College football doesn't need tampering rules if coaches mean what they say

One of the biggest ongoing sagas in college football comes as everyone inside and outside the sport debate whether there should be tampering penalties. Everyone frankly knew that at some level tampering was going on in college football, and there were even programs who claimed they had proof a player was tampered with, but nothing ever happened.

The sport was turned on it's head when Dabo Swinney held a press conference and laid out the exact timeline of the recruitment of Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli. The press conference marked the first time we've seen a coach directly call out another major program with the level of details that Swinney laid out.

While Swinney hopes that the level of details helps slow the tampering as his program was hurt, what he's done is unite the coaches more than we've seen in recent years. Coaches are now pointing to what Dabo Swinney laid out, and are saying it's exactly what they've dealt with.

The press conference has led to calls for harsher penalties for tampering in college football or calls for rules on tampering at all.

Why wait on the NCAA when the coaches can make the change?

On Wednesday, almost every coach in the country spoke to the media as it was National Signing Day in college football. A ton of the coaches used the moment and the platform to take a stand against tampering backing Dabo Swinney.

Shane Beamer used his time to talk about how the tampering rules need to be severe, and how the rules that are in place should be enforced.

"What the penalty should be, that’s for other people to figure out, but I believe it should be severe, I mean, if we have rules and we’re not going to enforce them, then what the hell do we have rules for? That’s kind of how I see it. And trust me … Am I sitting here, you know, from what is it, the expression in a glass house or whatever? I’m sure there’s a grey area that we’ve been in at some point and ticked off some school. We try and do things the right way."

Shane Beamer

Jon Sumrall spoke to the media and laid out how nothing is being done with the rules so there's nothing the coaches are in fear of.

"I don’t know what’s enforced right now, so like I know it’s been a hot topic the last couple weeks of somebody tampered with this guy or this guy. Yeah, no kidding, because nothing gets done. So who cares?"

Jon Sumrall

On The Triple Option Podcast, Curt Cignetti brought up that even he's dealing with his star players being tampered with and just how hard it will be to legislate.

"Well yeah, absolutely, we had a guy last year offered a million dollars, and you’d be shocked at the school. That’s gone on this year. Guys walk in my office and talk to me. It’s tough, man. It’s hard. You’ve got these agents calling everyone across America… how do you legislate those guys?"

Curt Cignetti

The coaches are calling on the NCAA to enact rules on tampering, but the truth is the NCAA takes so long that it's not going to change overnight. Every coach will say the right thing and that they want rules against tampering, but all these coaches could come together and quickly change how everything is being handled.

Every coach that wants contracts to mean something could stop recruiting players who signed a deal with a school. These coaches could stop recruiting players after they commit to a program, but regardless of whether it's a transfer or a High School player, they all continue to recruit until the papers are signed, and even after the fact.

These coaches could easily change the sport for the better, but the vast majority are playing in the grey area while calling for changes. If the coaches want the sport to change, they control it more than anyone else, but at the end of the day most coaches are taking advantage of the system they complain about.