LSU and first-year head coach Lane Kiffin are facing criticism for recruiting NFL players.
Kiffin’s response to the backlash is straightforward: His job is to put the best possible team on the field and win football games.
“I wouldn’t like to be my boss that hired me and to come to say, hey, here’s these guys going around the country, playing, making teams better, and they are going to play from the ruling, why aren’t we recruiting them because we may end up playing against them,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin cannot publicly discuss specific recruits, but his comments come as LSU is pursuing two players who could return to the Tigers after spending time in the NFL.
Former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright was waived by the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. According to his agents, Wright will sign with LSU if he clears waivers.
Wright was a second team All-SEC selection at Ole Miss last season. The 6-foot-4, 246-pound tight end caught 36 passes for 635 yards as the Rebels reached the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
Wright signed with the Browns earlier this month and spent part of training camp with Cleveland but did not appear in any preseason games.
Former LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn is also attempting to make an NFL roster. Pyburn is currently competing for a spot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If he is released, he is reportedly expected to return to LSU.
A temporary restraining order issued last week by 19th Judicial District Judge William Jorden opened the door for Wright, Pyburn and 14 other football players to receive another season of college eligibility.
The athletes had previously been told they had exhausted their eligibility after playing four seasons of college football. But the NCAA’s new five-for-five eligibility rule, which gives college athletes five years to play five seasons, combined with the court ruling, could allow them to return.
Kiffin was asked Monday whether NFL players should generally be allowed to return to college football.
“It’s not necessarily what I believe, but that answer would be no,” Kiffin said. “I think every circumstance should be looked at differently. This is a very unique circumstance.
"The judges decided they should have an extra year,” Kiffin said. “They started to get injunctions around the country, so, we’re recruiting them. They were made eligible. The judges found that these players should’ve been eligible for a fifth year. They did not know they were going to become eligible.”
And if the players are eligible, Kiffin said LSU will consider them just like any other player who could help the Tigers.
“We’re always going to look at every avenue to give you the best team, to give you the best players so you have the best chance to win,” Kiffin said. “We’re always going to try to get better in every area, no matter what.”
According to CBS Sports and AYSsports, LSU is also expected to add former Ole Miss defensive lineman Zxavian Harris. Harris was with the New Orleans Saints for three months, but was released after the first week of training camp, because he could not practice as he was recovering from foot surgery in March.
Harris is 68, 330 pounds, from Canton, Mississippi. He played for four years at Ole Miss and last season was his best year. Harris recorded 58 tackles, three sacks, nine tackles for a loss, one interception, three pass breakups and a blocked field goal.
