The SEC is suing LSU over its attempt to bring NFL players back to college football

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 22: Head coach Lane Kiffin of the LSU Tigers in action during fall practice at Tiger Stadium on August 22, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Gus Stark/LSU/University Images via Getty Images) The ongoing debate over professional athletes returning to campus to play sports has reached a new stage: a federal complaint filed by the Southeastern Conference against LSU in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division. In the complaint, which was reviewed after filing by SB Nation, the SEC names several defendants, including LSU head coach Lane Kiffin. The lawsuit was filed on the same day as a preliminary injunction hearing in Baton Rouge is set to take place. That hearing will determine if LSU has the legal standing to allow former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to play this weekend for the Tigers against Clemson. Harris, a defensive tackle, signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent, before being waived by the team at the beginning of August. Wright, a tight end, was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles after going undrafted last spring. After he was waived by the Eagles, he was claimed by the Cleveland Browns. But Wright sparked this ongoing saga by seeking a return to the college ranks with LSU, after being waived by the Browns. In the lawsuit filed by the SEC, the conference asserts that among a “common set of rules” within the conference includes one that is “most fundamental,” which is this: Among the most fundamental of those rules are the longstanding provisions that prohibit individuals who have entered a professional draft, signed professional contracts, or been rostered on a professional athletics team from returning to compete in college athletics (the “Professionalism Rules”). These rules are built upon an essential principle: college athletics is reserved for students who are actively pursuing an education while competing for their universities. The Professionalism Rules preserve competitive fairness, protect opportunities for high school students and current college athletes, and maintain the distinction between college and professional sports. That distinction is critical to the SEC’s member institutions, their Presidents and Chancellors, and their fans. The SEC alleges that the underlying case “arises from Defendants’ violation of the SEC’s First Amendment right of expressive association.” Generally, the conference asserts that LSU is violating the SEC’s First Amendment rights by forcing the conference to associate with conduct that the SEC rejects. In the complaint, the SEC states: Specifically, Defendants waged a deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes to play football for LSU during the 2026-27 season, including players who had signed NFL contracts with the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Numerous reports have shown that at least two of these professional athletes are on campus and actively practicing with LSU’s football team. Defendants have also expressed their unequivocal intent to place those athletes on LSU’s official football roster and allow them to participate in football games during the upcoming season. Every SEC member institution—including LSU—has affirmed that individuals who choose to leave college athletics, sign professional playing contracts, and compete professionally should not then be permitted to return to college competition. Just days ago, on August 25, 2026, LSU (through Defendant Rousse) voted in favor of the SEC issuing a policy statement clarifying that its longstanding rules prohibit an SEC institution from having a professional athlete on its roster. That claim mirrors the complaint filed by the Big 12 against Texas Tech in the Brendan Sorsby case. The SEC further asserts that this potential practice by LSU violates the conference’s First Amendment rights as follows: By recruiting professional athletes in contravention of the SEC’s longstanding principles and rules and reiterating their intent to add these players to their roster for the 2026-27 football season, Defendants forced the SEC to associate its competitions, its brand, its championships, and its media properties with conduct that the Conference has expressly, unanimously, and publicly rejected and repudiated since its inception. Defendants have forced the SEC to associate its athletic competitions and the conduct of the Conference with professional athletes over the express and unanimous objection of every member institution aside from LSU. Such forced association undermines the SEC’s identity and purpose and impairs the Conference’s ability to express the values it has publicly espoused. The SEC is seeking “declaratory and injunctive relief to vindicate the SEC’s right to disassociate from conduct that directly undermines the SEC’s organizational purpose and core values.” In addition, the SEC alleges that the complaint is not to “declare any student-athlete ineligible or to prevent any student-athlete from participating in any athletic competition.” Rather, the SEC is directing the complaint “solely at the member institution and athletic department personnel that have violated the SEC’s rights under the First Amendment. The complaint also contains a lengthly timeline of Kiffin’s statements and actions regarding the subject players, including statements made by Kiffin on The Pat McAfee Show. On the August 25 episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Kiffin stated that “I said to our staff, I said ‘whoever the first player commits to will be the poster child …’ and the player chose us.” Kiffin also said on that episode that while multiple teams were recruiting a player and “offering him a lot of money,” he “decided to come play for us.” The new LSU head coach also defended the decision on The Pat McAfee Show, saying that “[o]ur players know that, and I think our fans and administration … understand that [we]’re doing what’s best for their program.” The Conference also alleges that the conduct by Defendants “has caused and continues to cause significant harm to the Conference.” That includes, according to the SEC, not only the First Amendment right of expressive association as outlined above, but also a “competitive imbalancec among SEC member institutions.” The SEC also alleges that the conduct has “disrupted the settled expectations of student-athletes at other SEC institutions who relied on the rules governing roster composition and competitive fairness,” the conduct has “eroded public confidence in the integrity of SEC competition,” and “damaged the Conference’s ability to fulfill the purpose for which it was created: to maintain intercollegiate athletic programs compatible with the highest standards of education and competitive sports.” The conference is seeking a declaratory judgment “that the First Amendment protects the SEC’s right to disassociate from Defendants’ conduct,” as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions along the same lines. With the Tigers set to play Clemson on *checks notes* SATURDAY NIGHT, it might be a busy day at the Robert S. Vance Federal Building in Birmingham on Friday.

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