The SEC is facing a fresh eligibility mess, and Monday night’s conference-wide response made one thing clear: the league is unhappy, but the path forward is still foggy.
After a videoconference involving the SEC’s executive members, the conference released a joint statement addressing the recent wave of eligibility developments tied to former NFL players trying to return to college football. The issue traces back to a Colorado judge’s ruling that players from the class of the 2022-23 academic year would be eligible for a fifth year of college football. Since then, the fallout has reached both the professional and college levels.
Two of the most notable names involved are former Ole Miss players. Tight end Dae'Quan Wright played in the NFL preseason with the Cleveland Browns before being waived so he could pursue his fifth year of eligibility.
His target is not a return to the Rebels, either. Wright is looking to join Lane Kiffin's squad down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
LSU has also landed a commitment from former Ole Miss defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, who said he was making a "business decision" to play with the Tigers after being waived by the New Orleans Saints last month.
That’s the strange reality college football is living in right now, and the SEC’s statement did not exactly slam the door shut on it. Commissioner Greg Sankey and the conference have been outspoken on issues like NIL, the transfer portal and the growing conflict around NFL players attempting to re-enter the college game. Their latest statement disagrees with the ruling, but there is no sign the league is ready to stop these moves from happening.
The biggest question now is whether the SEC will actually put anything in place to block these transfers. Sankey has previously said no players will be allowed to transfer within the conference, but Wright and Harris are both trying to move "out" of Oxford. Whether the league holds firm or backs down is still unresolved.
For now, LSU could have both players on its schedule when Texas A&M visits Tiger Stadium on September 26, if Wright and Harris are granted their requests to return to college football.
Kiffin, meanwhile, was blunt about the reality schools are dealing with when asked about recruiting players who are currently in the NFL and chasing eligibility.
"At the end of the day, because of these rulings, they're either going to play for you or they're going to play for someone else around the country," Kiffin said. "So we've made the decision to recruit them like probably most people are."
And that’s where the sport stands: teams are recruiting these players because the system allows it, while the SEC weighs whether it can do anything meaningful to stop the trend before the season gets here.
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