LSU is poised to become the first FBS program to sign undrafted free agents released by NFL teams, but coach Lane Kiffin defended his pursuit of such players, saying “most” coaches will soon be recruiting from the same pool.
Tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss over the past two seasons, plans to join LSU once he clears NFL waivers, according to his agents Sunday. Wright was most recently with the Cleveland Browns, but he did not play in their most recent preseason game and was officially waived Monday.
Another domino fell Monday when former Ole Miss defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, who was waived by the New Orleans Saints, revealed on his Instagram that he intends to join Kiffin at LSU, labeling it a “business decision.”
Wright, Harris and 14 other players have only one additional year of NCAA eligibility thanks to a Louisiana court that granted them a temporary restraining order last week, allowing them to enter the transfer portal to keep their options open. The order is related to the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility model, which allows five seasons within a five-year window and did not cover players from the high school Class of 2022 who had already exhausted their eligibility.
“In my opinion, knowing the information, I think it’s really wrong to be critical of these kids,” Kiffin said at a press conference Monday. “They were granted a fifth year by a judge saying that they were wronged by the NCAA and that they should’ve had the fifth year all along like all the kids moving forward will have a fifth year.”
Ex-Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, another plaintiff in the case, committed to the Tigers last Friday, though he had no NFL ties like Wright and Harris.
“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.”
Kiffin drew criticism last winter for his exit from Ole Miss to take the helm of an SEC rival while the Rebels were still in the College Football Playoff. Several of his assistant coaches followed him to LSU, but he allowed offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and others to return to Ole Miss to coach in the playoff.
The co-founder and executive director of the Grove Collective, Ole Miss’ NIL machine, even claimed during a Monday podcast appearance that the FBI searched for “bugs” in the football offices after Kiffin left.
“We knew kind of what was in Baton Rouge, and we knew how they operated. I remember getting on my knees and looking underneath the desk, like checking for, ‘Is there some sort of bug in my office?'” Walker Jones told the “Assorted Crackers” podcast, later insisting, “Trust me, you don’t know this guy (Kiffin) like I do.”
Ole Miss coach Pete Golding confirmed to ESPN on Monday that an FBI agent walked through the Rebels’ offices to aid a search. He was not a direct hire by the university in this matter, but rather the father of an Ole Miss player.
Kiffin ultimately had four players follow him from Oxford to Baton Rouge: defensive end Princewill Umanmielen, linebacker TJ Dottery, receiver Winston Watkins Jr. and offensive tackle Devin Harper.
And with the season opener against Clemson less than two weeks away, Kiffin apparently is not done adding players to his new program.
“I believe that my job is to LSU and the LSU people that hired me and the fans,” Kiffin said.