Oregon head coach Dan Lanning isn’t interested in the idea of NFL players making a detour back to college football.
That pushback comes as a Louisiana judge granted 30 former college athletes, including 16 football players, a temporary injunction on Wednesday that would allow them to return to school for one more season. A few of those players are already tied to NFL teams, including former LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pyburn is still considering his next move.
Former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright is also part of the lawsuit. He took part in Cleveland Browns training camp before the team waived him on Sunday, and he is now in the transfer portal with LSU expected to be his next stop.
Lanning made clear he thinks the whole setup works against the sport.
"I think there are a lot of negatives that are involved around this," Lanning said in a clip shared by Front Office Sports on Sunday. "One, once you go to the NFL, to me, you're in the NFL.
You don't get the opportunity to come back. Two, most of us have built our rosters and have roster limits now.
"So if you invited someone else back to your team, that means you're kicking somebody else off your team to match roster limits. I don't think that's fair to the players that worked all summer, all spring, and put themselves in position to be ready to work for a team."
Not every coach sees it the same way. North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick is already looking into whether his program can take advantage of the ruling.
"We've looked at a number of them," Belichick said on Friday, via 247 Sports' Noah Weiskopf. "Each case is a little bit different.
If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't.
I don't think there's anything we're counting on, but we're always open to anything that will help the team."
Belichick has long been known for being willing to take a practical approach, and he isn’t alone. On Saturday, Browns head coach Todd Monken said LSU head coach Lane Kiffin had reached out to him about Wright before the court ruling.
"Ain't s- crazy?" Monken said, via ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi.
"I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago. Now, I know.
I didn't call him back. Now, I guess I should have."
Lanning’s argument is easy to understand: if a player has already moved on to the NFL, opening the door back to college can come at the expense of someone who spent the entire offseason earning a spot. But plenty of coaches appear ready to ignore that concern if the ruling can help them improve their roster.
Until the NCAA or another governing body changes the eligibility rules, more programs are expected to keep exploring how to use the decision to their advantage.
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