The rapidly changing eligibility landscape in college football has increasingly blurred the line between the collegiate and professional levels. This week, those lines overlapped when a temporary restraining order opened a path for several players who had already signed NFL contracts to return to college football.
Former New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Zxavian Harris was one of the many players permitted to return to college, and it appears he’ll be joining his old coach Lane Kiffin on the LSU Tigers. The developing situation has raised questions about how college football will regulate this new avenue, and Saints head coach Kellen Moore has his own concerns.
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“You want as many opportunities for all these guys,” Moore said. “At the same time, there’s kids that just work their tail off all offseason and all season long, and they have to make decisions on their roster now because of added players.”
Moore’s brother, Kirby Moore, is the head coach at Washington State after previously serving as Missouri’s offensive coordinator. For Kellen, he has a close view of what’s happening at the college level. The Saints head coach acknowledged the benefit of giving players additional opportunities while also pointing to the consequences for players who spent an entire offseason preparing with their programs.
It’s a complicated situation without an obvious solution. Players are fighting for the opportunities they believe should remain available to them, and programs are now being forced to navigate roster construction less than two weeks before the season kicks off. For Moore, the hope is that the sport can eventually find consistency: “I think there’s a challenging balancing act of this, and hopefully, hopefully there can be some leadership and some regulations developed here shortly.”
For now, the rules remain unsettled. And as players begin moving in the opposite direction from the NFL back to college football, the uncertainty is no longer contained to the college game.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints coach talks ‘unfortunate’ NFL-to-college eligibility situation
