The Athletic (premium): Tampering going on in the college football transfer portal

[BrentVU]

It's premium, but here are the first four paragraphs...

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.”...

The power balance in college athletics has shifted, and college football is in the midst of a never-before-seen roster turnover tornado....

Interesting stuff:
The Athletic (premium): Secrets of the college football transfer portal: ‘There’s definitely tampering going on’ (by David Ubben)
https://theathletic.com/3095503/2022/01 ... gnId%7D%7D

[dore74]

I'll be the first. "Gambling at Rick's, how shocking!!!"

More seriously, its unclear to me what the future of the Vanderbilt's will be as Power 5 evolves into an even greater semi-pro character. Next big turn will be how the NCAA D-1 "constitution" gets drafted up.

I'm happy for the kids getting their rightful portion of the multi-billion dollar pie. I'm as convinced that a school like ours will be an even even bigger loser in this sort of setting. The off-field developments over the next few years will be as interesting as the on-field activities. Buckle up.

[FayetteDore]

Am I surprised?

No. All in all, it's just another brick in the wall.

EDIT ADDED: But I do have a question: is it a violation for a coach to contact a player who's not in the portal with specific offers of NIL to transfer? If it's not, it's the next logical step in this whole enterprise.

[OldDude]

No surprise with any of this. The administrators and politicians driving these decisions would be challenged making a bowl of Rice Krispies.

[Nashmann]

Snap-Crackle-Poop

[Johnmn555]

The next three or four years should give a pretty good indication as to whether Vanderbilt can continue as an FBS SEC team. The end of transfer restrictions, NIL money, and more methods of payment to players to come don't bode well.

[AuricGoldfinger]

We are officially in the Wild West phase of college athletics. When you basically remove all parameters around college recruiting, this is exactly what you get.

Either Wyatt Earp will come riding into Tombstone to clean up the town, or Vanderbilt's days in the current structure of bigtime athletics will be numbered.

[FayetteDore]

I think you're exactly right Auric.

Question is, who or what agency will take the form of Sheriff Earp? And will there be a single scandal that prompts action, or just the current trend continuing to a tipping point?

More than a century ago, Theodore Roosevelt was a leader in the charge to make college football safer.

[VU1970]

All in all, it's just another brick in the wall.

Or is it just another hole in the boat?

[alathIN]

I'll be the first. "Gambling at Rick's, how shocking!!!"

More seriously, its unclear to me what the future of the Vanderbilt's will be as Power 5 evolves into an even greater semi-pro character. Next big turn will be how the NCAA D-1 "constitution" gets drafted up.

I'm happy for the kids getting their rightful portion of the multi-billion dollar pie. I'm as convinced that a school like ours will be an even even bigger loser in this sort of setting. The off-field developments over the next few years will be as interesting as the on-field activities. Buckle up.

Where do you get the 'semi' pro?

[BrentVU]

We are officially in the Wild West phase of college athletics. When you basically remove all parameters around college recruiting, this is exactly what you get.

Either Wyatt Earp will come riding into Tombstone to clean up the town, or Vanderbilt's days in the current structure of bigtime athletics will be numbered.

Looking at the other side of the coin, the portal and NIL should be a great thing for a school like the University of Tennessee! To succeed in the portal/NIL era, you need two ingredients: (1) a desperate desire to restore one's former glory, and (2) a complete lack of morals/ethics.

[katmai]

It will probably take a couple of years to work itself out, but I think everyone agrees that changes need to be made. Everyone knows tampering is rampant, and coaches would really like some guidelines. One suggestion I saw was limiting the period where one could enter the portal, so that coaches could better determine their rosters. I also saw Dabo Swinney comment that a lot of high school coaches are upset because players are not getting offered out of high school like they used to. Why would someone sign a high schooler, only to have them leave after 1 year, when they can get someone out of the transfer portal that they have more information on. And the first transfer is the only one that you don't have to sit out for, so if you get the transfer, you have more assurances that they may stick around.
I also think that colleges are going to end up hating the NIL, because I think there is a finite pool of money for college sports, and the money going into players pockets are not going into the university's athletic coffers. If I spend that $200,000 on a running back, that is $200,000 not available to donate to the school. I think people are going to find the return on investment for NIL deals with most players really isn't there.