ACC and SEC Announce Ban on Former Professional Athletes Returning to College Football
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The ACC is the only power conference standing, and it may not be for long. The ACC is considering banning former professional players who want to return and play in college, which would keep the league in line with rules that the Big Ten, SEC and now Big 12 have made in recent days.
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CBS SportsThe ACC and Big 12 are close to approving similar bans on NFL players, sources told CBS Sports. The ACC is also discussing a ban on former NBA and WNBA players, similar to the SEC's rule, sources said.
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Big 12 bans professional athletes across all sports The Big 12 has unanimously agreed to ban professionals from returning to Big 12 schools in all sports, the conference announced on Wednesday.
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Yahoo SportsThen on Wednesday, the Big 12 unanimously passed a policy that prohibits athletes from competing in all sports, not just football.
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On Tuesday, to approve a new rule banning former NFL players, including those who were drafted or participated in preseason games. The SEC opted to include former NBA and WNBA players in its rule, which the Big Ten did not. The Big Ten's penalty structure, also approved Tuesday, includes a ban on head coaches for 50% of the season and an undetermined financial penalty on the school.
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ESPNSEC to suspend coaches who add pro players SEC schools that bring back NFL, NBA or WNBA players to their programs will face steep discipline under a new policy unanimously approved by the conference's 16 members, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Yahoo SportsThe Big Ten later announced the penalties for violating the rule: a coach suspension of 50% of the season and an institutional fine.
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The SEC then followed suit shortly after that on Tuesday with a similar rule. The SEC included language for multiple sports and not just college football.
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CBS SportsHours later, the SEC passed its own rule and upped the ante to include basketball (thereby covering the Luis issue). It's funny how a competitor moving first magically spurred the SEC's presidents to step in and act like there are actual adults in the room. Expect the ACC and Big 12 to follow suit soon as well for a full slate of Power Four leagues passing similar rules.
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"College athletes, not former professional athletes, have been at the heart of the Southeastern Conference. Individuals who choose to leave college athletics, sign professional playing contracts, and compete professionally should not then be permitted to return to college competition," read part of the SEC's statement.
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CBS Sports"College athletes, not professional athletes, have been at the heart of the Southeastern Conference," the league wrote in a statement Monday night. "Individuals who choose to leave college athletics, sign professional playing contracts, and compete professionally should not then be permitted to return to college competition. Allowing that to occur will blur the line between college and professional sports, create significant competitive equity concerns and reduce opportunities for high school and current college athletes. College sports are for college athletes. The current confusion around national eligibility standards emphasizes the need to advance the Protect College Sports Act."
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In fact, CBS Sports reported Kiffin and the Tigers were actively encouraging players to sue the NCAA. Kiffin, like the lawyers whose talking point he shares, is pointing to the five-for-five rule, a recent NCAA rule that says a player has five years to play five seasons.
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Yahoo SportsThe NCAA just implemented the five-for-five rule recently. Basically, it means players have five years to play five full seasons. However, the byproduct of that is that the players who just graduated aren't a part of that new rule, and many of those graduated seniors aren't too keen on that. As such, there have been multiple lawsuits to get those players included with that extra year of eligibility.
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Per ESPN, a player who goes back to college this season will be prohibited from signing with an NFL team during the 2026 season. A player who signs an NFL contract and is subsequently cut becomes a free agent. While he may sign with another NFL club, join the CFL or return to college, he is considered a free agent and will not be subject to a future draft.
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ESPNSources: NCAA defectors can't play in NFL in '26 The NFL will inform its teams that any player who returns to the college ranks will be prohibited from signing with an NFL team this season, sources told ESPN.
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The move comes a day after LSU's athletics director, Verge Ausberry, and president Wade Rousse, voted in favor of the new rule banning former NFL, NBA and WNBA players from playing on teams in the SEC. Rousse abstained from the vote to approve the penalty structure tied to the rule on Wednesday, which passed 15-0.
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The SEC certainly tried to stand behind its rule barring interconference transfers (Wright, Harris and Williams were with Kiffin at Ole Miss) when it was a football-only issue. But then, across campus in Baton Rouge, men's basketball coach Will Wade got some good news in the way of a court allowing St. John's RJ Luis an injunction to play for him this year. Luis signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz this summer.
2 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Yahoo Sports "The conference continues to evaluate potential rules restricting professional athletes in other sports from conference competition," the league said in a statement, in part.
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02 CBS Sports Shortly after another former NFL player opted to go back to college, the NFL is providing clarity regarding league rules governing player eligibility.
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Sources (3)
- cbssports
- espn
- yahoosports