A lot of hoo-hah has been made about NIL, and in some ways, rightly so! We saw Nick Saban hinting at the NIL era as one of the reasons for him hanging his boots. That happened around a year ago, and the NIL landscape has only become crazier. Remember Bryce Underwood’s change of heart after committing to LSU? Well, of course, the lure of a home team in Michigan mattered, but can we discount the lure of money? There have been countless examples. The players commit to a team, they get a better offer, and off they go! Newer, greener pastures.

Having taken to everything that’s wrong with NIL, one thing that is a point of discussion here can’t solely be attributed to it. Tampering and player poaching are part of an age-old saga. Even the best of the head coaches have been accused of indulging in that problematic behavior. A will to bend the rules to get commitment from the best players. When it’s under wraps, it becomes a footnote in a book describing a “winning culture” and “winning mentality”. In rare occurrences when it’s out in public, there’s shame, and we have another such story.

Renowned college football program accused of tampering

The latest one to take the tears of the negative effects is BYU and coach Kalani Sitake. The veteran head coach has barely failed to have the upper hand in the recruitment front by hook or crook. If you look back at one of the Cougars’ one-point wins over Utah in the Holy War at the beginning of November, you might have some suspicious clips flashing upon your eyes. Coach Sitake reached out and shook two opponent players’ hands. Guess what, a month later, the exact two players, Carsen Ryan, and Keanu Tanuvasa, violated the enemy territory but with a legal commitment in their hands.

”The loud screams from Utes’ fans are very clear and that this is a sort of tampering that is not right or BYU has acted out of its culture and out of the NCAA bylaws,” said Brian Peacock, Locked on Big 12 host.

First, let’s take you through these players. Carsen Ryan didn’t have the best times at Utah. In the 2024 season, just 10 receptions for 113 yards and one touchdown for the tight end. Before joining the Utes, the 4-star recruit in the 2022 class spent two years at UCLA, amassing 19 receptions for 287 yards and three touchdowns. So, these are not some amazing numbers. However, Sitake might nurture him properly and let him spread his wings in a year or two. More importantly, there is a real vacancy for the position at BYU. So, the transfer takes care of that aspect.

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The second player is Keanu Tanuvasa, who entered the portal a few weeks ago, and the Cougars snatched him from their rivals as quickly as they could. The defensive tackle has since tried to justify his transfer. What’s in it for BYU? Well, in his three years at the Utes, Tanuvasa earned College Football Network Fresh All-American honorable mention honors. That came in the 2023 season when Keanu played 13 games, amassing 27 tackles and two sacks. While the 2024 season was marred by injury, he still had 17 tackles and a sack. We get why Sitake may break the bank for such a player. However, was everything per the book?

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Rivals analyst comes on to Locked on Utes, which is a very reputable podcast and a very good Utah podcast. This wasn’t the thought of the host but the thought of his guest saying that Utah and BYU are a total skirmish because the Cougars are promising NIL money to recruits that they cannot deliver on. They’re not giving that money. That was a direct quote. That the numbers weren’t there, and they were flubbed by the Cougars in this recruiting battle,” Peacock added another bombshell charge that came from an analyst.

If the hearsay is true, it’s not only just Sitake going out of his ideals and ethics to grace the roster. Each day, a lot of recruits and their parents complained that they were contacted by someone after the game. The trend is nasty and nerve-wracking, without a doubt. For those unversed, player poaching and roster 

tampering terminologically means one team desperately trying to undermine the ability of another team to retain a contracted player. They use NIL allurement and other lucrative incentives to get the job done.

However, it must be pointed out that the Utah program has yet to officially allege anything of this nature. Of course, the Utes’ fans have their theories, and a Rivals analyst added to the fire. Despite that, the whole thing adds to an already boiling rivalry between the two programs. Just the fact that two Utes’ players shifted their bases to the Cougars is scandalous enough. Add to that any chance of there being any sort of tampering.

Deion Sanders has a strong message against the tampering trend 

Sitake’s close pal, Deion Sanders, has been a staunch opposer of the practice. I mean, that’s not a surprise. Of course, anyone with a clear mind, brain, and spline will oppose it. Coach Prime has expressed deep concern over contemporary unethical tendencies, especially tampering and preemptive NIL deals.

In a recent press conference, Sanders called out the schools for extending offers with handy NIL deals to players who are still officially a crucial part of their current teams. He threw shades at a unanimous school that offered a flat $6 million to Texas QB Quinn Ewers even before he hit the portal.  “How do you get an offer when you’re not in the portal? How does that work?” Sanders slammed the entire system for being trash.

The veteran icon has been a role model for all his fellow coaches, not only on the field but also in terms of portal etiquette. Sanders shared he always focuses on the players’ free will and encourages them to make the right decision after a thorough analysis of the situation. He promotes thoughtful decision-making and teaches them to weigh their options carefully. “I always tell them, I don’t recommend you jumping into the portal unless you know you’re probably going to have a home,” Sanders explained, upholding a true coach’s role that is to guide his players holistically toward a better future.