Ollie Gordon fluff piece - tampering is now so common it can be discussed casually in public
OSU Football Superstar Ollie Gordon Talks Transfer Portal (msn.com)
Gordon never entered the transfer portal, and yet, from the article:
"So, why did Gordon opt to remain with the Cowboys?
"It's a great program, great coaching staff," Gordon said. "They make me feel like I'm at home. I didn't want to leave."
Since announcing his return, Gordon has made plenty of appearances across many different sports. Most recently, he was attending Bedlam wrestling as the No. 2 Cowboys dominated the No. 25 Oklahoma Sooners.
"Your phone is blowing up [with offers from other schools]. But you don't really want to look at it and get too far into it because that's when you start overthinking things. I really just overlooked that and didn't really pay it attention," Gordon continued."
February 20th, 2024 at 2:58 PM ^
Cheeseburgers?
February 20th, 2024 at 2:59 PM ^
If you refuse to recognize the rules, they can only punish those who still do. Burn the NCAA to the ground.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:50 PM ^
It's not the NCAA's fault.
As soon as they try to enforce anything these schools get real dumb and claim to not know the rules and sue the NCAA.
Whether it's the NCAA or not, someone is going to have to govern this mess, but the "playing dumb" by all these schools is a real joke.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:53 PM ^
Michigan is the old lady in the car in the right lane going 56 MPH in a 55 zone while literally every other school is the drunk who fly by in the left lane at over 100 tossing beer cans in the road and shooting AR-15s out the window.
Cops pull over and fine the old lady because they know she wont make a fuss, who will pay her fine and wont make the cop have to potentially use force to bring her in.
This would be funny if it was happening to any other school. I know my OSU friends find it so.
February 20th, 2024 at 4:39 PM ^
They've also pulled over FSU and UF recently.
There's no rhyme or reason as to whom they're pulling over.
February 20th, 2024 at 8:03 PM ^
1) Florida because they were so blatantly bad at trying to buy their QB
2) FSU because they’ve thrown up a middle finger and publicly spit at the NCAA, ACC and CFP.
To extend the car pullover metaphor—these idiots stayed in the fast lane driving 20 over the speed limit while the police cruiser rides their ass for a mile waiting for them to notice and move over. When they didn’t realize the cop was there giving them time to get in line and don’t piss off the flying officer…well, now they got pulled over.
February 20th, 2024 at 7:21 PM ^
Sounds like a fun Sat evening .. do I bring my own AR or can I use one of yours?
February 20th, 2024 at 11:05 PM ^
Drinking beer and shooting AR-15s are both still legal in this country.
Maybe not at the same time.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:55 PM ^
Michigan doesn't need to burn anything down, or even sue anyone. We just need to ignore the NCAA fully and completely and do whatever the fuck we want.
February 20th, 2024 at 7:54 PM ^
I'm going to get absolutely buried for pointing this out, but Blinkin is describing exactly what every other school's fans thought about Stalion-gate...
February 20th, 2024 at 3:20 PM ^
Cheeseburgers are right out!
February 20th, 2024 at 7:11 PM ^
No Coke. Pepsi.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:49 PM ^
No no it wasn't cheeseburgers!! He lied or somethin. Hurt some feelings :[
February 20th, 2024 at 6:53 PM ^
You notice how Ollie never said his phone was blowing up with offers of cheeseburgers?
Other schools seem to get how this works - why is Michigan struggling to adapt?!
February 20th, 2024 at 3:08 PM ^
I saw OSU and immediately assumed Ohio State, then was like I've never heard of this dude. He's not a very good superstar.
Oklahoma State is OSU as much as South Carolina is USC.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:17 PM ^
Okie Lite.
Same syllables.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:18 PM ^
He finished 7th in the final Heisman voting last year and was second only to Jalen Milroe in terms of players coming back in 2024.
I would say that puts him in the superstar category.
February 20th, 2024 at 4:08 PM ^
I thought he was on Ohio State, since OSU was mentioned and as a Michigan fan there is only one OSU in my mind. And having never heard of him (obviously cuz he's NOT on Ohio State) my thought was he can't be that good.
February 20th, 2024 at 4:29 PM ^
(ntOSU)
February 20th, 2024 at 3:29 PM ^
It’s all a matter of perspective….or maybe geography. Out here in the Left Coast, it’s Oregon State. Go Beavers…still can’t get over that.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:54 PM ^
If there's any mascot out there that deserves extra special attention and some TLC - it's the Beavers...
February 20th, 2024 at 4:06 PM ^
I live in Georgia and South Carolina will NEVER be USC.
February 20th, 2024 at 4:32 PM ^
Go to Oklahoma and tell them that.
February 20th, 2024 at 5:12 PM ^
When I thought he was from Ohio State, the only OSU I think of as a Michigan fan, and I had never heard of him of course my mind said how good can he be? I would have heard of an Ohio State player even if they were middling.
I see now he is from Oklahoma State.
February 20th, 2024 at 6:56 PM ^
Yeah?! Well Oklahoma State is coached by a MAN!
Is your osu?!
February 20th, 2024 at 8:29 PM ^
You mean lowercase ohio, dont even give them the respect of capital letter. Yes OSU is either Oklahoma State or Oregon State. Ohio in Athens is THE Ohio University.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:08 PM ^
Is it tampering if a team reaches out through the players rep/agent or a family member? 11Warriors has a short article about a Mom of one of their b-ball players getting slammed with calls from other schools since Holtmann was fired. I’m guessing it’s legal as long as a school doesn’t directly contact a recruit, but so don’t really know the rules for tampering.
College football and basketball athletes are basically free agents every and I have no idea how you get it under control. If we are able to keep Grant, Graham, Loveland, Edwards, and Johnson it will be a huge testament to our program considering the money they are being offered and the coaching staff turnover they’ve endured this offseason.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:17 PM ^
I've wondered if it's tampering if the player reaches out first. For example, if Sabb contacted Courtney Morgan at Alabama (his old recruiting contact at Michigan), is it tampering for Morgan to take that call? And should there be penalties for players shopping themselves if they aren't in the portal yet?
February 20th, 2024 at 3:22 PM ^
He literally said teams were blowing up his phone but he didn't really consider it very seriously.
I would say that is clear tampering. If that is not against the "rules" then there are no rules.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:56 PM ^
If there is really anyone left that is still shocked that programs are operating outside the rules, then I've got some real bad news in the form of a history lesson in the sport of college football.
tl;dr version is it has been happening since literally the dawn of the sport. Tampering, paying players, forging documents, increasing emphasis on the commercialization of the sport, etc. has been a part of college football since the late 1800s. There is no older tradition in college football than corruption.
February 20th, 2024 at 5:13 PM ^
If the person blowing up his phone was a coach/institutional staffer it's tampering.
If the person was a player on another team, it is not.
February 20th, 2024 at 5:31 PM ^
He said other teams “offering a deal” - you think that players on other teams are offering up deals?
If other players can call you on behalf of a coach / administrator / booster / collective - if it is that easy to make it ok - then there are effectively no rules.
February 20th, 2024 at 6:07 PM ^
Yes, I think coaches are using players as proxies to get around the tampering rules.
...and yes, it is that easy.
February 20th, 2024 at 7:09 PM ^
Ok how's this - he quite legally nowadays has an agent to field & negotiate NIL opportunities. If other schools' *not officially affiliated* payola consortiums contact his agent with business, how in the name of American commerce could that be any kind of violation?
The ncaa fought & fought what's fair for so long they achieved the rare Pyrrhic Loss!
No rules they can conceive of will ever stand a legal challenge, so the only way this ends is players sign contracts which only the school can release them from - or unfettered free agency causes am arms race that leaves only a few teams standing, and most fans stay away in droves!
February 20th, 2024 at 6:58 PM ^
Rule breaking only counts (and is only provably true) when other teams' coaches whine in anonymous Athletic articles. Anything else is hearsay and rumor.
February 20th, 2024 at 4:26 PM ^
Cam Newton defense
February 20th, 2024 at 3:09 PM ^
This is why the UM AD should tell the NCAA that we are no longer recognizing any of their rules or authority, the investigation is canceled, and they can go fuck themselves.
If they're not going to enforce all the rules equally for all members, then there's zero point to any of it.
February 21st, 2024 at 2:53 PM ^
You do know who our AD is... don't you!?!??!?
February 20th, 2024 at 3:13 PM ^
There's another word you can't spell without "OSU" - but, that's better left for a different thread / comment.
One thing caught my attention - there's nary a mention of a Lamborghini.
Oh - this isn't an SEC school - or the Buckeyes - I understand now. That makes sense.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:14 PM ^
NTOSU
February 20th, 2024 at 3:14 PM ^
Stopping "tampering" won't be any more successful than stopping bag men in pre-NIL years.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:17 PM ^
But GOD FORBID Harbaugh buy some f*****g cheeseburgers.
The NCAA isn't incompetent (to an extent). They know what they're doing. What they are, are bullies. And who do bullies pick on? People who can't (or won't) defend themselves. Michigan is in that category. It doesn't have to be, but Michigan gets harassed by the NCAA because Michigan chooses to let them do it.
When everyone else has figured out how to stand up to the bully and make them go away, Michigan still lets the NCAA barge onto campus and take their freaking lunch money.
February 20th, 2024 at 4:00 PM ^
You need to better understand where the NCAA is coming from.
First -$ 800K for an official visit - like Texas spent on Arch Manning - is perfectly fine.
Second - a JUCO transfer who shows up to his Ole Miss signing ceremony in a Lamborghini - remember - he hadn't yet signed / commited on paper - well, the Lambo is fine.
Then - you buy a couple of already committed prospects a couple of cheeseburgers - when the entire campus is shut down because of Covid - and, you could be given a life sentence. OR - there's an alleged violation of advanced scouting - but, no one can clearly state whether or not a rule has actually been broken because of how its written.
Yes - the NCAA definitely has its priorities in place.
February 20th, 2024 at 5:08 PM ^
If the NCAA had any teeth or standing in the court of public opinion, they'd probably still like to go after Texas or Ole Miss for stuff like that. But Texas and Ole Miss have figured out that if you tell the NCAA to "f**k off," or if you're in a state with a sympathetic AG who threatens the NCAA with lawsuits (as many states in the South are), then the NCAA realizes it has no recourse and has to back off.
They know they're losing power and respect by the day, so their only option left, in order to still provide the perception of having power and respect, is to go after schools that still let them. Michigan is unquestionably one of those schools. Whether its still an antiquated mindset across the administration of "We're Michigan and we're better than this," or Warde doesn't have the gall to stand up for his university, I couldn't definitively say.
The NCAA can go after Michigan, lay down sanctions, and then proceed to puff out its chest, stand up and tell the world "See? We still matter." They can say they went after big bad Michigan, punished them, and give this perception that they hauled in the big fish and still know how to take care of business.
February 20th, 2024 at 6:31 PM ^
Then - you buy a couple of already committed prospects a couple of cheeseburgers - when the entire campus is shut down because of Covid - and, you could be given a life sentence. OR - there's an alleged violation of advanced scouting - but, no one can clearly state whether or not a rule has actually been broken because of how its written.
Context is also important in a story. The purchasing of cheeseburgers was not the Level I violation. The NCAA is alleging that Harbaugh lied or mislead the investigators about purchasing the cheeseburgers.
The Big Ten and the University were notified by the NCAA that they are investigating the allegation of advanced scouting by the University staff. That investigation has not been completed.
February 20th, 2024 at 7:38 PM ^
I realize the issue between Harbaugh and the NCAA - which is probably the L1 violation in the NOA Michigan received on Signing Day. My understanding is - the NCAA did not “feel” Harbaugh was as forthcoming as they expected. Though, I do believe the NCAA was given all of the information Harbaugh had - texts, emails, phone records, etc…
Michigan probably has about three more weeks to reply to the NCAA’s NOA.
February 20th, 2024 at 4:56 PM ^
Warde loves being perceived as weighing 98lbs.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:17 PM ^
Respect for sticking with your teammates and commitment sir.
February 20th, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^
The last real “Team” just won the Collegiate National Title. From here on out its the highest paid group of free agents that are playing for a professional league title.
Still savoring that glorious win.