We have finally landed on the perfect situation to illustrate just how out of control college football truly is. Oh sure, we’ve known it for quite a while, but the Jayden Daniels/LSU cage match has brought it all home.
Finally, we have an issue in which everyone is to blame.
How about if you are LSU: You everybody worked up over a big pile from the transfer portal that (you hope) will fill in some major gaps and you hired a new coach who perfectly fits the description of what you are looking for. It wouldn’t be LSU if there wasn’t national championship talk in August, but the excitement level is probably higher in August, 2026, than it was in August, 2019, so you never know.
And then you get a newsbomb dropped off late on a Wednesday night. The representatives of Daniels, a former Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback of the Washington Commanders, have given a cease-and-desist letter to LSU over his NIL rights as well as use of his jersey number (5), which someone else is wearing this year. And by the way, we expect to have that Heisman Trophy returned pronto.
As stupefying as all of that seems, it fits right in on the path that we’ve been travelling. Can you really say you are surprised?
All parties involved should be forced to cease and desist. Granted, there are various levels of ridiculousness at play, so this is not a one-size-fits-all blame game.
Daniels, of course, is at the top of the list. What are we doing here, my man? What can you possibly hope to gain from this? All you have done is hack off a fan base that adored you as well as making yourself look petty, narcissistic and ungrateful. Nobody made you go to LSU; if you had gone to New Mexico State – it’s just a guess here – but you probably weren’t going to win the Heisman. So simply being at LSU had inherent value. Deal with it.
Not sure what to think about D.J. Pickett, who (apparently) is going to wear No. 5 this year because he says he’s worn that number “all my life.” News flash, D.J. – you didn’t wear it last year and things turned out OK. You could have worn 57 ½ while playing defensive back during 2025 and still been one of the best freshman DBs in the country. But you want/need to wear it because it was promised to you by a coach who isn’t there anymore.
Which brings us to Brian Kelly, erstwhile head coach of the Fighting Tigers. We all know that Brian will do anything to try to get a recruit – remember the hard-to-look-at videos with the recruit who went somewhere else? – and apparently he promised Pickett that he could wear No. 5. Of course, LSU (contractually) promised Kelly he would be the coach for 10 years and we all know how that turned out.
And then there is Lane Kiffin. You didn’t think there as going to be a controversy and he wouldn’t be involved, did you? I’m guessing this wasn’t on Kiffin’s list of Issues To Solve when he took over as head coach, but he can’t pass the buck here. Brian Kelly’s promise isn’t Lane Kiffin’s promise. Kiffin didn’t have to give No. 5 to Pickett. I understand that he’d rather hack off Jayden Daniels, who is out of eligibility, rather than a stud defensive back who could (but won’t) be at LSU for four more years. Unlike Pickett, Daniels isn’t going to help LSU win any games this year.
But pettiness aside, here’s a simple solution: STOP DOING THIS. Not just LSU … everyone. At every level. The Boston Celtics have retired 24 jersey numbers. The New York Yankees don’t a single-digit jersey number available.
You want to honor a former player or coach? Display their number in the building or stadium. But don’t “retire” it.
The NBA’s Tim Hardaway Jr. had to ask Tim Hardaway Sr. if he could wear No. 10 this year when he plays for the Miami Heat. Dad balked (yay!) then unbalked (boo).
When you see the number at a game, it will have the same sentimentality that it would if a walk-on fifth-string tight end is wearing it.
Same goes for statues, which have gotten even more ridiculous in the who-gets-one debate. How’d that work out for Penn State and Joe Paterno?
The key thing to keep in mind here is this one word – August. That makes it fertile ground for controversies like this.
It’ll go away in time. It always does. Until someone unretires it.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com