DESTIN, Fla. — South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer lost some key contributors from last season's eight-win team to the NCAA transfer portal this offseason.
In a few cases, it seemed as if things moved pretty quickly for the former Gamecocks.
"It was strange based on conversations I'd had with guys two or three days before they went in the portal. It's interesting how things happen," Beamer said this past week at the Southeastern Conference's spring meetings in Florida.
NCAA rules state schools cannot recruit athletes who are currently on another team's roster. But with college football players granted more freedom to transfer than ever before — and name, image and likeness compensation opportunities being dangled — coaches are frustrated the recruiting starts even before the name pops up in the portal.
SEC football coaches all say tampering is more prevalent than ever, but there are few, if any, ways to stop it.
"The chaos we're experiencing is the result of pulling back of regulations," Vanderbilt's Clark Lea said.
Every school is intensely scouting the portal these days, and increasingly NFL-style personnel departments in college programs are trying to identify players they would be interested in — if they decide to transfer, of course.
That inevitably has led to broad complaints about coaches contacting players in an effort to lure them into the portal.
"The NFL deals with it, don't they? Major League Baseball deals with it. That's something that I wish you could," Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher said. "Because I think that is an issue. I think that is a big issue. And it's unfair to different levels of schools."
And if coaches and/or programs get caught?
"There should be severe penalties," Fisher said.
Two main reasons tampering is hard to stop: It is difficult to prove, and coaches are cautious about turning in their colleagues and potentially damaging a player's eligibility.
"Rumors are one thing," Beamer said. "Proof is another thing."
South Carolina lost leading rusher MarShawn Lloyd to Southern California, defensive lineman Jordan Burch to Oregon and tight end Jaheim Bell and defensive end Gilber Edmond to Florida State.
Also, what exactly is tampering?
Kirby Smart, whose Georgia Bulldogs have won the past two College Football Playoff national championships, said what's happening isn't new, it's just occurring more frequently because there are so many more players transferring now that underclassmen no longer are required to sit out a season before being eligible to play.
"So look, if kids are exploring to leave, it's really hard to police. Ask the NCAA," Smart said. "If a kid goes to his trainer or high school coach, well, in our program we have people talking to those trainers and high school coaches. Word of mouth spreads that a guy's not happy and he's looking.
"Next thing you know, he's in the portal and he's already got somewhere that he wants to go."
So far, Smart has only dabbled in the portal to supplement a roster full of blue-chip recruits. This year the Bulldogs brought in two receivers from other SEC schools, landing Dominic Lovett from Missouri and RaRa Thomas from Mississippi State. Georgia also lost one of the most intriguing players to enter the portal during the spring transfer window when defensive tackle Bear Alexander left for Southern Cal.
This past school year was the first with portal windows for each sport. For football, there is a 45-day window that opens after the regular season ends and a 15-day window that starts in mid-April.
"Some of the behaviors that really raise questions about tampering and the use of NIL, those seem to happen later as the portal (window) drags on, though not exclusively," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. "The observation from our coaches is, 'Can we reduce those windows?' I think there's a need to engage."
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said he has called coaches he believes have tampered with players on his roster.
"However, once you make that call it's already too late, because the kid is already gone," Pittman said.
Coaches air their grievances but almost always stop short of publicly calling out those they suspect — or know — are tampering.
Pittsburgh's Pat Narduzzi, whose Panthers won the Atlantic Coast Conference title in 2021, was one of the few who didn't shy away from a public confrontation when the Panthers lost star receiver Jordan Addison to Southern California in spring 2022.
"But the business is all about if you make somebody mad, you cut that possibility of a job market off your resumé," Pittman said.
To some extent with tampering, coaches have said they know it when they see it.
Said Pittman: "Anybody that comes into your office and says, 'Hey, I'm going to go into the portal, and the next day they already know where they're going ... probably had a conversation or two before then."