Lane Kiffin & LSU Win War to Add NFL Talent After New Decision By SEC Despite National Bans
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Lane Kiffin and the LSU football program will get their way and add former NFL talent to the roster in 2026, despite national pushback and the SEC’s recent decision to ban the practice.
Heading into Week 0 of the new college football season, the sport has been mired in controversy. College basketball has been dealing with it since last year, as professionals from Europe and the NBA’s G League have been allowed to join the amateur ranks and bank big bucks in NIL money. Now, the football side of college athletics has been confronted with the same problem over the last few weeks.
Several rulings in state courts, including in Louisiana, have given certain athletes who signed deals with NFL teams this summer another year of eligibility. Some ethically questionable programs have jumped at the opportunity to snap those players up. The most notable was LSU, as it agreed to NIL deals with Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris. However, the signings received huge blowback from around the country.
Earlier this week, the Big Ten came out strongly against the rulings and signings by creating new conference bylaws that banned former NFL players from playing for Big Ten schools. The SEC, ACC, and Big 12 followed suit. However, it looks like the SEC may not really be that serious about the decision.
Lane Kiffin and LSU will still Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris on 2026 roster
According to a report from sports attorney Darren Heitner, “the SEC and [Commissioner] Greg Sankey will comply with all applicable court orders, including those in Louisiana,” despite the new rules they created banning former NFL athletes. He then added some more details on why this new court order, in which LSU is a defendant, will protect SEC programs from punishment.
“This portion of a newly issued order should be sufficient to give schools comfort with rostering athletes despite threatened penalties. SEC is a Defendant. To be clear, nothing requires any school to roster any player. However, if the school decides it is in its best interests to do so, the court order should provide sufficient cover. Such cover only exists when it comes to rostering players who are named plaintiffs in the action that includes language in a court order prohibiting the conference from taking action against the institution and its coaching staff.”
– Darren Heitner
So, it looks like LSU and Kiffin will have Wright and Harris on their roster in 2026. And any other SEC schools can do the same to keep pace in the arms race. It will be interesting to see if other conferences that were also against those signings relent as well, or if the NCAA steps in to block the roster additions.
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