Lane Kiffin isn't apologizing for LSU's decision to recruit tight end Dae'Quan Wright to its roster after Wright spent the past few months with the NFL's Cleveland Browns. In fact, he's pointing the finger back at the SEC and Big Ten for a moralistic double standard.
Kiffin appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday, and the LSU coach took issue with statements from both the SEC and the Big Ten suggesting players who spent time on NFL rosters should not be allowed to return to college football, despite a judge's injunction issued in Louisiana that made it possible for Wright and others to do just that.
"Over 100 athletes in multiple sports were cleared and said you could go play. That's a court order," Kiffin said. "If you think back on all the different court orders of great players that were granted -- whether that's Diego Pavia or, now, Trinidad [Chambliss] that were allowed to play a sixth year, we followed all court orders. I think you get into a really interesting situation as a conference if you're now saying, 'Well, we're not going to follow this court order.' These kids that a court says can go anywhere, we're going to say, 'No you can't.'"
The Big Ten and SEC, on Tuesday, announced a ban on players who signed a professional contract. The SEC's ban came hours after Kiffin's appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show."
Kiffin said he is not in favor of players who have been a part of NFL rosters returning to college football generally, but he noted that this specific instance involves only class of 2022 recruits who were not informed of the potential for a fifth year of eligibility prior to entering the NFL draft. The NCAA did not institute its new five-for-five rule, allowing all players five full seasons of playing time in five years, until June.
Wright, who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss last season, had been with the Browns since going undrafted in April. He was waived by the Browns on Monday. Wright cleared NFL waivers on Tuesday and is expected to sign with LSU on Wednesday, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Kiffin said he was aware LSU would become the focal point of the latest controversy when Wright first signaled his intention to commit to the Tigers, but Kiffin said it was an unfair characterization.
"Whoever the first player committed to was going to be the poster child," Kiffin said. "I told my team that. ... There's all kinds of schools that recruited him. Ask Drew Rosenhaus, his agent. There were schools that offered him a lot to come there, including in this conference, and including his previous school. But he chose us. I said, 'Get ready guys. This is going to be Lane Kiffin and LSU are doing something nobody else is doing.'"
Kiffin said he thinks Wright's time with an NFL team might be an asset as the tight end acclimates among his new college teammates, too.
"They got to go to the real world and see how hard it is, and that it's not everything they thought," Kiffin said. "They're able to help the younger players to say, hey, do what these coaches tell you because when you're in camp at the next level, you've got to do everything."
LSU is also expected to land former Ole Miss lineman Zxavian Harris and former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, both of whom had appeared to run out of eligibility following the 2025 season.
Those three players were among 16 granted a restraining order amid a flurry of court cases debating eligibility for the 2022 recruiting class.
