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College football's eligibility fight draws fire from Merriman as SEC presses LSU in Alabama court

9/9/2026

The SEC filed an amended complaint Tuesday morning in an Alabama federal court against LSU, escalating a legal dispute over whether the school, coach Lane Kiffin, and athletic department staffers blocked the conference's First Amendment right to govern itself.

Former NFL linebacker and Maryland Terrapins alum Shawne Merriman told OutKick the trend of cut professionals returning to college eligibility is "pretty ridiculous," and warned the sport has reached a point where stopping it later becomes structurally impossible.

At the center of the fight is a question college football never had to formally answer before.

Can players who attempted professional football and were released return to Division I programs to exhaust remaining eligibility?

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