LSU’s ongoing legal battle with the SEC has now drawn Louisiana’s top political voice into the spotlight. With tensions rising over the conference’s handling of the dispute, Governor Jeff Landry is no longer staying quiet. He’s breaking his silence with a pointed accusation, suggesting the SEC is treating the Tigers unfairly and putting the conference’s actions under fresh scrutiny.

“You think that those universities are aggravated and antagonized because of me? No, no, no. They’re afraid of Lane Kiffin. They’re afraid of Will Wade,” Landry told The Advocate on November 2. “They’re afraid of LSU’s dominance. That’s what this is; this is about money. And we’re going to win.”

In a detailed interview, Landry addressed his increased participation in LSU’s affairs, which came to the fore when the program fired Brian Kelly last year. The Governor was also actively involved in Lane Kiffin’s hiring at Baton Rouge. That probably explains why he framed the SEC lawsuit as an effort to undermine the program.

Landry believes the SEC’s lawsuit against LSU is not really about enforcing conference rules but about LSU’s growing influence and dominance in college sports. The SEC has accused LSU of lacking institutional control over its athletic programs.

On September 3, the SEC filed a lawsuit against LSU’s Board of Supervisors, LSU President Wade Rousse, and Lane Kiffin. The dispute centered on two former Ole Miss players, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who returned to college for an extra year of eligibility after signing contracts in the pros.

However, SEC rules prohibited former professional athletes who had signed NFL contracts from returning to college football. LSU recruited the two players despite this restriction. They subsequently obtained an injunction from a Louisiana state court that allowed them to play.

The SEC argued that LSU had violated conference rules by attempting to roster these players and warned that it would ban the entire athletics department. LSU finally gave in and removed the two players from their roster, but the legal action followed them.

The social media posts by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and Governor Jeff Landry defending LSU’s coaches and programs caught the attention of the SEC. The SEC’s lawsuit cites Murrill and Landry’s involvement in the courtroom hearing in which LSU athletes, including Wright and Harris, were granted a fifth year of NCAA eligibility.

Murrill was seated at the plaintiffs’ table during the hearing as she said “Geaux Tigers” while entering the courtroom. The SEC used these details to suggest that Murrill was closely involved with the athletes’ legal fight and potentially working alongside LSU and Governor Landry.

But the SEC hasn’t been able to provide concrete evidence of this. “It’s fiction,” Murrill said about the evidence. “They have no evidence because it doesn’t exist.” Their involvement has basically been to ensure the players in the eligibility crisis get a fair chance.

“We have an obligation to deal with them fairly,” Murrill said of college athletes on the Advocate, “and to make sure that the rules are fair and predictable.”

However, Murrill argues that simply attending a hearing and supporting LSU athletes doesn’t prove that she coordinated with the plaintiffs or the governor to help Lane Kiffin. Landry has also rejected allegations that he helped LSU players or Kiffin with the eligibility case.