SEC coaches agree tampering is a 'cutthroat business,' but what's the answer to the issue?

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Billy Napier summed up the essence of college football’s tampering problem in a nutshell. 

“This is a cutthroat business,” Florida’s head coach said when asked specifically about the rampant maleficence taking place around the two transfer portal windows. 

“There’s no doubt tampering is real,” Napier added.  

“And I think that until there’s something done about it, I think that you’ll continue to see it.”

No kidding. 

In the age of NIL and open player movement, there’s a growing concern around third parties, trainers and middle-men having early access to prospects eyeing potential moves to other programs. NCAA rules state that players cannot be contacted by coaches until they’ve actually entered the portal, but those connections are happening earlier and earlier now that players no longer must sit out a season before transferring. To date, the NCAA has yet to actually level penalties for such line-crossing. 

“(Tampering) is probably more prevalent because it’s much easier to transition from one school to the other,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. 

“But look, if kids are exploring to leave, it’s really hard to police.

“It’s disturbing. It’s upsetting, but I really don’t know (of any solutions). People want to blame the coaches for tampering. But a lot of the time it is the player who is negotiating or is looking for greener pastures and when they do that, sometimes they create the tampering. It goes both ways.”

Contrary to the SEC’s scheduling debate, there’s a consensus in Destin among coaches that the tampering problem is real, but unlike Jackie Chiles’ revelation in Seinfeld, there’s no spectacular solution to the issue. 

“Tampering is inevitable. It’s just going to happen,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said.

“How do you get rid of it? You have to have major penalties like professional sports do. Like the NFL. MLB. I don’t think that’s going to happen. You just deal with it. It’s just part of it.”

Kiffin has been one of the few coaches nationally to put a name to a face to alleged tampering violations. Last offseason, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi accused USC of tampering with Panthers All-American wideout Jordan Addison, who ultimately transferred to the Trojans. 

Kiffin didn’t identify specific violating parties Tuesday, but he said that Rebels star tailback Quinshon Judkins, who led the SEC with over 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman in 2022, was the most sought-after “pre-portal player”in the country this offseason because of his talent and remaining two years of eligibility. 

“I would argue we probably had the most ‘pre-portal’ player in America in our running back because he was a freshman, so you don’t just get him for one year but for two years,” said Kiffin, creating a new vogue term for the NCAA’s tampering problem. 

Only, Ole Miss managed to hang on to Judkins. 

Other schools — in the SEC and otherwise — haven’t been so fortunate with their top players. 

“The NFL deals with it don’t they? Major League Baseball deals with it? That’s something I wish we could (solve). I think it’s a big issue. It’s unfair to different levels to schools,” Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher said. 

“If you get caught cheating, you get caught. But it’s a different scenario. I think it’s one of the big problems we do have right now. It needs to be addressed.”

But until the griping devolves into tangible solutions, this will be an ongoing problem for collegiate staffs. The 14 SEC head coaches are juggling various ideas this week, but to date, none have offered a “that’s the one” idea. 

Auburn’s Hugh Freeze went so far as to suggest rolling back the transfer portal entirely, but with the toothpaste already out of the tube, he admitted in his very next statement that his proposal is more of a pie-in-the-sky dream rather than a tangible solution to the tampering issue. 

“I would love to see it go back to players not being able to transfer and be immediately eligible unless the coach leaves or fired or they graduate,” Freeze offered. 

“And I think that eliminates tampering. People are not going to come take players if they have to sit out, unless it’s one of those two reasons. But I don’t think that will ever happen again. So outside of that, I don’t know how you really stop some of the discussions that will take place.”