By Mark Pszonak
Contacting a player before they officially enter the portal isn’t allowed, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening at a staggering pace. But when the head coach of a tampered player publicly complains and specifically mentions another coach, it becomes news.
That is the situation between Maryland head coach Mike Locksley and Richmond head coach Russ Huesman according to John O’Connor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“Maryland tampered with our kicker and gave him $50,000,” said Coach Huesman. ” They came in, they tampered. The kid had zero interest in transferring, they offered him money. It happens all over the country and there’s nothing the NCAA’s going to do about it.”
Coach Huesman is 100% correct. The NCAA won’t do anything about this, just as they haven’t done anything about the countless other tampering allegations. And that is why it is still going on.
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As for the kicker, Sean O’Haire, ended up transferring to the Terps. 2024 was his first season with the Spiders, where he excelled by making all 12 of his field goal attempts and all nine of his extra point attempts.
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This is just another example of how FCS football has become a minor league system for FBS schools. Identify a need, find a player, contact the player even though they’re not in the portal, offer the player money and the player transfers. The recipe is tried and true and will continue to happen until someone does something about it.
