LSU has proven over the past few years that it has no problem playing the villain. Add a little Lane Kiffin spice to the jambalaya currently cooking in the Bayou, and it’s not hard to understand why there’s a growing disconnect between the Tigers and the rest of the SEC.
Over the past week, a battle has been brewing within the conference over court orders granted by Louisiana judges concerning the eligibility of athletes attempting to return to college sports after professional stints at some level.
While there are obviously strings being pulled behind the scenes in getting these cases in front of judges within the Baton Rouge area, LSU is clearly going against the grain as conference officials try to enforce newly created guidelines in this nauseating eligibility fight.
Kiffin’s position is simple: If a court says an athlete is eligible, LSU would be foolish not to pursue that player while other schools are sitting on the sidelines.
The SEC sees it differently. Conference leaders believe they have a responsibility to protect the league from an absurd new reality in which athletes can sign professional contracts, attend NFL camps and then use court orders to return to college.
And LSU? The Tigers are not just challenging the SEC. They have the full force of Louisiana’s political machine standing behind them.
Yes, LSU has the full-backing of its state government in this ongoing fight with the SEC.
Need proof?
If there was any doubt about where Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry stands in this fight, he erased it Wednesday night in comments made about the ongoing situation between the SEC and LSU.
“This whole thing is ridiculous. Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” Governor Landry profoundly noted. “I’ve been saying for a year that college sports need to be fixed. The NCAA could have done it. Congress could have done it. Neither did. Now the SEC is creating a legal mess over athletes it told were out of eligibility, only to change the rules afterward.
“The SEC accepted the courts’ decisions on Diego Pavia and Trinidad Chambliss. Why is this different? You can’t tell athletes their college careers are over, watch them move on, change the rules later, and then punish them for not predicting the future.”
So yes, LSU has its governor publicly carrying water for the Tigers as Kiffin and basketball coach Will Wade look to capitalize on court rulings that have turned college eligibility into a complete circus.
Let’s be clear: The NCAA deserves plenty of blame for this mess. Its decision to move to a five-years-to-play-five model without properly addressing athletes caught in the transition opened the door to the legal chaos now engulfing college sports.
Nobody is denying that part of the story, not even remotely. Although, it’s also hard to forget how much influence these states have with college athletics.
But, remember when Gov. Landry decided it was the perfect time to go on a rant about the amount of money LSU was spending on former coach Brian Kelly’s buyout, which took place during a press conference about SNAP benefits for Louisiana citizens?
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This is also the same Landry who once railed against LSU’s spending on Brian Kelly’s buyout during a press conference on SNAP benefits — only to later play a role in LSU’s pursuit of Kiffin and Wade.
It’s just money, right? Yes, and there is a lot at stake this season across all college athletics, not just in Louisiana.
When SEC officials met on Tuesday evening at SEC headquarters for a meeting that just so happened to already be on the books for well over a month, LSU officials voted in agreement to ban former pro-athletes from reentering the college space.
But on Wednesday, LSU president Wade Rousse abstained from voting in the formal process to enact these new changes while the rest of the SEC passed the guidelines through with a 15-0 tally.
Was this part of the plan? Go one way, then flip the script on the following day?
This is not just about football, either.
Will Wade is building a basketball roster, and players such as RJ Luis were counting on court rulings to open a path to Baton Rouge. Luis received an injunction this week that would have allowed him to play — if not for the SEC’s newly enacted restrictions.
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Look no further than RJ Luis, who was granted an injunction this week that would allow him to play under the court umbrella, if it weren’t for the new SEC guidelines enacted this week.
Now, Luis and others are preparing for another battle, this time with the conference who governs LSU.
Most would find it hard to believe LSU would agree to a lucrative deal with Luis without believing it had a way to get him on the court this season. His case was filed in Louisiana’s 16th Judicial District Court for a reason, and he is hardly the first athlete to seek a favorable ruling in a state court.
You can’t blame the players for using every avenue available to them. But LSU is not merely watching this unfold from the sidelines. The Tigers are positioning themselves at the center of the fight.
With every Kiffin sound-bite, every move from Rousse and now the governor’s public backing, LSU is once again leaning into the role it knows best.
The villain.
In this era of college athletics, with the amount of money spent on overhauling the athletic department in Baton Rouge, I’d expect nothing less.
And over the next few days, we’ll find out just how far the Tigers are willing to go to beat the SEC — whether their name is on the court documents or not.
It has always been Lane Kiffin versus the world.
This time, he has Will Wade, LSU and the State of Louisiana riding shotgun.
