SEC coaches sound off on tampering: It's 'a cutthroat business' - ESPN

DESTIN, Fla. — While college football coaches bemoan the prevalence of tampering when it comes to the transfer portal, Florida's Billy Napier acknowledged the driving force behind rule-bending in recruiting, telling reporters on Tuesday, «This is a cutthroat business.»

Ever since the advent of the transfer portal five years ago, coaches have warned about the possibility of recruiting players on other teams' rosters.

NCAA rules stipulate that players cannot be contacted by coaches until they've officially submitted their names into the portal. But coaches at SEC spring meetings and across the country said that it's happening frequently.

«There's no doubt tampering is real,» Napier said. "… And I think that until there's something done about it, I think that you'll continue to see it."

What can be done to stop it, however, is up for debate.

Very few coaches have shown a willingness to call one another out for perceived wrongdoing. Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi has been vocal, questioning the transfer last year of Jordan Addison from the Panthers to USC. To which Napier asked, «What's come of that?»

Thus far, the NCAA has not publicly punished any FBS coaches for tampering.

«So ultimately, I think, to each his own, we all got an approach that we've chosen to take,» Napier said. «We're going to control what we control at the University of Florida. That's our player experience, that's our evaluation process, our recruitment process to try to position our team in the best position.»

Georgia coach Kirby Smart pointed out that tampering was happening well before the portal came into existence.

«It's probably more prevalent because it's much easier to transition from one school to the other,» Smart said, referencing the NCAA