The topic of tampering in college football came up Sunday in Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s weekly Zoom meeting with reporters.
Acknowledging that tampering was active in the sport, Swinney called it “one of the unfortunate things” about college football.
“There’s certainly a lot of tampering (from other) people after games, though, that’s for sure,” Swinney said. “I’ve had several people over the last couple of years that have brought that up to me, where somebody’s come over to them. I’ve had parents tell me that (players have been approached after games). That’s just kind of the way it is, the way of the world right now. There’s not a lot of barriers.”
Swinney said that he limited his postgame communication with opposing players to handshakes and congratulatory messages.
“I ain’t going over there saying, ‘Hey man, if you hate it there, come play for us.’ I don’t do any of that stuff,” Swinney said. “On the road, I try to congratulate players, but I don’t get involved with any of that stuff. I think that’s probably pretty obvious.”
Tampering has become a growing concern since the dawn of the transfer portal and NIL. In the offseason, the Iowa Hawkeyes self-reported a Level III violation for contacting Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor during the 2023 season.
Proctor transferred to Iowa after Nick Saban announced his retirement at Alabama in January. Proctor transferred back to Alabama only three months later.
During an appearance on College GameDay on Aug. 24, Saban said that teams were “camped out” in Tuscaloosa following his retirement to get players from Alabama to join their programs.
“So, if they wanted to look at somebody tampering, they should’ve done a little investigation right there,” Saban added.
Saban’s comment followed remarks by Miami (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin, who claimed that Alabama illegally recruited and “stole” kicker Graham Nicholson, last year’s Lou Groza Award winner.
Clemson, ranked No. 14 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll, heads to Tallahassee to take on rival Florida State Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ESPN.
RELATED: Kickoff time, TV info announced for Clemson football vs. Wake Forest
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