LSU dodged SEC ban over Kiffin's ChatGPT legal strategy — SkimNews
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- Lane Kiffin routinely texted attorney Tom Mars screenshots of ChatGPT legal opinions during his dispute with the SEC, with Mars saying the AI's answers were "almost always wrong" and joking that Kiffin's $91 million contract should buy a real lawyer on speed dial
- The SEC threatened to fine LSU an amount equal to 50% of the sport's annual operating budget and impose a half-season suspension on the head coach if it rostered former NFL players Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris
- The SEC filed a federal lawsuit against LSU in Alabama and scheduled a member-university vote that could have expelled the Tigers from the conference
- LSU declined to add Wright and Harris to its roster even after Louisiana state Judge William Jorden granted a preliminary injunction allowing them to play
- A Sept. 3 Baton Rouge hearing featured dueling district attorneys — Tony Clayton representing the players and Jason Williams representing the SEC — with Commissioner Greg Sankey testifying for more than three hours
- Sankey was pressed on the stand about his $4.8 million salary and private jet travel to Baton Rouge, prompting Clayton to call the SEC "hypocritical" for blocking athletes from earning money
- Wright and Harris are two of more than 600 former student-athletes suing for an extra year of eligibility under the NCAA's new "five-for-five" rule
Why it matters: LSU declined to roster Wright and Harris even after winning the state-court injunction, suggesting the SEC's threat of expulsion and a fine equal to half the sport's operating budget carried more weight than a courtroom victory — and exposing how a coach's $91 million buyout doesn't insulate a program from existential risk when the conference decides to play hardball.
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