Billy Napier on the transfer portal: 'Tampering is real'

Florida head coach Billy Napier knows there’s tampering going on, so he says. But he offered a caveat when it came to tampering among SEC coaches.

“Billy Napier: ‘Tampering is real,'” On3’s Jesse Simonton wrote on Twitter. “’Thankfully in this room (with the other 13 SEC coaches) we just have to fend off them just once and not twice (like rest of the country).'”

There are rules in place to prevent coaches from dealing with roster management in the late spring. With that window closed, it should be easier to think about your roster going into the summer.

However, those rules devolved, according to one April report. The rule was initially used to curtail spring transfers, but that really hasn’t mattered this spring.

As Napier says, there’s tampering all over the place but the SEC might be the go to destination. However, there are examples of prime SEC players leaving the conference to go to other premier destinations.

Such as Bear Alexander, who left Georgia after the spring game for USC during this latest window. Is that tampering? No one will say directly.

But regardless, Napier believes it’s going on.

“None of us like the uncertainty with (free) player movement,” one SEC coach told SDS. “But all of us sure would be interested in recruiting a player here or there from another (SEC) roster, if they’re available. So what’s more important? Protecting what you’ve got, or getting what you need?”

This isn’t Napier’s first curious rodeo with the portal.

“There’s a ton of research done before the portal opens and obviously when the portal does open, we have checks and balances to make sure that we’re not rushing into a relationship,” he told On3’s Keith Niebhur prior to his speech Wednesday in Sarasota, Florida.

The timing of the window can be an admissions issue at certain schools, like Florida.

“Admissions, that’s a mistake we’ve made here,” Napier said. “We’ve pursued players for weeks — in the very beginning — and then all of a sudden we get the transcript and then, ‘Oh, can’t take him.’

“A player that has one or two years left, OK, that’s been in college for eight semesters, I mean, there’s a high likelihood that guy can’t get into school at the University of Florida. So, there’s admissions issues.”

With multiple windows of the transfer portal open and closing at certain times, many coaches like Napier have to keep a watchful eye on their rosters.

Heck, Napier and others have to keep track of other rosters since it feels like a constant evaluation.