ECU Coach Cliff Godwin Says He Has Proof Of Opposing Teams Tampering. Ok, Stop The Threats And Show It

Here we go again. Another coach in college athletics is sounding the alarm on tampering, while also saying he has proof of this contact between Power-4 coaches and players on his team. This time, it's East Carolina baseball coach Cliff Godwin, who took to social media on Thursday morning to call out opposing teams. 

In what seems like a monthly occurrence, coaches are continuing to claim that teams are tampering with their players, while also pointing out that they have the proof to back it up. As the college baseball transfer portal opened, there were over 2,500 entrants in the opening days of the period, with plenty of teams looking to add dynamic players that can help their roster. 

But just as we get this thing rolling in college baseball, East Carolina's Cliff Godwin decided to get on social media to put other teams on notice. 

Our system is so BROKEN!"  ECU's Cliff Godwin posted on X. "We have coaches at P4 schools texting our players directly who are not in portal! And we have proof!"

While this has become the norm in college athletics over the past few years, there are plenty of teams using backdoor channels to reach out to potential transfers through third-parties, or even the coaching staff themselves. 

If You've Got The Proof, Start Using It, Or Stop With The Threats

But what has gotten particularly old is the threat of exposing other teams for tampering, especially if a coach decides to point out that they have proof of this occurring. 

Is he sending a message to other teams that he's willing to expose them for reaching out to his players while the NCAA Tournament was still being played for the Pirates? Sure, that could be the case, with ECU being eliminated by Coastal Carolina this past weekend. 

And while this is a common occurrence in college sports, the threat of exposing other baseball teams for ‘tampering’ with his players has started to become stale. 

Either you're going to name the teams that are communicating with your athletes on your roster, or don't insinuate you will by letting it be known that you have proof of this happening. 

One instance occurred recently in college football. 

Last month, Richmond Spiders football coach Russ Huesman called out the Maryland Terrapins for tampering with his kicker, offering him $50,000 to transfer. 

"They came in, they tampered," Russ Huesman told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "The kid had zero interest in transferring, they offered him money. It happens all over the country and there's nothing the NCAA's going to do about it. So, Maryland just decided to come in. They liked our kicker and offered him money … It's ridiculous, pretty frustrating."

What Russ Hussman did is actually the correct way to handle it, if you're going to say that you have proof of tampering. 

But right now, this is more of a behind-the-scenes type of deal, where coaches will let their colleagues know that they don't appreciate them reaching out to their players before actually entering the transfer portal. 

If Cliff Godwin wants to start naming teams, have at it. But if you're going to post on social media that you've got the cold-hard evidence of this transpiring, back it up with the actual proof. 

There hasn't been much time that has elapsed since posting this on social media, so maybe Godwin is setting the trap for when he actually decides to name a few schools. 

If not, stop running to X because you're upset that other coaches are trying to steal your players. Continuing to cry wolf is only going to get you so far, especially in this current era of college athletics .