LSU's Lane Kiffin says his players endorse pursing ex-NFLers - ESPN

LSU coach Lane Kiffin said Monday that he «struggled» with the decision to continue to pursue former NFL rookies seeking a fifth year of college eligibility even as the SEC opposes it but that because his current players said to «bring 'em,» it made Kiffin «feel a little better in the struggle.»

Kiffin said tight end Dae'Quan Wright, who was released by the Cleveland Browns, has been practicing with the team along with former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka. Kiffin said that his final roster is due to the SEC on Friday, the day before LSU opens its season at home against Clemson, and that it's too early to predict if any of the late-arriving players will see the field in Week 1.

Kiffin said he met with the players' leadership committee and presented the situation to those players before asking them what they wanted to do about the possibility of adding Wright along with defensive tackle Zxavian Harris and former LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn, who were also released by NFL teams.

«Every one of them was emphatic about, 'If they can help us win, bring 'em,'» Kiffin told reporters Monday at his weekly news conference. «We understand we have a team that's practiced together and worked together all offseason, but one of them said, 'Hey, this is how it works at the next level, and this is how the real world works.' So that made me feel a little better in the struggle and being torn back and forth.»

Meanwhile on Monday, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was simultaneously holding his Week 1 news conference with the media and took a strong stance opposing the concept of adding NFL players at the expense of current ones. Kiffin told ESPN he wouldn't have to make cuts to add the new players under the 105-man roster limit