It was late December, not yet the end of the season, and already the wolves were circling. An assistant at a high-level Power 5 program knew two of his school's best young players -- one on offense and one on defense -- were being actively recruited by other programs. In fact, he said, it was "unbelievable" how many coaches were reaching out to players on his team's roster.
"The cheaters," the frustrated assistant said, "just keep cheating."
Tampering officially arrived in college football this offseason, leaving coaches to both lament the current state of the game -- and try to keep up.