Lane Kiffin might be the unluckiest person over the last two weeks. The Rebels are a force to be reckoned with without him. His original QB1, Trinidad Chambliss, decided to stay in Oxford after bagging sixth-year eligibility earlier today. Then, his Plan A (Sam Leavitt) started visiting conferences in Kentucky and is scheduled to visit Knoxville. To make things worse, Lane Kiffin’s Plan B might have dug his own grave.

On January 6, college football senior insider Pete Thamel hopped onto X and revealed the worst news Lane Kiffin might want to hear: “Washington sources say they are prepared to pursue all legal avenues to enforce Demond Williams’ signed contract.”

But Demond found himself caught in the middle of a lawsuit.

After two successful seasons at Jedd Fisch’s Huskies, the nation’s arguably best dual-threat QB hit the portal. The problem is, his exit isn’t as clean-cut as it was supposed to be.

Just a few days before he announced he was leaving, Demond had signed one heck of a NIL contract to stay at Washington for the next season. Word from Washington officials is that it’s a “legally binding revenue-share contract.” Based on the reports, they paid a price well above the market.

We’re talking maybe around $4-6 million a year. Not bad for someone coming off a season where he threw for 3,065 yards, 25 touchdowns, and just eight picks. To that, add 611 rushing yards and six rushing TDs. Explains why the Washington Huskies are crashing out over him.

The Washingtons are basically saying, “Hey, you signed on the dotted line, a deal’s a deal.” They are not pleased about his impending departure, having secured this contract. Hence, Washington officials are seriously considering taking legal action to enforce this contract.

They’ve made it clear that they have “no intention” of letting him walk away from the agreement without some kind of legal recourse. According to Pete Thamel, the Huskies’ front office is taking this matter to court.

This isn’t the first QB to go back on his words. Nico Iamaleava’s younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, pulled off the same stunt at Arkansas with Sam Pittman last offseason. The 6’4″ young gunslinger dipped to UCLA to join his brother just after signing and technically ripping off $500K from Arkansas collectives.

Not going to lie, this whole circus will become a case study for the next generation of GMs and players. It will determine just how binding these types of college athlete contracts actually are when a player decides to transfer.

According to Shea Dixon of On3, Lane Kiffin’s Tigers were one of the favorites to land him, if not the outright favorites. It’s mainly because Demond Williams originally got committed to Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss back in 2022. Until we hear back from the jury or receive an official ruling, nothing is official yet, and his transfer status remains uncertain.

But did that stop Lane Kiffin from getting other skill players? Heck no.

Lane Kiffin’s portal activities so far

According to portal tracker, Lane Kiffin has currently brought in eight players from the transfer portal in the current 2026 window. The Tigers HC has been super busy trying to rebuild the roster, especially after a lot of players decided to leave the program when the coaching change happened.

So far, most of the recent additions are on offense and are expected to be explosive playmakers. He’s signed three wide receivers, two running backs, and a tight end, along with a defensive lineman and a safety.

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The wide receiver additions brought some impressive stats with them. Jackson Harris from Hawaii had a breakout 2025 season with 49 catches for 963 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Tre Brown III from Old Dominion averaged an impressive 20.1 yards per catch on his 38 receptions for 762 yards and four touchdowns. Lastly, Jayce Brown from Kansas State added another proven receiver who had 88 catches for over 1,500 yards across the last two seasons.

The current transfer window runs from January 2 to January 16. So, Kiffin and his staff are still working hard to welcome talent from across the United States and ensure that no corner of the roster remains untouched. It’s going to be a wild finish to the window for the Tigers.