Tampering has turned into a massive issue in college football. Programs are getting mad about other programs contacting players who have signed NIL contracts with the school. The Ohio State football program has largely stayed away from blatantly tampering with other players.
Darian Mensah has become the new face of the tampering issue. After signing an NIL contract to stay at Duke, he tried to enter the Transfer Portal to sign with Miami. Duke filed motions in court to stop that from happening before ultimately agreeing to a settlement.
In the end, Mensah got what he wanted, and so did Miami. The Buckeyes should learn from this situation. If there is not going to be any punishment from programs tampering with players on rosters, why shouldn't the Ohio State Buckeyes do that with every portal player they want?
The Ohio State football team should tamper with players
The NCAA keeps feigning the ability to punish programs for tampering. Yet, nothing has ever been done. If there is not going to be any enforcement, then why shouldn't Ohio State contact any player they want on other rosters? Perhaps they have done that already.
Bringing in Connor Hawkins very quickly after he entered the portal was a possible sign of tampering. Is there evidence of that? No. Even if there was, it doesn't matter. Clearly, nothing will happen to Ohio State if that happens. Ryan Day should instruct his staff to contact whoever they want.
Until there is a documented case of a program getting punished for tampering, the Buckeyes should toe that line. They should do whatever it takes to make sure they get the best players for their program who can help them win as many games as possible.
Any player who enters the portal with a no-contact tag has clearly been tampered with, and that happens with every program across the country. Ohio State needs to stop playing by imaginary rules.