Oregon’s roster is starting to reflect the bigger fight swirling around college football eligibility, and two Ducks are making their views clear.
Wide receiver Evan Stewart and offensive lineman Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu both weighed in on the debate over whether former professional athletes should be allowed back into college football, a topic that has already drawn strong opinions from coaches across the sport. Stewart said Monday that he sides with Dan Lanning on the issue.
"I'm with Lanning on that one. I don't really agree with that too much," Stewart said on Monday.
"We all got a limited amount of time, so once you get that time and you make that decision to go and you think you're good enough to go, you can't really turn back on it. That's how I feel."
Stewart’s view lines up with how he sees the decision players make when they leave for the pros. He is also heading into what could be a big 2026 season after missing 2025 with an injury, and he’s in position to be a major part of Oregon’s offense, with a chance to lead the Ducks’ wide receiver group.
Laloulu focused on the other side of the issue: what a return by those players means for younger athletes trying to break through.
"It kind of sucks," said Laloulu. "For the younger dudes that's coming in from high school trying to get that spot and to play the game… it's kind of tough."
The eligibility fight has grown more complicated under the NCAA’s current five-year guidelines, which give members of the 2022 high school class a chance to return for another season even after using up the eligibility they had under the NCAA’s old rules. But that path took a hit when the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit paused the nationwide ruling that had temporarily opened the door for Class of 2022 athletes to get a fifth season. Players counting on that ruling are no longer eligible to play this fall, though some athletes who got separate state court rulings remain eligible.
Coaches have been louder than players in this debate so far. Lanning, Ohio State’s Ryan Day and LSU’s Lane Kiffin have all spoken publicly about it, with Lanning taking one of the hardest lines against players who have already gone pro and want to come back.
"It used to be once you had an agent or once you went and did the combine," he said. "All those things qualified as you were no longer an amateur.
You're a professional now, once you declare for the draft. So to let any of those players come back, fair or unfair to them, it's unfair to the sport and I think it's unfair to the players that are on current teams for those guys to be coming back."
The SEC has taken a similar stance, saying athletes who leave college sports, sign pro contracts and compete professionally "should not then be permitted to return to college competition."
"Allowing that to occur will blur the line between college and professional sports, create significant competitive equity concerns, and reduce opportunities for high school and current college athletes," the statement read. "College sports are for college athletes. The current confusion around national eligibility standards emphasizes the need to advance the Protect College Sports Act."
That position echoes the concerns Stewart and Laloulu raised, while also pointing toward a wider question for the sport: if the uncertainty keeps going, will other major conferences, including the Big Ten, eventually take the same route as the SEC as they work with the Big Ten on the Protect College Sports Act?
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