In the modern era of NIL and the transfer portal, tampering has become a recurring issue. While big names in CFB like Nick Saban openly discussed Ole Miss tampering during Wednesday’s Senate hearing, the NCAA penalized FCS North Dakota for tampering violations. UND’s compliance department self-reported the violation and flagged the contact between assistant coach Travis Stepps and a student-athlete from another institution.

North Dakota faced penalties for Stepps’ impermissible recruiting communications with the athlete before the athlete entered the portal. The penalties include a $25,000 fine and one year of probation. But that’s not all, as there are recruiting restrictions, including a one-week communication ban in January 2027. Then, there will be a 3% reduction in OVs, along with three one-week bans on unofficial visits for the 2026–27 academic year.

Meanwhile, the assistant coach received a one-game suspension and a one-year show-cause order. It prohibited Stepps from communicating with any transfer prospects during the entire 2027. However, the NCAA cleared North Dakota head coach Eric Schmidt of any personal penalties because he had knowledge of the impermissible texts, as per the investigation. Thanks to his promotion of a compliant environment.

Coach Travis Stepps had a prior connection with the athlete, as he recruited him when the athlete was in high school. Then, the player contacted Stepp to inquire about transferring before the portal window opened, and he offered to send his films and academic transcript. While Stepps accepted that, he continued the conversation, knowing that the athlete was enrolled in another institution and not entering the portal. Later, the North Dakota assistant coach admitted his impermissible communication.

As the program self-reported the exchange and cooperation in the investigation, the NCAA lessened their penalties, classified as Level II-Mitigated. It was a negotiated resolution. However, the agreement is final and not subject to appeal. It mirrors the Iowa Hawkeyes’ tampering penalty. Just months ago, the NCAA penalized Iowa for making impermissible contact with a player before he entered the portal.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant coach Jon Budmayr made that communication and served a self-imposed single-game suspension. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes face recruiting restrictions, vacant wine, fines, and probation.

Tampering issue in the modern era of College football

Due to NIL and the transfer portal, college sports gained free agency without salary caps. In that case, big-budget programs target elite talent and offer them huge sums backed by NIL collectives. “We have nothing to control tampering. You know, Clemson had a player that was on campus for a whole week, and they (Ole Miss) came and got him off the campus and took him someplace else,” said Nick Saban in his testimony of the June 3 hearing for the Protect College Sports Act.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney accused Ole Miss coach Pete Golding of texting star LB Luke Ferrelli. When Golding asked the LB about his buyout, Ferrelli was in class at Clemson. However, Golding isn’t sweating just yet. Then, in FCS, Southern Utah went through a negotiated resolution process following head coach DeLane Fitzgerald’s tampering violations.

The Cruz-Cantwell bill can resolve this tampering issue by regulations regarding NIL and transfer limitations. However, Paul Finebaum didn’t show faith in the passage of this bill to become law, stating, “Quite frankly, just not to circumvent the conversation, but it is almost June. This is an election year, and I do not believe this bill is going to get very far.”