Lane Kiffin Defends NFL-to-College Football Pipeline With New Accusations

Lane Kiffin finds himself at the center of the debate around NFL players returning to college football.

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The moment it was revealed that Dae’Quan Wright intended to play for LSU this season after suiting up in the NFL, it was inevitable that Lane Kiffin would find himself at the center of the debate around college football’s most recent puzzling development.

The former Ole Miss tight end suited up for the Cleveland Browns this preseason, but also had a deal in place to reunite with Kiffin at LSU if he cleared NFL waivers, becoming what is believed to be the first player to go from college to the NFL and then back to college.

But the way Kiffin sees it, there’s plenty of interest in potentially bringing players back to college. It wasn’t just him or LSU.

Kiffin responds to the criticism

“I told our staff, whoever the first kid [to go from the NFL back to college] chooses will be the poster child school. Not the first to recruit. There’s all kinds of schools that recruited him. Ask Drew Rosenhaus, his agent, how many schools called and offered him a lot to come there,” Kiffin said on The Pat McAfee Show.

"There's court orders all over the country issuing the same thing for these players..

We followed those as many coaches did..

There's all kinds of schools who recruited these players but they chose us" ~ @Lane_Kiffin #PMSLive https://t.co/Gcu8IjmTRe pic.twitter.com/ftfSzF7qmI

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 25, 2026

He added: “Including our conference, and including his previous school [Ole Miss]. But he chose us. And so I said, ‘Hey, when he decided to choose us, just get ready, guys. This will be Lane Kiffin, LSU, doing something that nobody else is doing.’”

Wright entered the transfer portal this week after he and some other players filed a lawsuit in Louisiana, where a judge ruled in favor of a temporary restraining order against the NCAA and allows some players to return for a fifth year of eligibility.

Former Ole Miss – and very briefly New Orleans Saints – defensive lineman Zxavian Harris will join Wright on LSU’s roster when the season begins next Saturday.

A very unpopular decision

Those moves were immediately met with widespread negative reaction from college football commentators and fans alike, and ultimately by at least one major conference.

Officials in the Big Ten unanimously, and quickly, voted in favor of a new rule that forbids players who were on an NFL roster from returning to play for a school in the conference, and it’s widely reported that other leagues will follow with similar rules.

Including the SEC?

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

SEC presidents already issued a statement this week saying they were against the idea of players going from the NFL back to college, and reports indicate they could follow the Big Ten and elect to prevent such prospects from landing in its league.

What would that mean for LSU and its two incoming prospects? The situation remains very fluid, but it would appear the school would be forced not to accept them or they would be declared ineligible.

Other coaches weigh in

Ryan Day and Dan Lanning, head coaches at Ohio State and Oregon, respectively, both stated that they disagreed with the idea of NFL players going back to school not only in spirit, but also for practical reasons owing to the NCAA’s rules on roster limits.

“Most of us have built our rosters and you have a limited roster limit now. So if you invited somebody back to your team, that means you’re kicking somebody else off your team to match your roster limits,” Lanning said.

“I don’t think that’s fair to the players that worked all summer, all spring, and put themselves in position to be ready to work for a team to have somebody come back.”