Lane Kiffin Surrenders To SEC By Completing His Roster, Leaving No Room For The 2 Ex-NFL Roster Members

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin has backed down again to the wishes of Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, and he may have just ended LSU’s controversial fight with the SEC over a pair of NFL “players” who were cut after brief stays in training camp last month.

Kiffin has filled his two open roster spots that could have been saved for the former NFL roster members that committed to and enrolled at LSU in recent weeks – former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright and former Saints defensive tackle Zxavian Harris. Both were cut by their respective NFL teams after brief stays during training camp last month, and could have been added to LSU’s roster last week via a Baton Rouge judge’s ruling last Thursday.

But Kiffin did not add them to his roster, instead choosing to obey Sankey’s demands not to add players who had been on NFL rosters. But Kiffin kept his roster at 103 last week – two below the 105 limit, saving two spots on his roster for the potential addition of Wright and Harris as the legal games played out.

On Tuesday, however, Kiffin filled those two spots with sophomore cornerback Aiden Anding and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Gabriel Reliford. Both are returning LSU players, but both were ruled out for the 2026 season months ago because of injuries. Since the injuries happened before the season, Kiffin could have replaced each with new players – Wright and Harris, for example. But he has not decided to do so and has locked his roster at 105, thus adhering to Sankey because Wright and Harris can no longer be added.

LSU is adding Aiden Anding and Gabriel Reliford to the roster, per ESPN sources. This caps LSU at 105 players. https://t.co/JzzcWa3Rm3

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 9, 2026

Kiffin’s move comes the night before a hearing is scheduled regarding the SEC’s federal lawsuit against Kiffin, LSU president Wade Rousse, athletic director Verge Ausberry, LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Lee Mallett and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill in Birmingham, Alabama, at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The suit accuses LSU officials and Murrill of orhestrating a lawsuit against the NCAA to enable LSU to recruit NFL roster members, such as Wright and Harris.

Hearing In LSU-SEC Federal Lawsuit Scheduled For Wednesday

U.S. District Court Judge Annemarie Carney Axon, a University of Alabama Law School graduate, is expected to hear motions in the SEC’s lawsuit against LSU on Wednesday. The SEC is seeking an injunction from Axon to enforce its own rules prohibiting member schools from rostering players who signed with NFL, NBA or WNBA teams under its First Amendment Right of expressive association.

SEC Amends LSU Lawsuit Seeking Authority To Expel School From Conference

The SEC is hoping for a temporary restraining order (TRO) from Axon against LSU just as SEC presidents are preparing to possibly vote on Thursday to expel LSU from the SEC. The TRO would prohibit LSU from doing anything to prevent or interfere with that meeting, which would require a two-thirds vote from the presidents to terminate LSU’s membership.

"The SEC cites no firsthand evidence proving" that LSU contacted NFL players or their representatives to get those players to sue the NCAA. COLUMN by @racertodd https://t.co/IcyNO8EDmd

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 8, 2026

Perhaps Kiffin’s move Tuesday night could end the SEC’s strategy to remove LSU, which would be a wildly historical decision against a charter member of the SEC since 1932 that has been one of the league’s most successful programs. Expulsion for a recruiting a pair of players cut after only brief stays on an NFL roster? And this is a conference known for having some of the biggest cheaters in NCAA enforcement history – Florida football under coach Charley Pell and Kentucky basketball under coach Eddie Sutton in the 1980s, Alabama football under coach Mike DuBose in the early 2000s and LSU basketball in the early 2020s under coach Will Wade, who was fired in 2022, but is now back at LSU as head coach.

“The whole thing is kind of strange in terms of the allegations they are making against the Attorney General, i.e., me, because I have sovereign immunity as Attorney General,” Murrill said on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night before Kiffin completed his roster.

Tiger Rag Radio: Could The SEC Expel LSU? Attorney General Liz Murrill W… https://t.co/eC1Dkba8Ws via @YouTube @TigerRagMedia @LSUfootball @Lane_Kiffin @MattMoscona @LizMurrillforLA @jeffpalermoLRN @SportBeatTweet @SECFootbaII

— Todd Horne (@racertodd) September 9, 2026

“As a matter of law, a federal judge has no jurisdiction to issue an order director the Attorney General of a state, prohibiting that Attorney General from carrying out my legal duties,” Murrill, an LSU graduate, said. “That’s kind of a strange allegation that they’re making. And a further strange allegation was that I conspired with Lane Kiffin, whom I’ve never met. That was pretty interesting. That allegation was pretty curious.”

“Their power and their rules have been challenged, and they don’t like it. It’s that simple.”
–@AGLizMurrill captures Greg Sankey in 2 sentences. @racertodd https://t.co/97BYxVPxa1

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 3, 2026

On Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday, Murrill again called the SEC’s lawsuit “garbage,” as she did in an interview last Thursday when the SEC announced the lawsuit while the SEC was losing a ruling in a Baton Rouge court. That ruling freed Wright and Harris to join LSU’s roster.

“The SEC’s allegations are based on a lot of conjecture,” Murrill said Tuesday. “Like, I’ve seen no evidence. None. The things that they allege in this lawsuit – it just seems to be completely made up.”

Tiger Rag detailed the lack of evidence in the lawsuit on Tuesday.

SEC Moves to Kick LSU Out: What Evidence Supports Its Claim?

“The SEC has been trying all along to get around that ruling by the state court judge (William Jorden) on Thursday, and now they are trying to get a federal judge to confuse things further,” Murrill said. “In the end, this federal court action is a collateral attack on William Jorden for authority. A lot of things can change in the next 24 hours.”

Murrill also said she has not been served with the lawsuit against LSU, which is what usually happens regarding defendants.

“That’s another peculiar thing about this lawsuit,” Murrill said. “I got a copy of the lawsuit, but that’s not service and process. They have a legal obligation to provide legal service and process, and they just threw it at us. As a matter of law, this judge (Axon) doesn’t have jurisdiction. There’s no federal claim.”

Murrill scoffed at the SEC’s First Amendment argument in the lawsuit.

“This First Amendment claim that they’ve come out of the gate with is garbage,” she said.

Meanwhile, with Kiffin not putting Wright and Harris on his roster, LSU conceivably would be in violation of Judge Jorden’s ruling last Thursday that said to put the players on LSU’s roster.

LSU, though, has decided to cooperate with Sankey and the SEC now and deal with Jorden later, if at all.

And the only options for Wright and Harris may be to try out for the NFL again next season.