Kirk Herbstreit Takes Firm Stand on SEC-LSU Eligibility Fight Before Clemson Game

Kirk Herbstreit voiced his opinion on LSU's legal triumph ahead of its season opener against Clemson.

Jan 17, 2026; Miami Beach, Florida, USA; ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit at media day for the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship at Miami Beach Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

LSU has been dominant from start to finish in the 2026 college football offseason headlines.

The Tigers started in late November with their hiring of Lane Kiffin as their successor to Brian Kelly, acquiring one of college football's most polarizing characters. Within the final weeks of the offseason, LSU is the program making the most out of its opportunity to bring back players that played in the NFL's preseason.

On Thursday night, a judge granted former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris an injunction to return to college football and play for LSU. This decision came just hours after the SEC filed a federal lawsuit against Kiffin and the Tigers.

Of course, this injunction was granted within 48 hours of LSU's 2026 season opener against Clemson. Wright said he will be ready to play on Saturday, but Harris may need a few more weeks of practice in order to get up to speed.

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit discussed the ruling on ESPN's "Get Up" Friday morning. Herbstreit was not critical of Kiffin or LSU; he simply cited the Tigers taking up an opportunity to better themselves for the 2026 season.

"If you just look at LSU, they're following the rules. The judge grants the injunction, Lane Kiffin's just going to say 'We're just following the opportunity here. If we don't do it, someone else is going to do it,'" Herbstreit said. "The optics of it around the rest of the SEC, probably around the rest of the country, I don't know if a lot of people are getting their arms around NFL guys that end up having an opportunity to come back and play college."

Are there long-term concerns about NFL players returning to college football?

The NCAA passed the "5-for-5" rule for eligibility across all sports in order to avoid some of the legal headache it's endured later on down the road.

The trouble was that the NCAA passed the rule in the middle of the summer, months after many of the athletes had been drafted to professional sports organizations. Basketball players were the largest group of athletes to file lawsuits as a return to college athletics made the most sense from a timing standpoint.

Overall, eligibility lawsuits should drop in frequency over the coming seasons, but college sports is where the unexpected becomes the ordinary. If this offseason has taught college football fans anything, it's that all it takes for an athlete to earn extra eligibility is a strong attorney and a friendly local judge.