Think about the craziness of all this. Jack Pyburn, a former defensive end at LSU and Florida, is in training camp right now with the Tampa Bay Bucs. He thought his college football career was finished, had finished out a final season at LSU, participated in the Senior Bowl, gone through the NFL Draft process and signed a three-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.
Then a Louisiana judge reopened a door that appeared to have closed months ago and Pyburn is inundated with options, one of them to possibly come play a final season of college at Miami or one of the large number of other college suitors that were blowing up the cell phone of his agent Thursday.
Pyburn is one of 16 former college football players who received temporary relief from the NCAA’s eligibility restrictions in a lawsuit filed in Louisiana. The ruling creates a potential path for Pyburn and several other players currently in NFL training camps to return to college football for the 2026 season.
The guarantee of an NIL payday may supercede going through training camp and potentially being a cut casualty. And it may not. You need a scorecard to keep track of all the options on Pyburn’s plate right now.
As of Thursday night, there was no guarantee that Pyburn will return to college. The ruling also does not represent a final victory over the NCAA. But it gives Pyburn and the others something he did not have before the ruling: a choice.
You could feel the anxiety Pyburn was going through in a brief conversation with CaneSport Thursday night. His agent, Christian Addison, his phone ringing off the hook, was equally edgy.
Pyburn is now attempting to make that choice while competing for an NFL job with Tampa Bay. If he goes back to college, if he chooses Miami which recruited him out of high school in the class of 2022, it would be one of the most unusual additions in recent college football history.
“I’m not speaking about any of it right now,” Pyburn told CaneSport. “I’m just trying to focus on football right now.”
Pyburn said he has removed himself from much of the public conversation and is allowing Addison to handle the process.
“I don’t have any socials or anything, so my agent’s just handling it all,” Pyburn said. “I can tell you, I’ve heard from a lot of teams.”
That interest is understandable.
Pyburn is a 6-foot-4, 264-pound edge defender with four seasons of SEC experience. He played his first three years at Florida before transferring to LSU, where he started 11 games in 2025 and recorded 52 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, eight quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. He finished his college career with 132 tackles in 41 appearances.
He then strengthened his professional case during Tampa Bay’s preseason, producing two sacks against the New York Jets.
But is he in line for a roster position or even a spot on the practice squad at Tampa Bay? That’s the question right now. Tampa Bay may or may not be ready to make a commitment in that regard two weeks before the final roster deadline.
The Louisiana court issued a temporary restraining order protecting Pyburn and the other named plaintiffs from NCAA rules that would prevent them from pursuing a fifth college season.
The order also created a limited transfer-portal window for the affected players. Reports on the ruling indicate that players released from NFL contracts by September 1 could attempt to join college rosters while the litigation continues.
The dispute stems from the NCAA’s move toward a five-seasons-in-five-years eligibility model.
The NCAA adopted a rule allowing future Division I athletes to compete in five seasons during five years of full-time enrollment. Athletes from the 2022 high school class who had already used four seasons were initially excluded from receiving that additional year.
A federal judge in Colorado granted broader relief to members of that class on July 31, but later clarified that the ruling did not override separate NCAA restrictions involving athletes who had signed professional contracts.
That distinction mattered to Pyburn.
He had already signed with Tampa Bay, meaning the Colorado ruling alone did not offer him a clear path back to college. Pyburn and the other Louisiana plaintiffs then pursued separate relief that directly addressed their circumstances.
His individual argument also includes the 2023 season at Florida, when a torn ACL ended his year after nine appearances. Pyburn contends that the injury-shortened season and the NCAA’s evolving eligibility structure justify another opportunity to compete in college.
For now, the Louisiana judge has agreed to protect that possibility while the case moves forward.
But a temporary restraining order is exactly what its name suggests: temporary.
The NCAA can oppose an extended preliminary injunction and pursue an appeal. A hearing is expected at the end of August, meaning the legal situation could change quickly and perhaps after Pyburn has already been forced to make a football decision.
Pyburn’s first option seems to be to remain with Tampa Bay, continue competing in preseason and attempt to earn a place on the Buccaneers’ roster. He signed a reported three-year, $3.1 million contract that included $115,000 guaranteed. His two-sack preseason performance demonstrated that he has a legitimate opportunity to begin his professional career now rather than return to school.
Making the 53-man roster would obviously simplify the decision. Maybe even a practice squad spot. Either would provide an immediate professional opportunity and eliminate the risk of leaving Tampa Bay for a college season that still rests on unsettled litigation.
That is where the decision becomes more complicated. It is why there is so much tension in his life right now.
A practice-squad opportunity would keep him in professional football, but a strong college NIL package and the chance to improve his draft position could also make returning to school financially and professionally attractive.
If Tampa Bay releases him, Pyburn could evaluate college offers without voluntarily walking away from an NFL roster spot. That may be the cleanest possible route and why this drama could stretch to the week of the season opener with Stanford. Because timing is so tight, Addison is gathering information from interested schools now, even as Pyburn continues preparing with the Buccaneers.
“I’ve heard from a lot of teams,” Pyburn said.
He declined to identify them and made clear he does not want to create more public speculation.
“I just don’t want to speak too much on it,” Pyburn said. “I’ve got enough media stuff, so I don’t want to put anything else out there from my own mouth. That’s why I’m just staying quiet on everything.”
Miami is in a decent place at defensive end with Marquise Lightfoot, Damon Wilson and Armondo Blount. But Pyburn in the rotation would make the defense deeper and unquestionably better.
At the same time this is not all as easy as it sounds. Any school Pyburn would choose would need to resolve admission, enrollment, academic eligibility, and NIL arrangements. The coaching staff would also be adding a player after fall camp and shortly before the season opener.
Pyburn’s experience would make that transition easier than it would be for most players. He has played at Florida and LSU, understands SEC football and has already completed an NFL training camp. He would not be a developmental prospect. He is in great physical condition though and his job could be as simple as go get the quarterback in a third down package.
But while Miami is a logical possibility, describing it as anything more than that would be premature because a return to LSU would also offer obvious advantages.
In the meantime, Pyburn began August trying to make the Buccaneers.
He is still trying to make the Buccaneers.
“I’m just trying to focus on football right now,” Pyburn said.
“There are so many things going on right now,” Addison added. “Theres a lot of dynamics going on.”
He didn’t say that the Miami Hurricanes were out of the question.
And think about this rub.
Rueben Bain is a few lockers over at Bucs camp to handle the recruiting.