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Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during an event at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium on Feb. 23, 2026 in a collage next to the LSU Tigers logo
If the LSU Tigers still hope to add Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavien Harris to their football roster for the 2026 season, they’ll have to jump through some hoops to do so, and Louisiana governor Jeff Landry isn’t happy about it.
Landry, who has taken an increasingly large role within LSU athletics in the last year, called out the SEC over its plan to sanction teams that add players who had previously entered the NFL Draft.
The SEC, alongside the Big Ten, announced the new rule on Wednesday in light of the news surrounding LSU’s pursuit of Harris and Wright. Despite the fact that SEC schools reportedly voted 16-0 in favor of the rule, Landry still isn’t a fan.
Jeff Landry Claims SEC Created ‘Legal Mess’ With Rule Stopping LSU Transfers
“This whole thing is ridiculous. Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” Landry said in a statement to Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports.
“I’ve been saying for a year that college sports need to be fixed,” he continued. “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.”
It’s easy to wonder if Landry would feel as strongly about the rule if it weren’t affecting the largest program in the state that he governs, and a program that he’s seemingly a fan of.
It also begs the question of why LSU would vote in favor of the rule if it disagrees with the premise. Ultimately, it comes across as sour grapes from Landry at a time when LSU athletics have seemingly become universally reviled.
While everyone is in a race to the bottom, both Landry and the Tigers appear to have taken the lead.