Major Head Coach Sounds Off on Concerning Tampering Landscape in College Football

The long-anticipated introduction of NIL into college athletics has created a fair share of problems in addition to solutions over the course of five years.

The NCAA transfer portal was established almost three years prior to the introduction of NIL, but the idea of players finding better NIL packages at different schools has popularized the portal. Another issue that has emerged with the portal's popularity is the luring of players into the portal by other programs, otherwise known as tampering.

Several coaches have addressed questions around tampering in college football in the first two months of the 2026 offseason. Washington head coach Jedd Fisch told Pete Nakos of On3 that complaints about tampering are useless without existing legislation to prevent it.

“I’ve seen guys go public, and I have seen no changes in the programs that they’ve gone public about. So what’s the value?" Fisch said. "Until we start getting to a place where there’s going to be discipline and accountability, and we really understand what we’re allowed to do and not allowed to do, then I’m not going public on it. I’m not worried about it, really. Right now, it seems like you can kind of do what you want.”

Fisch and the Huskies dealt with an instance of tampering near the beginning of the 2026 offseason. Days after he signed NIL extensions with Washington, quarterback Demond Williams Jr. announced his intent to enter the NCAA transfer portal with a suspected linkage to LSU. Williams made the decision to stay put after his agent dropped him and the university threatened him with legal action.

Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch during the game against the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Other instances of tampering in college football

The most recent tampering incident in college football surrounded former California linebacker Luke Ferrelli in January. Just over two weeks after committing and enrolling in classes at Clemson, Ferrelli flipped his commitment to Ole Miss. No legal action has been taken by Clemson, although head coach Dabo Swinney has been vocal about the matter.

Miami has been involved in a pair of tampering incidents in the last two years. The first involved former Wisconsin defensive back Xavier Lucas, who entered the portal after signing NIL extensions with the Badgers in the 2025 offseason. Wisconsin sued Miami in June of 2025, but the case has not been resolved.

The second case involved former Duke quarterback Darian Mensah, who entered the portal on the final day of its two-week entry window in January after signing NIL extensions with the Blue Devils. Duke took legal action against Mensah, but the two ultimately reached a settlement that allowed Mensah to transfer to Miami.