LSU safety A.J. Haulcy will not play in the first half of the Tigers’ season opener Saturday at Clemson.
The late-breaking and fast-developing storyline is the result of an NCAA suspension stemming back to the transfer’s final game at Houston last Nov. 30 against BYU.
“In the last game of the 2024 season, A.J. Haulcy was ejected from the contest, initially listed as unsportsmanlike conduct, but clarified postgame that game officials ejected the player for fighting,” the NCAA reportedly told ESPN senior college football writer Pete Thamel. “Fighting carries an automatic carryover penalty.”
Thamel added that Houston’s coaching staff was made aware of the suspension in a formal letter from the Big 12 last December, but that Haulcy was not informed by Houston prior to his transfer and that LSU was not informed until Wednesday.”
LSU coach Brian Kelly told reporters Thursday evening, in his final weekly media availability before the upcoming game, that the Tigers were still awaiting “clarification” and “further guidance,” but declined to discuss the topic much further detail.
“I think it’s a little bit of conference and certainly NCAA rulings, in terms of what the circumstances are at the end of the game,” he said. “So, our conference has been great, (SEC commissioner) Greg Sankey has been great providing certainly the support, and we’ll wait for a decision and then we’ll plan accordingly.”
Kelly added when asked further: “I think these are things that you hope that common sense plays a big in this. So, again, I don’t want to get into too much of the details other than the fact that we expect something here pretty soon, and we’re prepared to play without or play with him, and that’s just how we’ve gone about it. But I don’t want to get into too much detail. I think there will be a lot of clarity with this real shortly.”
Thamel reported the NCAA confirmation less than an hour later, though The Advocate’s Koki Riley followed up that LSU had still not received word directly from the organization, according to a department spokesperson.
Fellow transfer safety Tamarcus Cooley will be eligible, Kelly said, despite his involvement in a large fight during North Carolina State’s bowl game Dec. 28 against East Carolina as he was not ejected for the incident.
Haulcy and Cooley had been praised throughout fall camp as notable bright spots for not only the talent, but the veteran mentality which Kelly and their teammates said they brought to the secondary.
But the coach said the Tigers will be prepared to play the first two quarters of Saturday’s high-profile matchup without Haulcy and pointed to other experienced options available at the position.
“(Former Denham Springs star) Dashawn Spears (McBryde) has played a lot of football for us, (former University Lab star) Jardin Gilbert, so you’ve got pretty good depth,” Kelly said. “Javien Toviano. And we feel really good about our defensive backfield. So, like I said, we’re dealing with it the same way you guys are: we’re waiting for information. Once we get it, we’ll adjust accordingly and be ready to play Clemson.”
The Tigers-vs.-Tigers tilt, scheduled to kick off shortly after 6:30 p.m., is one of three top-10 matchups highlighting the Week 1 action.
