Ever since the Tigers went down to Oxford and came out with a loss, it appears that everyone has moved on from the controversy around Lane Kiffin trying to add two players who had already signed NFL contracts to his college roster. Those two players have certainly not forgotten.

Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris were left stranded in football limbo between the NFL and NCAA for the 2026 season. Both of those sports bodies had turned them away. Their future in the NFL in 2027 depends on being chosen again as undrafted free agents, which is unlikely, and a return to college seems permanently shut. However, one league has now given them hope of seeing the gridiron in the near future.

“The two players at the center of a legal battle between LSU and the SEC are blocked from playing in the NFL and college this year,” Front Office Sports reported on September 23. “But the UFL confirmed to FOS that Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris are eligible for its 2027 season.”

The UFL operates as an independent professional league with the authority to set its own eligibility rules. This allows them to bypass the unique restrictions set by the NFL and college football governing bodies currently blocking them from playing elsewhere. But is this a good idea for the former tight end and defensive tackle?

Although not ideal, the UFL is still a great opportunity to continue their football dreams. Considering they couldn’t make it through an NFL training camp, it is unlikely that those same 32 teams will choose them again without some new film which shows that their game has improved. This is where the UFL as a funnel of talent to the NFL comes in.

If both of these players suit up for UFL squads and show the rest of the world that they are worthy of playing in the pros, they have a much better chance of being selected in the future, rather than sitting at home on the couch. There is precedent to such an approach as well.

First-Team All-Pro Brandon Aubrey was playing for the Birmingham Stallions before being noticed and selected by the Dallas Cowboys. Pro Bowl wide receiver KaVontae Turpin played for the New Jersey Generals before being chosen to play in the NFL. In September 2025, the UFL put out a statement which said, “that 28 players from the past two seasons and 18 alumni from the modern era of spring football have either made the 53-man roster or were added to a practice squad.”

The saga that led them to this predicament

After finishing their careers at Ole Miss, both players went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft. They signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents. However, both were subsequently waived before the regular season began. 

There was a silver lining after they were released. A state judge in Louisiana granted a temporary restraining order allowing waived NFL rookies to regain their college eligibility. More than 40 college athletes sued both the NCAA and the SEC to reclaim their college careers. This was because in June, the NCAA had implemented a new rule allowing athletes an absolute fifth year of eligibility within a strict five-year window.

Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris had just finished playing under Lane Kiffin. The coaching staff did not waste any time and pitched an immediate offer to lure them back to their former coach in a new program. Looking to cash in on a fifth college season, both players agreed to join Kiffin at LSU. 

After a long and tiresome battle between LSU and the SEC for recruiting these players, LSU showed the white flag. SEC rules mandated that the university submit its official, finalized 105-man roster. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey retaliated aggressively. He filed a federal lawsuit in Alabama against LSU 24 hours before their season opener. They scheduled an emergency vote among member university presidents to consider completely booting LSU out of the SEC if they played the blacklisted athletes. 

The SEC threatened to hit LSU with fines equal to 50% of the football program’s annual operating budget and a half-season suspension for head coach Lane Kiffin. After fearing the immediate wrath of the conference, LSU deliberately left both Wright and Harris off its active game-day roster. 

The controversy between LSU and the SEC

The legal and bureaucratic mess between the SEC and LSU in early September 2026 was similar to a legal drama or movie. It saw a founding conference member threatened with total expulsion over an aggressive attempt to roster former NFL players. 

On September 3, 2026, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was on the witness stand in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, state court, defending the league’s rules against allowing former professional players to return to college sports.

The SEC’s legal team then launched a calculated counterstrike. They filed a massive federal lawsuit against LSU, its board, and coach Lane Kiffin in Alabama. The lawsuit accused LSU of engaging in a coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes in direct defiance of league rules.

Even after the SEC filed a federal lawsuit naming him personally, Kiffin refused to immediately back down. Appearing on College GameDay right before the season opener against Clemson, Kiffin openly stated that he believed Wright and Harris still “have an opportunity to play.” By initially keeping two spots open on LSU’s 105-man roster, he signaled to the conference that he was fully prepared to utilize the Louisiana court’s injunction if a settlement could be reached. However, in the end, the entire LSU program had to be protected, leaving behind these two players.