Fresno State has been contacted by NCAA officials, per sources. (Photo: JJ Anderson)
Has anyone out there seen a consequence? A harsh tampering penalty for a major college football program? A swift punishment that served as a deterrent to others? Best I can tell, the NCAA enforcement arm doesn’t consider tampering a serious infraction.
“It’s laughable,” one ‘Power Four’ head football coach told me on Wednesday. “Nobody’s ever gotten in trouble for it.”
That may be about to change.
So give Clemson coach Dabo Swinney credit. He’s cooperating with NCAA investigators on a tampering investigation involving Ole Miss. Swinney is fed up and pointing a finger. I’m told by NCAA sources that investigators are now asking questions about improper contact that Ole Miss staff members allegedly had with a star Mountain West (and Pac-12 to-be) player.
That player is believed to be Fresno State receiver Josiah Freeman, a sixth-year senior. He was allegedly contacted by staff associated with the Mississippi football program earlier this month, per sources.
Matt Entz, the coach at Fresno State, declined to comment on Wednesday. Bulldogs’ athletic director, Garrett Klassy, isn’t talking, either. I’m told by NCAA sources that Freeman provided screenshots of the communications.
“Fresno State has receipts,” the source said.
“If that’s true,” the ‘Power Four’ head coach told me, “the kid ought to be held up as a hero.”