The Kansas City Chiefs appear to have spoiled Lane Kiffin’s LSU party. This is because they claimed linebacker Jack Pyburn off of NFL waivers. UDFA Pyburn was claimed off of waivers by the Chiefs on MondayGettyThe 22-year-old went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers opted to gamble on him and signed him over the summer. Pyburn led the Bucs with 4.0 sacks during the preseason, which was also the joint-most among all EDGE defenders that played a snap, per Pro Football Focus. But he ultimately didn’t make the team’s first 53-man roster.Should he have gone unclaimed on the waiver wire, Pyburn had plans to return to college, much like tight end Dae’Quan Wright did, who joined LSU following being waived by the Cleveland Browns. Pyburn was also set to join the Tigers – where he spent the 2025 season after transferring over from Florida – to team up with new head coach Lane Kiffin.Last season, he recorded 38 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass defended at LSU. However, the Chiefs saw the potential in the young defender and opted to claim him off waivers, where they ranked ninth in order of priority. Due to being claimed, Pyburn has now made the Chiefs’ 53-man roster and so will not return to college. LSU miss out after Pyburn joins Chiefs Whilst the Southeastern and Big Ten conference have banned the arrival of players who were ever on NFL rosters from being able to play at their schools, Kiffin has pursued quite an aggressive recruiting strategy for the SEC outfit this summer.The former Ole Miss coach defended the decision to pursue those players who had made NFL rosters earlier this month. Pyburn spent the 2025 season at LSUGettyKiffin doubled down on LSU pursuing talent from the NFLGetty “At the end of the day, because of these rulings, they’re either going to play for you or they’re going to play for someone else around the country,” Kiffin said. “So we’ve made the decision to recruit them like probably most people are.”Although LSU have missed out on bringing Pyburn back for another season, they have managed to sign Wright, who was part of a group of 16 college football players who were granted a temporary restraining order that permitted them to return to school for a fifth year of eligibility. Traditionally, athletes were given four years of eligibility in a five-year window to play college sports, but the NCAA then chose to adopt a new aged-based model to change the ruling to allow for five years of eligibility within five years. These rules, however, did not apply to players who began their careers between 2022 and 2023. The granting of this temporary order has now allowed those affected to be able to enter the NCAA transfer portal to explore their options to continue playing. “In my opinion, knowing the information, I think it’s really wrong to be critical of these kids,” Kiffin said on the matter. “They were granted a fifth year by a judge saying that they were wronged by the NCAA and that they should’ve had the fifth year all along like all the kids moving forward will have a fifth year.“In general, should NFL players come back to college? I believe — it doesn’t matter necessarily what I believe — that answer would be no. I think every circumstance should be looked at differently.”With Kiffin having rebuilt the Tigers roster ahead of their season opener on September 5 against Clemson, he made no apologies for trying to recruit the best talent possible – even those who had previously made NFL rosters. “I believe that my job is to LSU and the LSU people that hired me and the fans.”