LSU coach Lane Kiffin defended the potential for bringing in players who were just on NFL teams, while denying he called Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken to ask about one of them.A judge’s ruling has opened the door for certain players to return to college: Fifth-year players whose eligibility was up under old NCAA rules, then were not grandfathered in when the NCAA changed its rule this summer to allow players a fifth year of eligibility, no matter how much they played their first four years.While the NCAA has won a stay of a nationwide injunction covering the entire Class of 2022, some players are still allowed to return to school by state-level injunctions related to their specific cases. That includes Louisiana, where tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss and had been in camp with the Cleveland Browns, has entered the transfer portal with the intention of going to LSU.LSU is also reportedly set to get former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, who did not sign an NFL contract. They are among nearly 30 athletes, including 16 football players, who were covered by an injunction issued Friday by a Louisiana judge.“Why are we recruiting them? Because we may end up playing against them,” Kiffin said. “And I don’t think I’m unique. I think these guys are being recruited by a lot of guys across the country.”Kiffin opened his news conference Monday by reading a statement that confirmed LSU was recruiting multiple players who had received injunctions, without naming them. He pointed out that this was a unique case tied to only this year’s players, and he does not expect it to be the new normal.“In general, should NFL players come back to college … that answer would be no,” Kiffin said. “This is a very unique circumstance … The judge found that these players should have been told, and should have known they were going to be eligible for a fifth year, that they should have known that in December when they were making decisions.”But it’s still unclear whether Wright would be eligible by SEC rule to transfer to LSU, even if the injunction holds up. The SEC has a rule that players cannot transfer within the conference if it marks their second transfer. Wright played his first two college seasons at Virginia Tech before playing for Ole Miss in 2024 and ’25.The SEC office has been mum on the LSU situation so far. SEC presidents are due to meet this week, and commissioner Greg Sankey has already sided against one of his schools in a similar case when Alabama’s men’s basketball team tried to bring in Charles Bediako earlier this year after he’d been in an NBA camp. The NCAA won out in that case.Kiffin did not address a question about whether he thinks the SEC rule would apply, saying he could not comment on specific players.But he did offer a response to Monken, who said Saturday that Kiffin had reached out to him and he didn’t respond.“Man, ain’t that s— crazy?” Monken told reporters. “I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago. Now I know.”Kiffin said that didn’t happen.“I found that interesting because there’s some inaccuracies in that story,” Kiffin said Monday. “But I don’t know, maybe somebody else called him that said they were me. I actually don’t know Todd. I guess somebody left him a text or called that was me because I don’t know him or have his number.”Aug 24, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms