Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has thrown his support behind LSU and football coach Lane Kiffin in their ongoing conflict with the Southeastern Conference over player eligibility.

In a statement issued last week, Landry called the situation ridiculous and repeated his familiar refrain that critics should not hate the player but hate the game. He accused the SEC of creating a legal mess by changing rules on athletes it had told were out of eligibility, only to alter those rules afterward.

"The SEC accepted the courts’ decisions on Diego Pavia and Trinidad Chambliss. Why is this different?" Landry said. "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."

The dispute centers on LSU’s efforts to add former professional players to its rosters. In football, the Tigers have pursued Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who regained eligibility for a fifth season through a Louisiana court ruling despite prior professional contracts. Similar issues have arisen in men’s basketball.

The SEC responded by adopting a rule barring member schools from signing athletes who declared for the NFL, NBA, or WNBA drafts without withdrawing or who were signed or rostered by professional teams. The conference also approved penalties that include suspending a coach for half a season and fining a school half its operating budget for violations. LSU was the only member to abstain from the vote on those penalties.

Landry noted that the SEC had previously accepted court-ordered eligibility rulings for other players, including Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. He argued the conference’s new stance creates inconsistency in an already chaotic college sports landscape.

The governor has long criticized the broader state of college athletics, pointing to failures by the NCAA and Congress to implement reforms. The eligibility battle comes amid multiple court challenges to conference and NCAA rules following recent rulings that have opened paths for additional seasons of play for some athletes.

LSU has not commented publicly on the SEC’s actions or Landry’s statement. A preliminary injunction hearing in the related Louisiana case is scheduled for later this month.