Beneath the sheen that layers college football is a dark reality. The sport is almost synonymous with inequality. The advent of NIL and the transfer portal have only fanned the flames of this divide. Players have almost free will to leave programs, leaving them stranded. In addition, schools towards the top of the food chain can essentially lure talent away from proverbial bottom-feeders using their NIL arsenals. Talent that was nurtured and developed by them but shall prosper for the already prosperous. Tampering can be a loosely thrown-around umbrella term. But it’s very prevalent across the landscape. It’s so prevalent that it has almost become the norm. Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns are the latest ones accused of indulging in some.

Of all its quirks and abnormalities, the concept of spring games is one of the most interesting in CFB. Something that’s so etched in the fabric of the sport. Yet, coaches are convening to stop its existence. Spring games are trending towards becoming history soon, and so could the tradition of fans pulling up in the thousands to watch these glorified practices. For decades, it’s been a chance for fans to grow closer to the team they support. Build communities. Now, this chance may be on the verge of being snatched away. Why? Tampering is at the crux of it all. The likes of Steve Sarkisian and Matt Rhule pointed to these games being an opportunity for some outside intervention. It’s especially lethal since it’s right before the transfer portal reopens. 

As a result, Texas and Nebraska, among others, won’t host one this year. But the latest intel from CFB savant and insider Blake Ruffino suggests this is a bit of a “stones and glass windows” scenario. He’s privy to the fact that while Sark has been a proponent of spring being a breeding ground for tampering, his program has been involved in some, too. Speaking over “The Ruffino & Joe Show” with co-host Joe DeLeone, Ruffino dropped a bombshell on Sarkisian. “You’re coming out here and arguing about how you don’t want to play because of tampering. My guy, you’re out there tampering! I’m going to keep it brief. I’m not going to say how I know it,” he said before proceeding to spill the beans.

Ruffino said, “I know that, literally, a Texas coach was on LSU campuses…Not going to say when. [But] you think that he didn’t talk to some players that he recruited? You think he didn’t bump into them? Because I’m just going to tell you, it happened.” The landscape right now is such that not tampering means you lose ground on the competition. “[Steve Sarkisian] didn’t want to play because [Texas] played more games than anybody. Fine,” he continued. This was in fact cited by Sark as the primary reason they held out. “But then he follows it up with, ‘I don’t want my roster being tampered with.’ Then look at your own staff. That’s all I’m going to bring up. Look at your own staff,” reiterated Blake Ruffino.

Spring football is like that spin-off between breaks in the canon of a TV series. You’re yearning for some football, but there’s just too big a gap between January and September. Your team’s makeup and personnel have turned on their heads, and you want a teaser of what to expect. 15 days of practice in breezy, summery weather. 2 of which are strictly non-contact. Not allowed to exceed 4 hours a day. Followed by an inter-program exhibition showcase to get a taste for game situations and warm yourself up to the fans if you’re new. Then go back to sitting lectures in class, waiting for August to roll about.

The idiosyncrasy of it all is meshed with a chance for fans to grow closer to the team they love. Now that fans are being snatched off this chance, the frustration is palpable. It’s not as if Steve Sarkisian’s team didn’t do some lamentable stuff. But he just got caught in an already heated discourse around spring football’s future. Dabo Swinney is the latest coach to lay into this ordeal.

After Steve Sarkisian moves on, the old-school Dabo Swinney announces his spring game verdict

Dabo Swinney is atypical in how he runs his Clemson Tigers. In this era where his contemporaries lean on modern appendages, coach Dabo embraces tradition. You’ll hardly see Clemson dip into the transfer portal, if at all. This tryst with tradition and their culture has helped them be successful. But as much continuity as Dabo Swinney preaches and even lives by, change is the only constant. Not all change has to be bad, either. Change can be synonymous with evolution and progress. Dabo has finally adopted the transfer portal, too, albeit moderately. So, what’s his verdict on spring games? Well, he’s not adopting every new fad now, is he? Dabo isn’t caving into the pressures of tampering.

“We’re going to have a spring game, and I hope we can have some type of fan day with it as well,” said Dabo Swinney. “Canceling the spring game ain’t gonna stop tampering. We’re going to need a lot more help than that to stop tampering. And hopefully, at some point, that’ll happen.” It is a breath of fresh air and realism at the same time. A surprised Blake Ruffino reacted to this news with a subtle dig at coach Dabo. “When did Dabo Swinney become the voice of reason?” he exclaimed. “That’s a great question!” replied his pod partner Joe DeLeone.

Until some sort of legislative changes are made, the sad reality is that big programs will continue to flex their muscles where possible. Morals and ethics are partisan values to hold in a results business. Which CFB now is. A business where a pigskin gets thrown on Saturdays. Until there is stricter penalization for tampering, it’ll continue to hamper the sport. First, it’s spring games. Next could be something even more seismic. Will fans come to terms with losing spring football years down the line? Probably. But it’s not going down well in the immediate. As for Steve Sarkisian and Texas, the sheer volume of these cases means they will inadvertently get swept under the rug.