Semi-OT: Athletic article details the transfer portal is encouraging tampering (paywalled)
Not surprising, but the gist of the article is that the portal + NIL is making tampering with other teams players pretty commonplace.
https://theathletic.com/3095503/2022/01/27/secrets-of-the-college-football-transfer-portal-theres-definitely-tampering-going-on/?source=pulsenewsletter&campaign=%7B%7BcampaignId%7D%7D
Snippet from the Athletic article (mods, please remove if this violates any rules):
The standout running back from a Group of 5 program got an unsolicited call from a coach at a Power 5 program.
The coach made a promise: Come here, and we can make sure you make the most of your name, image and likeness.
And he put a number on it: $200,000.
The problem? This particular running back wasn’t one of the more than 1,000 FBS scholarship football players who entered his name in the transfer portal during the past year.
“It’s a reality,” a Group of 5 assistant coach told The Athletic this month. “(Tampering) is going on right now.”
January 28th, 2022 at 9:51 AM ^
I think this is why a lot of people are turned off by this stuff. It is significantly worse than what goes on in the pro leagues, where there are rules to govern things. It's not simply that people are against college players getting paid. It's that anybody with any promise is going to get offers VIA backdoor channels to jump ship whenever and wherever. Yes, I realize coaches can go wherever they want.
January 28th, 2022 at 7:20 PM ^
Yeah they should just have contracts. That's how you fix this. It's ridiculous what a dirty word that is with all the shady stuff that goes on and had gone on.
January 28th, 2022 at 9:55 AM ^
There should be a governing body that fairly applies the rules currently in place for college athletics.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:06 AM ^
Brillant idea. So obvious I can't believe it hasn't been done before now. A few altrustic souls in charge who have nothing but the best interests of the plight of poor helpless amateur student-athletes completely willing to forego any personal benefits. Maybe they could do it for free out of the goodness of their hearts (hearts assumed to exist).
January 28th, 2022 at 10:17 AM ^
Exactly! This entity would have internal policies and bylaws that prevent it from becoming a do-nothing shell that only pays lip service to enforcement and exists for its only financial gain.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:19 PM ^
I’m pretty sure we all realize the NCAA is broken. But what he says is absolutely correct. The NCAA has failed, that doesn’t mean a new system shouldn’t rise up that can evolve with the current environment. The NFL has a governing body restricting contracts, salary caps, preventing teams from contacting players under contracts. We’ve literally gone from the most heavily restricted failure to one with no rules, no governing body, and no way to monitor and enforce anything. We went from one extreme to the other in no time. The system will not survive without some form of a regulatory body that attempts to make things equitable. No doubt this will consist of a players union, etc.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:45 PM ^
How many organized professional sports have something in place to handle the current issues and the new ones that will inevitably arise? So it's not like they have to start from scratch. But it seems like the NCAA again chooses to abdicate its self-appointed roles like a spoiled child taking their ball home. To what end? To say we told you so? NCAA leadership is an oxymoron for many reasons.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:53 AM ^
I agree. I think the first order of business for such a body should be to determine whether cream cheese is deemed an impermissible benefit.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:35 PM ^
That's a stretch--- Probation for you!
January 28th, 2022 at 12:43 PM ^
What?!?! Extra stretching for you? Probation!
January 28th, 2022 at 2:35 PM ^
Double. Secret. Probation.
January 28th, 2022 at 9:55 AM ^
The standout running back from a Group of 5 program got an unsolicited call from a coach at a Power 5 program.
Mel Tucker looking for KWIII's replacement?
As the OP says, this is nothing new. What's so surprising here is how brazenly this seems to be violated. Mack Brown talked about more subtle forms of tampering, like talking to a player on an opposing team after a game and suggesting they might have a spot for them. But a coach making an unsolicited call? This is the kind of shit that the NCAA can and should go after, so of course there is no way they will. I think coaches that lose their players like this should go public and name names. That's the only way to get it to stop.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
Yeah, I think the plausible deniability part that the portal adds is that now it's no longer "Coach called player to go to Coach's university", it's "Coach called played to go to the portal where theoretically, any university could make a play for him"
It's malicious compliance.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:09 AM ^
You're right (I know)!
January 28th, 2022 at 11:50 AM ^
That's still tampering. It's like a pro team calling a rival team's player and telling him not to exercise his player option.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:11 AM ^
What if a player makes the call? Maybe they know each other from high school and the player says "hey, two of our defensive backs are entering the portal soon. You should come here - I can get you the same $200,000 NIL I have!"
January 28th, 2022 at 11:08 AM ^
Yeah, I remember reading about this as well in the same article where Mack Brown talks about more subtle tampering. Coaches absolutely put their players up to contacting players from other teams. Or college coaches reach out to the player's former HS coach to signal interest. There are a number of avenues that are used to try to lure players away from their current team.
Personally, I'm kind of torn here. On the one hand, I support the portal and I don't see any reason why kids should be stuck at a lower ranked school because they were underranked as a HS kid or they outperformed their ranking. On the other hand, it seems a bit sleazy to go out and actively convince a kid to leave their current team.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:45 AM ^
I like the portal from a "players want to play" standpoint. Say a former 3* at Michigan gets passed up and wants to transfer to a MAC school. Or a former 5* gets passed and thinks he can start at a Power 5 school. I like it for this reason.
Using the transfer portal for an NIL raise is not a good reason, but how do you police it?
January 28th, 2022 at 12:46 PM ^
You make NIL legitimate.
No Million dollar contracts.
Limit the yearly portal numbers.
7 or whatever is allowed is still too many.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:25 PM ^
I agree, but trying to police this type of behavior in the current state is impossible. The system has created this sort of free agent transfer policy, now this is the result. Recruits are getting paid tons of money to enroll at an alums favorite school yet satellite camps that benefit all levels of players are illegal. There is no consistency or common sense with any of these rules. I have a problem more with the lack of regulation regarding “recruiting” than I do with coaches reaching out. It’s all bad though, the problem is it’s gotten out of hand so fast that it’s impossible for the pathetic NCAA to rein it in or have a reasonable and well thought out approach.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
They’ll do it through the grapevine or via intermediaries, might as well let them do it directly. We have one foot out of amateurism. I hope we don’t have to wait decades for people to accept this isn’t an amateur sport anymore, then we can pay the players, hire a commissioner, set rules to keep things fair, and treat it like a minor league.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
The system was working perfectly.
Now we have zero system, and a clusterfuck.
Why?
Because politicans decided to start changing the laws.
Most schools want zero part of the dark side of NIL.
Let Texas A&M and the 5 other schools start their own league.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:29 PM ^
I tend to agree with you. Or just create a football “g” league. If the top 200 prospects want to go pro and get paid then they should have the right to do that. You should be able to enter the draft when you are 18. No more college requirement.
I’d rather watch COLLEGE football with college rules even without the top 200 most talented players than sit and watch some semi-pro team of the best talent.
January 28th, 2022 at 6:10 PM ^
The system was working perfectly.
The bagman system? Cash in McDonald's bags?
This new normal is pretty out there, but I'm not nostalgic for what preceded it.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:11 AM ^
I'd say I'm shocked at this new revelation, but I don't want to lie. It's neither new news, nor is it something that just started happening with the portal or NIL. Maybe it's more brazen? I don't think so, though... In this particular case, I just think the player that took the call reported it to his coach thinking (hoping?) that his current team would try to match the offer. In days of lore, prior to public NIL payments, player would know immediately if his school could/would match an offer. No need to inform coach...
As someone else said, the only way to stop this behavior is to publicly out the perp with receipts. Show the phone record with the call... Of course, the NCAA doesn't give a shit. Just ask Will Wade - you can do anything you want, and the NCAA won't give a shit. You could even shoot somebody dead on Times Square, and the NCAA will let you play in next week's game.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:14 AM ^
Hard to see how this would not be the case. Part of the general deterioration of the game.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:16 AM ^
THIS JUST IN:
Water is wet.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:33 AM ^
Also, between the Portal, and Covid and Grad waivers, I actually have no clue what the transfer rule is anymore.
Is it officially that there's no longer a one year wait for transfers, or is it just that everyone has some sort of exemption?
January 28th, 2022 at 10:55 AM ^
From the article:
"In April, the NCAA eliminated the requirement for first-time transfers to sit out a season before resuming their playing career."
January 28th, 2022 at 11:50 AM ^
Cited from my own article. Not sure how I missed that.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:48 AM ^
I'm going to hazard a guess that one of the Group of Five coaches interviewed is Tim Lester, who's been dealing with MSU coaches calling his players non-stop.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
I don't know much about specific cases, but what keeps a coach like Lester from going public with this (if they aren't already)? Are they worried about burning bridges and losing out on bigger jobs in the future? Honor among thieves? A simple realization that it's a waste of time because the NCAA won't do anything about it?
January 28th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
They don't want to be the next Bruce Pearl (Bruce Pearl the snitch, not Bruce Pearl the cheater)...
January 28th, 2022 at 12:45 PM ^
No wonder they get beat up by CMU
January 28th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
The toothpaste has left the tube....
This is 100% on the NCAA for not having program guide lines drawn up before the court case was even decided.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:00 AM ^
"Hello, Player A- this is Blabbo Finney. I am from the Legitimate Businessman's Club, and in no way affiliated with Clemson. I think you should join the football team effective now. There is a sack of cash with a dollar sign on it waiting for you at the Arby's on Greenville Highway inside the ice machine. Enter the transfer portal now, declare to transfer to Clemson, and the sack of cash is yours. I have also thrown in a 55 gallon drum of Horsey Sauce. Tell them Blabbo sent you....."
January 28th, 2022 at 11:11 AM ^
Sold! I'd do it for the Horsey Sauce alone!
January 28th, 2022 at 11:55 AM ^
You forgot to end it with "but only if you've accepted Christ as your personal lord and savior..."
January 28th, 2022 at 12:47 PM ^
Sorry sir, this is a McDonald's
January 28th, 2022 at 11:22 AM ^
So, the G5 school should be maximizing the revenue for this particular player.
I don't understand the issue. We are all fine with "capitalism" until it makes 18 year old kids money.
January 28th, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
Literally every major league sport (you know, those things that often pay teenagers millions of dollars) has rules against tampering with other teams current players.
So... yeah.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:08 PM ^
Why is that relevant? Are you free to get recruiter calls in your job? If not, then I understand your point of view.
January 28th, 2022 at 2:38 PM ^
Yeah, if Zingerman's wants to call Blake Corum and offer him a job as a server, go for it.
But if Bama does it, I'd be pissed
January 28th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
Good luck policing this bullshit.
January 28th, 2022 at 3:01 PM ^
Isn’t that Hard Gay’s avi?
January 28th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
I'll say it: GOOD.
I don't see why this is something to get upset about. College sports IS a business. It's not kinda a business, it 100% is, and the players are the employees. This is a "problem" for coaches (who are doing the exact same thing behind the team's back either directly or through their agents) and fans (who have zero stake beyond wanting to win). Players don't have to enter the portal. They don't have to respond to inquiries from other teams.
The only real issue I see is that the athletes are going to have to learn real quick what their actual value is, because coaches will lie through their teeth if it helps them.
January 28th, 2022 at 10:35 PM ^
The problem is there are no rules. At all. No salary caps. No contracts for players. It's the wild west. This may be necessary to get where it is going because of how intense of an overhaul this is, but there should be rules and a governing body enforcing those rules (actually enforcing them, not "enforcing" them). There are clearly issues with the current environment. I wouldn't call that "good", but I could argue that it's progression and brings forth the proper conversations of what is needed to be resolved and how to go about doing it.
January 28th, 2022 at 12:41 PM ^
Well, duh! Anyone who didn't see this coming doesn't follow college athletics very closely.
I'm sure the NCAA will put their foot down over this. /s
January 28th, 2022 at 12:46 PM ^
So the group of 5 schools are now the developmental league for the Power 5? If you don't get a scholarship offer at first, hit up a G5 school, show out, and move on up to the big leagues? And the same goes for Power 5 schools and the elite top tier Bama/OSU types?
I dunno - that's not the worst thing for the athlete and while I think it's disrespectful and a bit dirty for a coach to actively recruit a kid of someone else's roster,....it's going to happen whether i like it or not.
Part of me wants to "get off my lawn" about this stuff but at the same time, the landscape is going to keep shifting and I don't think there's much to be done about it but compete. It's a unregulated market which means you either play the "game" the way the winners are doing it or you lose.