Georgia's Kirby Smart calls out tampering in college football amid House vs. NCAA settlement

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart offers concern and a warning about the scale of tampering in college football and other sports as the NCAA awaits the historic House decision.

Georgia's head coach is concerned with the direction of the sport when it comes to tampering amid the historic House vs. NCAA decision expected to be final soon. / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

Arguments in the House vs. NCAA settlement will be heard in court this week, and what’s decided there will likely transform the college football and NCAA sports landscape forever, as schools are made to share revenue with players for the first time ever.

April 7 appears to be the tentative date when we’ll get a decision, and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart issued a warning about the impact of the settlement, and cited concerns around tampering as the main reason for his argument.

“I think everybody’s got to take a big pause right now and say, ‘Deep breath,’ because what’s going on in basketball right now is crazy,” Smart told reporters.

“We don’t know everything that’s going to come out with April 7, which might be April 7, might be the settlement date where we get a lot more information. But everybody’s on pins and needles because we don’t know exactly what’s going to come out of this.”

What can you do in the meantime? Stick to the basics.

“What I do know is we’re going to continue to recruit people who love football, who are passionate about football, and don’t put money as the No. 1 answer,” he said.

“I’ve never met a really good player that that’s all they care about. The 105 number, the NIL number, ‘What’s the cap number? What’s this going to be?’”

College football’s first transfer window opened and closed back in December, but the second opportunity for players to move comes in the next few weeks, and it’s already getting hectic.

“There’s stuff going on right now in college football, there’s people reaching out to have a Zoom call and present all the players they represent that are on teams, including our teams,” Smart said.

“And they want to invite people to the Zooms so they can watch and see who’s going in the portal or shopping who’s in the portal before the portal. ‘Do you want to get on a Zoom and look at all these players?’ What if some of them are mine?”

Under the House vs. NCAA settlement, schools will be able to share $20.5 million directly with athletes next year, a figure that will increase by 4 percent every year after that as part of the 10-year settlement agreement.

“It could be one of the most legendary moments in all of college sports with what’s coming up on this ruling, and how people are going to try to manipulate a cap when all we’re trying to do is make for competitive balance,” Smart said.

“Long term, when we have to cut sports and cut other things, are the kids going to be the winners of this? I don’t know. College sports been around for a long time and given many an opportunity, and by all means I want these kids to make money. But what’s going on right now is not good for anybody.”

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