Tampering And Inducements Are Nothing New In College Athletics, They're Just Out In The Open

In today's changing landscape of college football, terms like "tampering," "inducements" and "over the table" have become common themes around the sport. But looking at where we are in terms of regulation in football, not much has really changed.

These terms aren't new to the sport, but they are starting to gain traction again. The days of dropping off bags to recruits are long gone, and discussing a potential transfer with a player has been going on since the portal arrived. The reason that all of this is starting to make headlines again is because there is no way to regulate it.

Over the past few days, Pittsburgh has been in the news because of WR Jordan Addison, who has been linked to a USC transfer. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi reportedly reached out to new USC head coach Lincoln Riley to express his displeasure that USC had made contact with one of his players. But why are we making a big deal out of this now? Most likely because of the money that's being thrown around in college football due to NIL. But tampering has been going on for a while, and every coach in the country knows it.

Technically, anyone working in an official capacity at a school isn't allowed to make contact with a current Power Five player at another school unless that player has already entered his name into the transfer portal. However, there are ways for schools to get around the rule, like having a former high school teammate or competitor reach out to a player about transferring. High school coaches have become middlemen for players looking for a change in scenery.

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