Bill Belichick likens tampering in college football to NFL amid Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate allegations

Bill Belichick is entering the college football world at an interesting time with North Carolina, as tampering is becoming a more prevalent issue due to the advent of the NCAA Transfer Portal and NIL.

The whispers of tampering at the college level have grown louder, reaching a zenith this week due to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos, pertaining to the Buckeyes’ NIL collective The Foundation aggressively working to retain star receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate amid serious interest from outside programs looking to entice them into the portal.

Nakos reported Smith, who rewrote Ohio State’s freshman receiver records in 2024, is drawing strong interest from other elite college football programs allegedly offering NIL deals in the range of $4.5-5 million. Tate is allegedly commanding a NIL deal in the $1 million range.

In the meantime, Ryan Day has pushed back on the issue, and Belichick took some time out of his recruiting calendar to give his thoughts on the matter. He likened it to a combination of the NFL’s legal tampering period prior to free agency, as well as the time when franchises are signing undrafted free agents, although he noted some key differences, as well.

“It’s pretty similar to what we have in the NFL,” Belichick explained, via The Pat McAfee Show on Friday. “As I said, it’s a little bit of a combination between the day when a couple of players after the draft, the undrafted players are negotiating to be on a roster, and free agency, just in general, where, those couple of days — it’s called the legal tampering period, I think they call it, when you’re talking to agents, trying to work out deals with them, before the players are actually allowed to visit, and you’re allowed to talk to them. It’s not the same, but it’s sort of a combination of those two NFL events.

“So, it is what it is. There’s a lot of money, promises and opportunity being discussed, and everybody is in on it. The players, the teams that have the players, the teams that are looking for the players, and following the guidelines of the process, which are not as well-defined as they were in the NFL, but that’s what it is.”

While Belichick may be well equipped to handle the controversial tampering in college football, it’s certain some guidelines need to be implemented. How the sport goes about it and who enforces them remains to be seen, but it’s an issue that needs addressing, for sure.

— On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this article.