Kiffin says his players endorse pursing ex-NFLers

LSU coach Lane Kiffin said on Monday he "struggled" with the decision to continue to pursue former NFL rookies seeking a fifth year of college eligibility even as the SEC opposes it, but because his current players said to "bring 'em," it made Kiffin "feel a little better in the struggle." Kiffin said tight end Dae'Quan Wright, who was released by the Cleveland Browns, has been practicing with the team along with former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tiuhalamaka. Kiffin said his final roster is due to the SEC on Friday, the day before LSU opens its season at home against Clemson, and it's too early to predict if any of the late-arriving players will see the field in Week 1. Kiffin said he met with the players' leadership committee and presented the situation to them before asking them what they wanted to do about the possibility of adding Wright along with defensive tackle Zxavian Harris and former LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn, who were also released by NFL teams. "Every one of them was emphatic about, 'If they can help us win, bring 'em,'" Kiffin told reporters on Monday at his weekly news conference. "We understand we have a team that's practiced together and worked together all off season, but one of them said, 'Hey, this is how it works at the next level and this is how the real world works.' So that made me feel a little better in the struggle and being torn back and forth." Meanwhile on Monday, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was simultaneously holding his Week 1 news conference with the media and took a strong stance opposing the concept of adding NFL players at the expense of current ones. Kiffin told ESPN he wouldn't have to make cuts to add the new players under the 105-man roster limit because they were already under that cap and teams also get those spots back if any players suffer season-ending injuries in the spring and fall. "I just can't spend all day long looking at Twitter or X to see what the next court ruling is," Sarkisian said. "The fact that somebody out there is going to take a player off of an NFL roster and tell somebody who's been doing it for nine months to go kick rocks, that doesn't sit well with me. I think that's wrong. That, morally, is wrong." Kiffin and the SEC are waiting to hear how this plays out on Thursday in a Baton Rouge, La., courtroom, where a judge signed a show-cause order that requires the SEC and NCAA to explain why the new penalties associated with their pro athlete rules don't put them in contempt of court and in violation of the judge's previous ruling in the case. The judge can either uphold the temporary restraining order (TRO), which prohibits the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey from punishing schools if they play a football player who is added to the roster after signing with an NFL team, or it can reverse the decision. The TRO currently prevents the SEC from imposing stiff penalties that include a half-season suspension for a coach, a fine that matches 50% of the sport's annual budget, and a revocation of league voting rights for any team that uses a player who signed a contract to play in the NFL, NBA or WNBA. If the ruling is reversed, Kiffin said "of course we will" follow the SEC rules, and that there has never been any intent -- nor will there be -- to play an ineligible athlete. "The SEC had a stance, made a rule," he said. "A judge felt that they couldn't do that to the players, so we'll be practicing, focused on Clemson and spending our time on that all week and they can figure out the rest and we'll just wait for guidance." Kiffin said he's "lived in chaos for a long time," and that's ok, as long as it's controlled and the players understand it. "... I don't make decisions what benefits me personally, and what it does to my reputation or how people outside of here view me," he said. "... Even if it's a couple of players that maybe don't even start, if it makes your team better, and it's legal to do, and the players want it, I'll take the hit publicly for it. That's my job."