The NCAA investigation into Tennessee is a joke, but it's going to hurt the Vols
The NCAA's investigation into the Tennessee Vols' handling of NIL deals is one of the biggest jokes in the history of college sports. While programs like Ohio State, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama are actively pursuing players with NIL deals, the NCAA is taking time to investigate Tennessee because of an alleged plane ride that […]
The NCAA's investigation into the Tennessee Vols' handling of NIL deals is one of the biggest jokes in the history of college sports.
While programs like Ohio State, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama are actively pursuing players with NIL deals, the NCAA is taking time to investigate Tennessee because of an alleged plane ride that took place two years ago before collectives were defined as boosters.
Now keep in mind that Georgia president Jere Morehead, who chairs the NCAA's board of directors, said nearly two years ago that the NCAA would only pursue the most "outrageous violations" that happened before NIL collectives were deemed as boosters.
“While the NCAA may pursue the most outrageous violations that were clearly contrary to the interim policy adopted last summer, our focus is on the future,” said Morehead in a statement from May, 2022. “The new guidance establishes a common set of expectations for the Division I institutions moving forward, and the board expects all Division I institutions to follow our recruiting rules and operate within these reasonable expectations.”
"Our focus is on the future."
That proved to be a lie from Mr. Morehead. So while other programs continue to actively recruit players via NIL deals, Tennessee now has to spend time and resources on defending themselves against the allegations from the NCAA from a time when rules were seemingly changing every day.
As a result of this absolute clown show of an investigation by the NCAA, the states of Tennessee and Virginia have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA.
(You can read more about the lawsuit and what it means here, via AtoZ Sports legal expert Craig Smith.)
Tennessee feels pretty good about where they stand in this case against the NCAA. And ultimately, the outcome could be positive for Tennessee and the rest of college football.
But these things don't move swiftly. And because of that, Tennessee will once again be under an NCAA cloud that can (and will) be used against them by rival programs.
This will have an effect on recruiting to some extent for the Vols. There will be recruits and parents of recruits who see "NIL lawsuit" and "Tennessee" in the same sentence and decide they want nothing to do with UT. Not every recruit, but it would be naive to think there won't be more than a few.
And you can be certain that Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Clemson, or anyone else chasing a recruit/transfer that Tennessee is also chasing will be bringing this situation up.
Because of this investigation, Tennessee will be preemptively punished via rumors and negative recruiting. And there's really no way to fight against it. This is going to linger.
The NCAA should be ashamed of what they're doing. Instead of working with programs to navigate this ever-changing world of NIL deals and transfer portal madness, they're instead seeking to punish past transgressions from a time where there was no clear guidance from the NCAA.
NCAA president Charlie Baker doesn't give a damn about student athletes. Because this investigation, ultimately, hurts student athletes at Tennessee.
There isn't a bigger disaster of an organization in athletics than the NCAA. They created this mess by not being proactive when it came to NIL years ago. Instead, they tried to fight something that was inevitable. And as a result, they created a chaotic situation that unfolded before anyone really knew what was going on. And now they're trying to go back and punish programs for what happened during that time period? Are you kidding me?
Meanwhile, we've got Caleb Williams in a high rise condo overlooking Los Angeles after transferring to USC.
Or how about former Alabama safety Caleb Downs having an NIL deal in place THE DAY AFTER transferring to Ohio State.
That deal sure came together quick. But I'm sure it had nothing to do with Downs leaving Alabama for Columbus….
There's a good chance that Tennessee wins this fight in court. But it shouldn't have to come to that. The Vols still ultimately lose in all of this because of the period of uncertainty around the program that the NCAA has now created.
Shame on you, NCAA. You're just flat out evil.
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