Why the recruiting violation that happened under Josh Heupel at Tennessee this season isn't a big deal
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported on Monday morning that a Tennessee Vols assistant coach committed a recruiting violation related to the NCAA transfer portal this past season. According to KNS, an unnamed Tennessee assistant committed a Level III violation by communicating with a high school coach about a player at another SEC program that wasn't […]
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported on Monday morning that a Tennessee Vols assistant coach committed a recruiting violation related to the NCAA transfer portal this past season.
According to KNS, an unnamed Tennessee assistant committed a Level III violation by communicating with a high school coach about a player at another SEC program that wasn't yet in the NCAA transfer portal.
The violation was reported just before the start of the 2022 season.
UT wasn't able to have contact with the player after he entered the portal (a self-imposed penalty). The unnamed assistant was also not allowed to recruit for the first 15 days of September.
From KNS:
One day before the player entered the portal, his high school coach and the Tennessee coach exchanged six text messages and four phone calls.
Three of the texts and two calls, which both went to voicemail, were initiated by the Tennessee coach. Those constituted impermissible recruiting communications.
Tennessee did not communicate directly with the player until after he entered the portal the next day. The Vols briefly recruited him but stopped as a self-imposed penalty for the violation.
I'm shocked this violation ever made it to the NCAA because this type of "tampering" is absolutely rampant in college football right now. Every program, either via direct contact or back channels, is doing this to some extent.
Since this is a new world right now, the transfer portal rules can be a bit confusing for coaches.
To Tennessee's credit, the assistant coach mentioned in the KNS report told the high school that he couldn't have contact with the player until the player was officially in the portal. The indirect contact (via the high school coach), however, was still a violation.
This is only the third Level III violation under Heuepl according to the report from KNS.
Ultimately, this is nothing. Level III violations happen everywhere and usually more frequently than three in two years. If anything, this is a reminder that Heupel is running a much cleaner program than his predecessor, Jeremy Pruitt.
What's more interesting to me is how the NCAA was tipped off. I'm guessing that the program whose player was being recruited was who blew the whistle on Tennessee.
Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
