SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey says the NCAA needs to rewrite tampering rules, calling current regulations “archaic” in recent comments to ESPN.
Sankey joins other conference commissioners requesting rule changes to address what they call outdated policies in college athletics. He emphasized that “we need clarity” when discussing the current landscape.
But the tampering rules aren’t confusing at all.
The NCAA introduced these regulations within the last decade. That’s hardly archaic by any definition.
The core rule is simple: programs can’t contact players who are enrolled at other schools.
Commissioners Want Less Oversight
College officials aren’t really concerned about tampering violations. ESPN previously reported that multiple officials believe “it’s essentially a competitive disadvantage to not tamper.”
NIL deals transformed college recruiting into an arms race without spending caps or player contracts.
Teams with the best players win. It’s that simple.
The tampering rule prevents activities that would make the NIL era even more chaotic. Current regulations don’t fully address NIL realities, but that doesn’t change the basic principle that enrolled players shouldn’t be contacted by outside programs.
The NCAA started taking tampering seriously after Dabo Swinney’s public allegations about violations. Enforcement officials sent a memo instructing investigators to look for tampering evidence and pursue harsh punishments.
Only after that memo did commissioners start complaining about how rules are written.
Stricter Rules Make More Sense
If anything, tampering rules should become more restrictive, not less.
Commissioners seem to assume that NIL-era rules would create fewer guardrails. The opposite should happen.
Sankey referenced the NCAA enforcement memo and suggested it changed existing policy. The NCAA responded to the Big Ten’s similar request, confirming the memo simply reinforced established rules without changing anything.
College football faces bigger problems than tampering regulations. The playoff format needs work. Scheduling creates competitive imbalances.
But commissioners aren’t talking about those issues.
The NCAA should consider rule changes, but tampering rules rank low on any reasonable priority list. The real question for commissioners pushing these changes: do you actually want the NCAA to rewrite rules to match the NIL era?
That’s opening a floodgate most programs aren’t prepared for.
If the NCAA actually rewrote rules to reflect current NIL realities, the result would likely include more restrictions, not fewer. College football’s new world order might look very different than what commissioners expect.
