ACTION 8 UPDATE: Louisiana judge allows LSU to hire former NFL players as SEC files federal lawsuit
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAKA) – A judge in Louisiana ruled tonight that LSU will be allowed to hire former NFL players to play for its team.
According to ESPN, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who are both former Ole Miss players who were briefly in the NFL, will be able to join LSU as the team sets its roster tomorrow and opens play by hosting Clemson Saturday night. Both played for new LSU head coach Lane Kiffin when they were all at Ole Miss last season.
They are among 42 athletes suing the NCAA so they can return for a fifth and final season at the college level. One member of that group is Junior Tuihalamaka, who had played at Notre Dame, who also plans to play for LSU.
As ESPN reports, what has made this issue complicated is that the NCAA changed its eligibility rules in June. Players used to be able to compete in four seasons during a five-year window. Now, they can compete in all five seasons of a five-year window. The change created a group of outgoing seniors who were no longer eligible to play under the old rules, but now have one more season. The NCAA decided not to give those players that fifth season so that freshman would have more chances to play.
The SEC released a statement as it disagrees with the decision:
Statement from the Southeastern Conference on ruling in today’s preliminary hearing: pic.twitter.com/MBQ9g9xYIJ
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) September 4, 2026
Earlier today, the Southeastern Conference filed a lawsuit in federal court in Birmingham against LSU to stop it from hiring former NFL players. The SEC has its headquarters in Birmingham.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop LSU from violating the SEC’s First Amendment rights by forcing it to “associate with conduct that is contrary to the conference’s purpose and mission.”
Listed as defendants are LSU, its board of supervisors, school president Wade Rousse, athletic director Verge Ausberry and new head football coach Lane Kiffin.
Sources told CBS Sports that Kiffin and his staff reached out to certain NFL players or their representatives to encourage them to bring a lawsuit against the NCAA, and those suits eventually included the SEC. The SEC says that those alleged actions “harmed the conference and threatens to cause further substantial harm if not curbed.”
As No. 11 LSU prepares to face Clemson, longtime Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney said, “Rarely am I at a loss for words. But I’m at kind of a loss of words. I would just say it’s kind of embarrassing. I mean, honestly, it’s just embarrassing that that’s where we are.” Swinney has led Clemson to national championships in the 2016 and 2018 seasons and is considered a traditionalist in the changing world of college football.
Last week, the judge in Louisiana ruled that the SEC can’t punish member schools for hiring former college players who had signed an NFL contract. The SEC wants to punish schools with a half-season suspension for coaches, a fine of half the school sport’s annual budget and pulling the school’s SEC voting rights.
CBS Sports reports that Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is encouraging SEC commissioner Greg Sankey to use “all measures available” against LSU should the Tigers roster former NFL players. In a letter obtained by CBS Sports, Carr suggested even suspending or removing LSU from the conference should it go against league rules.
Both Alabama and Auburn are scheduled to play LSU later this season.
READ the SEC lawsuit against LSU, head coach Lane Kiffin
Action 8 News will keep you updated.
