{"id":1036021,"date":"2026-09-01T01:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T01:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1036021\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T01:28:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T01:28:26","slug":"lsu-alum-ben-mcdonald-says-he-doesnt-agree-with-nfl-to-college-returns-but-understands-why-coaches-want-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1036021\/","title":{"rendered":"LSU alum Ben McDonald says he doesn’t agree with NFL-to-college returns, but understands why coaches want them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the LSU Tigers<\/a> prepare for their season opener against the Clemson Tigers, not all eyes are focused on the current matchups to expect in Death Valley.<\/p>\n

The college football world is waiting to see if tight end Dae\u2019Quan Wright, as well as former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, among others, will be available to play for LSU after causing quite the controversy by reuniting with Lane Kiffin at the NCAA<\/a> level after being released by the Cleveland Browns following a training camp stint with the NFL team.<\/p>\n

Even as college football’s Week 0 has passed, the debate continues over a growing trend: former NFL rookies and other athletes attempting to move from the professional ranks back to college in pursuit of a fifth year of eligibility. The SEC and other major conferences have pushed back on new guidelines, but injunctions and temporary restraining orders issued by local judges have generated a series of court proceedings and strained relations among the NCAA, conferences, schools and others.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Lane <\/p>\n

Lane Kiffin speaks at a press conference as he is introduced as the new head football coach of the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Dec. 1, 2025. (Tyler Kaufman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Ben McDonald, the first overall pick of the 1989 MLB Draft, Olympic gold medalist, and former LSU Tigers star pitcher, appeared on “America Reports” where he told Sandra Smith about his stance on the current stir running through the college ranks.<\/p>\n

“Personally, I don\u2019t believe in it,” McDonald explained. “I think once you get to play your four years, for me, it\u2019s time to move on at that point. But things are so different now when you talk about the NIL money and the money that\u2019s out there now, you get why these kids want to come back.<\/p>\n

“So, if you can\u2019t make it in the NFL, MLB, wherever, maybe you have that opportunity to return for a fifth year of college and make some money. You don\u2019t blame the players for wanting to continue to play. They love the sport, they want to continue their athletic career. But also, money is involved.”<\/p>\n

MATT RHULE SOUNDS ALARM ON NFL RETURNEES, $45 MILLION ROSTERS AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S PAYROLL PROBLEM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

One of the NFL\u2019s top agents, Drew Rosenhaus, who also represents Wright, explained why he supports players returning to college<\/a> if they are within the current “5-for-5” rule set by the NCAA in June, which gives student-athletes five years of eligibility to play five seasons. For one, as McDonald mentioned, there\u2019s the financial perks of returning to college rather than sitting on a practice squad for NFL rookies.<\/p>\n

“He is not going to make an NFL team this year,” Rosenhaus said on “One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.” “At best, he would be on a practice squad. He feels playing another year in college would be great for his development, and it will allow him to get bigger, stronger, more experienced and take another shot at the NFL. Oh, by the way, he would make more money in college than he\u2019d make on an NFL practice squad.”<\/p>\n

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule recently appeared on OutKick\u2019s “Don\u2019t @ Me with Dan Dakich,” where he added how much of a boost players like Wright got already because they\u2019ve gone against pros in an NFL training camp.<\/p>\n

“Twice as good,” Rhule said about Wright\u2019s development having been with the Browns. “I think the hardest thing when you\u2019re coaching these guys, you\u2019re always telling them, \u2018Hey, do this. This is what it\u2019s like at the next level.\u2019 It would be at least twice, if not three, times better than they were.”<\/p>\n

\"Ben <\/p>\n

Baltimore Orioles television announcer Ben McDonald looks on during batting practice before a game against the San Diego Padres at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Md., on July 27, 2024. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

So, in that respect, McDonald understands a coach like Kiffin wanting to go after these players wishing to get back to college.<\/p>\n

“Whether you agree with it or not, if I\u2019m a college coach and I have the opportunity to get a kid that\u2019s got four years of college experience, and he was in an NFL training camp, why would I not want him to come back to my roster? It only allows us a better chance to win,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Everybody\u2019s picking on Lane Kiffin because it\u2019s low-hanging fruit for him. There\u2019s been a lot of controversy over Kiffin lately, leaving Ole Miss<\/a> and the great year he had the last few years at Ole Miss, and now he\u2019s the head coach at LSU. But it\u2019s not an LSU thing. This is across the board. \u2026I don\u2019t totally agree with it, but I understand where it\u2019s at right now. And if I\u2019m a head coach, hey, I want those players. There is pressure to win now, and why not get the best players you can?”<\/p>\n

NFL WARNS CLUBS THEY CANNOT SIGN ANY PLAYER WHO RETURNS TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR 2026 SEASON, MEMO SAYS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

McDonald added the other side of the argument, believing “it hurts our incoming freshman class because those kids don\u2019t have really nowhere to go with the 5-for-5 deal that\u2019s out there right now.”<\/p>\n

Kiffin said that he spoke with his players\u2019 leadership committee, where they were at a consensus to “bring \u2018em” into the program if it meant winning this season.<\/p>\n

“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,” Kiffin told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n

Kiffin\u2019s final roster is due to the SEC on Friday, which is the day before the team will take on Clemson. On Thursday, a judge in a Louisiana courtroom will either uphold the temporary restraining order, which would prohibit the SEC from punishing schools if they were to add a player like Wright, or reverse the decision after hearing from the SEC and NCAA following a show-cause order.<\/p>\n

\"Lane <\/p>\n

Head Coach Lane Kiffin of the LSU Tigers speaks at SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at Tampa Marriott Water Street in Tampa, Fla., on July 23, 2026. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the SEC, coaches like Texas\u2019 Steve Sarkisian opposed the idea of bringing back players that went pro.<\/p>\n

“The fact that somebody out there is going to take a player off of an NFL roster and tell somebody who’s been doing it for nine months to go kick rocks, that doesn’t sit well with me. I think that’s wrong. That, morally, is wrong,” he said, via ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the LSU Tigers prepare for their season opener against the Clemson Tigers, not all eyes are focused…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1036022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,16660,1317,182579,1315,1316,306237,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1036021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-fb","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-outkick-sports","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117193194502473710","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1036021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1036022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1036021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1036021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1036021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}