SEC Sues LSU and Lane Kiffin Over Former NFL Players, Two Days Before Clemson Opener

BATON ROUGE, La. — The SEC filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against LSU, head coach Lane Kiffin, university president Wade Rousse and athletic director Verge Ausberry, asking a judge to stop the Tigers from playing two former NFL players two days before LSU opens its season against Clemson in Tiger Stadium.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, names Rousse, Ausberry and Kiffin as defendants alongside the university itself. It lands the same day a Baton Rouge judge is set to hear arguments on whether a temporary restraining order tied to the underlying eligibility fight should stay in place.

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What the SEC’s Lawsuit Alleges

The conference’s complaint accuses LSU and Kiffin of waging “a deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes,” specifically targeting the 2026-27 roster. The suit points to players who had signed NFL contracts with the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The SEC is asking the court to issue a permanent injunction, arguing LSU’s push violates the conference’s First Amendment right not to be forced into association with conduct it says runs contrary to its mission. Sixteen SEC presidents and chancellors voted 15-0 to approve penalties for any school that rosters a former pro athlete. LSU was the lone abstention.

The Courtroom Fight Behind the Roster Battle

Thursday’s filing is layered on top of a separate legal fight that started weeks earlier, when a Louisiana judge granted a temporary restraining order letting roughly 16 college football players, several with NFL preseason experience, pursue a fifth season of eligibility under the NCAA’s newer age-based rules. Judge William Jorden of the 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish has been overseeing that case and was expected to hear arguments Thursday on whether the SEC’s threatened penalties put the conference in contempt of his earlier order.

Parker S. Freedman, Getty Images

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has become involved in the dispute as it escalated over the past two weeks. If Jorden keeps the restraining order intact, it clears the path for LSU to add former Ole Miss standouts Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright to its roster.

Who Harris and Wright Are, and the Saints Connection

Both players followed Kiffin from Ole Miss, where he coached before taking the LSU job last winter. Harris is a 6-foot-8, 330-pound defensive tackle from Canton, Mississippi, who went undrafted this spring and signed with the New Orleans Saints. That’s Louisiana’s own NFL team caught up in the middle of this fight. Wright, a tight end who caught 39 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns at Ole Miss last season, signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent before being claimed and later waived by the Browns in late August.

Kiffin has defended pursuing both players, telling reporters he polled his team’s leadership committee before moving forward. He has also pushed back on reports that he or LSU orchestrated the underlying eligibility lawsuits, saying the players made those legal decisions with their own attorneys.

What Happens Next for LSU

SEC teams must submit finalized rosters to the league office 24 hours before kickoff, and current House settlement rules cap rosters at 105 scholarship players. LSU has said it would not need to cut anyone to add Harris or Wright since the Tigers sit under that cap. Reporting from Yahoo Sports has indicated the conference is also weighing broader sanctions against LSU, including a possible boycott from other SEC schools, probation or even expulsion from the league.

None of that changes Saturday’s schedule. LSU still opens its season at home against Clemson in a top-25 matchup, with the roster question likely to stay unresolved right up to kickoff.

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