Dabo Swinney met with the media Thursday as the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl held a virtual press conference with Swinney and Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops as the teams prepare for their matchup, with an interesting question surfacing.
During this press conference, Swinney was asked what he thinks about the issue with college football. It’s not the transfer portal or NIL that Swinney has a problem with; it is tampering. The Tigers’ head coach gave an honest answer and an answer Stoops seemed to agree with, stating, “I agree,” following Swinney’s statement.
“The portal is not the problem. The NIL is not the problem. The problem is tampering. That is the problem. That is the problem in college football and that can be fixed easy to if they would let football people fix it. We do not usually get a vote on that. That is the biggest challenge we are dealing with, is that aspect of it,” Swinney said.
Swinney does have a good point here, but it’s also tough to say that the portal and NIL aren’t a part of the problem…The lack of regulation around the transfer portal and NIL is, in a way, extreme, and due to this lack of regulations, tampering is in full force.
The transfer portal and NIL are necessary and are going nowhere, but more regulations need to be implemented for things to get better before they get worse. Swinney is right, but it’s a bit more deep than that in my opinion.