LSU Coach Kiffin Used ChatGPT to Defend 2 Players' Eligibility

Q: What forced LSU to abandon its recruits despite winning a crucial state court injunction against the SEC?

LSU backed down because the SEC escalated the fight beyond the state-court win and made the risk to the program too great. Even after Judge William Jorden’s preliminary injunction blocked the SEC and NCAA from stopping Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris from playing, the conference threatened severe sanctions if LSU put former pro players on its roster. Those penalties included a half-season suspension for coach Lane Kiffin, a fine worth 50% of the football program’s annual operating budget, loss of conference voting rights, and potentially other punishment at the commissioner’s discretion. The SEC also opened a separate federal case in Alabama against LSU, Kiffin and school officials, arguing the school was violating conference rules and the league’s associational rights. It later went further by scheduling a vote of SEC presidents and chancellors on whether LSU could be expelled from the conference. Reports indicated LSU believed the league might have the votes to act if the school kept pushing. At the same time, LSU ultimately filled its final two roster spots with other players, locking the 105-man roster and removing any remaining path to add Wright and Harris. So, despite winning in Louisiana court, LSU abandoned the recruits because the injunction did not end the broader enforcement and membership threat coming from the SEC.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 17

Tom Mars told ESPN that Lane Kiffin repeatedly sent ChatGPT screenshots to support LSU's bid to add former Ole Miss players Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris.
Those arguments centered on whether the two could return to college after signing NFL contracts, a position Mars said ChatGPT backed but was "almost always wrong."
LSU ultimately dropped the effort after a standoff with the SEC and did not place Wright or Harris on the roster before the season.
Mars said he warned that a coach with a $91 million contract should rely on top lawyers rather than AI for eligibility advice, underscoring growing scrutiny of AI use in high-stakes sports decisions.