Georgia president Jere Morehead isn’t backing away from his view that the SEC should run its own house, even after the league’s latest clash with LSU escalated to the point that expulsion was being discussed.
After a Thursday videoconference involving SEC presidents and chancellors, the conference said only that it and its schools would keep working toward “an appropriate resolution.” By Friday, at the first UGA athletic board meeting of the new academic year, Morehead said the session was “lengthy,” but he would not get into the details because of the legal fights surrounding the issue.
“I’m going to have to stress to you with two pending lawsuits that I can’t comment on that matter,” Morehead said. “The commissioner and our legal counsel at the SEC are going to have to speak for the presidents on that matter. We’ve been asked to not make any comments on either piece of litigation.”
The dispute centers on LSU’s push to add former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, both of whom spent time with NFL teams this preseason but wanted to return for a fifth season as class of 2022 athletes. A Baton Rouge judge granted a preliminary injunction that gave them and other athletes eligibility, but the SEC has maintained that players who spent time as pros should not be allowed back into college football.
The league’s fight with LSU had gotten serious enough that a noose-tightening measure was on the table: expulsion. LSU ultimately shut that door by filling its final two football roster spots.
Even with the temperature lowered for now, the legal fight is still very much alive. An amended SEC court filing Tuesday in Alabama seeks to preserve the conference’s authority to discipline LSU, both as an institution and individually, according to USA Today Sports. That could even include suspending football coach Lane Kiffin for the Week 3 game at Ole Miss.
The SEC’s argument is that staying tied to LSU could create “irreparable harm” if it cannot separate itself from conduct it believes goes against the league’s values. A Wednesday hearing on an injunction that would allow the SEC to move ahead with action against LSU did not happen and will be rescheduled.
The filing also said SEC presidents and chancellors had “great concern,” that LSU president and athletic director Verge Ausberry had “no meaningful control,” over Kiffin or the football program.
Morehead said he remains committed to the broader idea behind the conference’s stance.
“I remain a strong advocate of the Southeastern Conference creating its own rules and governing itself,” Morehead said. “I’m going to be a strong supporter of Commissioner (Greg) Sankey as he works to develop that model. …There’s a lot of things happening now, but I do believe that the SEC setting rules and the league members following those rules is a path forward that we all should support.”
That position matches what Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp posted on X on Sept. 4, when he called for common sense in college sports and praised the SEC and Georgia for their leadership.
“Without Congress acting, it’s the responsibility of coaches, universities, conferences, and everyone who loves college sports to start acting with some damn common sense,” Kemp wrote. “If we don’t, one of the greatest American traditions will cease to exist. The @SEC and @universityofga have it right-thankful for their leadership!
Morehead said he is hopeful federal legislation could help, but he also made clear he does not see it as the whole answer.
“I’m optimistic,” he said, adding that the Protect College Sports Act “will improve our situation. We’ll have to see what happens.
They’ve got to get 60 votes in the Senate and then they’ve got to convince the House to pass it. There’s still a lot of work to be done there.”
For now, Morehead said, the SEC’s member schools remain behind the idea of running the league by their own rules.
“Morehead said SEC members “support the notion of self-governance.”
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