Will Stein just wrapped up his first transfer portal cycle as the Kentucky head football coach. You know all too well that college football’s free agency is filled with chaos. Stein pulled back the curtain and shed a little light on just how chaotic it can get.
Last week, Dabo Swinney went on the attack. The Clemson head coach publicly called out Ole Miss’ Pete Golding for tampering. The Tigers signed linebacker Luke Ferrelli in the transfer portal. On his first day of class, he allegedly received a text from Golding, “I know you’re signed but what’s the buyout?” His agent attempted to use that contact to negotiate an extension to keep Ferrelli at Clemson. He ultimately hopped back into the portal and went to Ole Miss.
The Kentucky head coach was asked about tampering in a conversation with OutKick’s Hot Mic program. Tampering happens, but it’s not a black-and-white situation.
“There’s a lot of gray, mostly gray, just to be quite frank. And I think you have to do your best job as a coach, operating within the confines of the rules. I mean, you have to. That’s why rules are in place, but the rules get skewed. They get changed. They change almost weekly, daily, sometimes yearly. So how do you keep up with this? You have to have really smart people around you, and you have to do the right thing,” Stein said. “It’s really simple.”
Obviously, it can be tempting to skirt those rules when it feels like the NCAA is doing nothing to enforce them. Agents have no problem doing whatever it takes to make the most for their client.
“It’s hard,” said Stein. “Guys are shopping pre-portal. They are. It’s not just coaches. Agents are shopping their players before the season. So how do you deal with that as a person at another program, when you receive calls from agents, and they give you an entire list of players that are looking to get in the portal? You can’t text or call guys. You can’t do that, so don’t do it. It’s not that hard. I don’t understand why it can be so difficult for coaches, and that’s the rules, and that’s what Dabo said.”
There are clearly ways to operate in the gray area in the transfer portal. But there are certain lines one cannot cross. Golding crossed it by making direct contact.
“It’s like the hidden rules of baseball. You know what to do, what not to do. Just follow the agreements. You’re still playing by the rules, but don’t text the kid. I mean, is it that hard? I don’t get that. It’s not hard.”
Stein Will Play the Game with Agents
Agents are a four-letter word of sorts in the world of college athletics. They are characterized as the seedy, money-hungry operators who have soiled this once sacred sport. That’s not exactly how Stein sees it. He’s willing to play ball, not just because it can help his team right now, but he also knows that creating good relationships in the industry can be beneficial long-term.
“You talk to everybody, you do. Do I hand it off to Pat Biondo, my GM, yes. But there’s also calls that you got to take, just because you got to take it. So there’s a little bit of both. You want to know all these guys. These guys are really smart, too. A lot of these guys represent a lot of NFL players. I think that’s where you’ve seen the shift in college football, is now that some of the top NFL agents and agencies are representing high school players and college players,” said the Kentucky head coach.
Even though Biondo and Pete Nochta do a lot of the heavy lifting, Stein is a hands-on head coach who is willing to put those hands to work in order to ensure he has a top-notch roster.
“I’m talking to guys from A1 and CAA and all these other sporting agencies. I mean, if it helps us get the best players possible for Kentucky football so we go win games, do what you got to do. Not everybody wants to talk to agents. Do I want to spend all day talking to agents? No, but in the recruiting cycle and seasons, if I need to get on a phone and either have a, hello or close the deal and it takes me being involved in that, then yeah, we’re going to do whatever’s necessary.”