College Football

Florida coach bemoans 'cutthroat' recruiting, but is this really new?

Updated May. 31, 2023 4:49 p.m. ET

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Multiple SEC coaches, while speaking to reporters at the conference's annual coaches' meeting, expressed disappointment over the increase in player transfers in recent years.

In particular, coaches took aim at what they believe is tampering by other coaches in luring players before they hit the transfer portal. Florida coach Billy Napier made pointed comments about the issue, calling recruiting a "cutthroat business" with not only the transfer portal but also the rise of name, image and likeness.

Napier said that there's "no doubt" that tampering is real among college coaches, adding that "I think that until there's something done about it, I think that you'll continue to see it.

"So ultimately, I think, to each his own, we all got an approach that we've chosen to take. We're going to control what we control at the University of Florida. That's our player experience, that's our evaluation process, our recruitment process to try to position our team in the best position."

FOX Sports' Shannon Sharpe took exception to the comments from Florida's second-year coach.

"It's been like this. It's always been a cutthroat business," Sharpe said on Wednesday's "Undisputed." "All the NIL deals have done is made it legal for boosters to do stuff for the players. The players now don't have to listen to a coach berate them and have to worry about transferring and sitting out a year. They can enter the transfer portal now and play immediately."

One specific example that Napier cited was the Jordan Addison situation. After winning the Biletnikoff Award in 2021 with Pittsburgh, Addison transferred to USC ahead of the 2022 season. Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi has questioned the circumstances of Addison's transfer, implying that USC tampered with Addison. 

"What's come of that?" Napier asked of the Addison situation.

Sharpe had an answer: "Tell your boosters to come out like USC did," he said.

Sharpe doesn't see how situations like Addison's were much different from how Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC, or how Brian Kelly left each of the last two places he coached.  

"Universities have been cutthroat about paying coaches to leave [other schools] in the middle of the night for years," Sharpe said. "Now, the players are noticing, ‘Oh, Georgia’s got really nice facilities. I wonder if they've got a couple of NIL dollars for [me] over there?'"

Skip Bayless also said he doesn't "have a problem" with the way things are now with player recruitment, recalling his days covering the sport decades ago. 

"The head coaches owned and operated the sports," Bayless said on "Undisputed." "They were the kings of the kingdom. The players were at their mercy. … They couldn't go anywhere. There was no free agency. Now, it's the Wild Wild West of free agency. It's music to my ears to hear these coaches crying about how it's a cutthroat business. Well, it's a two-way street now."

Georgia coach Kirby Smart also noted that tampering is a "prevalent" issue. But was also resigned to the fact that "if kids are exploring to leave, it's really hard to police."

Bayless thinks that's the way it should be.

"They're bidding for players," Bayless said. "That's pretty great. Isn't that America, supply and demand?"

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