Carnell Tate expected to remain at Ohio State, not enter transfer portal amid tampering allegations

Wide receiver Carnell Tate is expected to return to Ohio State next season, per On3’s Pete Nakos and Steve Wiltfong. On Friday, Nakos reported that outside parties had tampered with Tate, who has not entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Tate was reportedly commanding offers of up to $1 million.

With Ohio State’s players’ five-day window to enter the transfer portal set to expire on Saturday, the Buckeyes have been working overtime to return their top underclassmen for next season. Tate is one of those desirable talents.

Tate finished this past season with 52 catches for 733 receiving yards and four touchdowns. The sophomore standout hauled in a season-high seven receptions for 87 yards in Ohio State’s 28-14 win over Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

While Carnell Tate was the third option this past season for the Buckeyes behind Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, he is expected to be WR2 next season, assuming Smith returns to the Buckeyes for the 2025 campaign.

It certainly seems Smith’s future with Ohio State is secured. Despite receiving offers from competing programs ranging from $4.5 to $5 million, Smith all but confirmed his return on X Friday. According to Nakos, Smith will earn at least $3 million next season from OSU.

The two young wideouts won’t be the only ones receiving massive paydays this offseason. Nakos believes that Ohio State will be one of several select programs spending $27 to $30 million on its roster in 2025.

Bill Belichick weighs in on tampering epidemic

With tampering more prevalent than ever in college football, new North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick weighed in on the pressing issue during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show Friday.

“It’s pretty similar to what we have in the NFL,” Belichick explained. “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.”