couple of his Utah teammates in tight end JJ Buchanan and cornerback Smith Snowden represent key pieces for Kyle Whittingham as the future Hall of Fame coach embarks on a surprising new journey. Whittingham's portal class is modest in size but high in quality. The pieces around Bryce Underwood in 2026 ought to keep the Wolverines on the precipice of the College Football Playoff. Grade: A- |
 | Lane Kiffin | No. 1 | The "Portal King" lived up to his name. Lane Kiffin boasts the nation's top-ranked class by a mile. It starts with a one-two punch at quarterback that sets LSU up for success now and in the future with Sam Leavitt stepping in as the starter and Husan Longstreet arriving as his heir apparent. A whole host of tantalizing wide receivers are on board, too, which will help Kiffin construct one of his patented high-flying offenses in Year 1. The expectation is for Kiffin to compete for national championships, and this portal class makes a statement that suggests it is possible. Grade: A |
