Texas A&M coach Mike Elko had a colorful way of describing the SEC’s clash with LSU after the conference briefly floated the idea of removing the Tigers.
Elko framed the situation as a parent stepping in after a child pushes too far. “This is a little bit like the son figuring out where the limits are until Dad comes home and raises his voice, and then the son goes, ‘I was just kidding; I didn’t mean any of that.’”
Elko said, via On3's CarterKarels. “I think that’s what you’re seeing.
LSU will be in the SEC... This is just a little bit of parenting going on right now.”
The tension grew after the SEC threatened to kick LSU out of the conference for a “lack of institutional control over the athletics program.” That threat was tied to the ongoing courthouse chaos in Baton Rouge, where opinions had been flying about Lane Kiffin’s controversial decision to add NFL players to an already loaded roster.
Kiffin kept pressing forward with the move, with the former pros attending practice and hoping to play in the season’s first games. The SEC had already taken a hard line, voting against NFL players in the NCAA and handing down strict punishments. But the situation shifted after a Baton Rouge judge issued a temporary restraining order for the class of 2022 athletes, giving them another year of eligibility and allowing them to return to the NCAA and transfer in during the window.
That made the move legal for anyone, and Kiffin was simply the first to act. Once the SEC responded with the threat of serious consequences, including the possibility of removing LSU from the conference, Kiffin backed off.
He did not put the two former pros, Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, on the roster for the season opener vs. Clemson.
With no vote scheduled to take place on Thursday, the situation appears to be easing for now. But in Elko’s telling, it only got there after the SEC laid down the law.
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