Jimbo Fisher Says ‘Cheating,’ Tampering’ Is Rampant In College Football

It's no secret that Name, Image and Likeness rules have changed college football. The transfer market has become a free for all, as some players switch programs almost every season in search of better NIL arrangements. High school recruiting has also been irreparably changed by NIL deals, as top players now have financial considerations when picking their first school. 

One of the schools most prominently associated with using NIL to its advantage is Texas A&M. Especially under former head coach Jimbo Fisher, when the Aggies racked up top recruiting class after top recruiting class. But Fisher doesn't think unrestricted NIL is good for the game, saying in a recent interview on SiriusXM that it's led to "cheating" and "tampering" among schools.

"College football is — I complain about it, it’s still the greatest game," Fisher said. "As much as I love NFL, and I’m crazy about it, and I respect it, but college football, man, you don’t know — 18, 22 teams, you don’t know what you’re going to get. I mean, it’s still so — I love college basketball, all those things, I love all college sports, but college football man, we need a commissioner," Fisher stated. "We need revenue sharing. We need a salary cap, for all schools, and if you’re caught — and the other part of this, the tampering that other schools do with players, is utterly ridiculous.

"I mean, the big schools are going and getting players constantly from other schools, and it’s being done illegally. Those guys are developing players, and all of a sudden their guys, you know, that team shouldn’t have an advantage, financially, to be able to take care of a guy that another school doesn’t, and it’s wrong."

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Jimbo Fisher of the Texas A&M Aggies walks off the field after taking on the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first half of the 2022 Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium on September 24, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Jimbo Fisher Has Issues With College Football NIL Deals

Fisher wasn't done, saying that initially he believed NIL would be good for the sport. Though he quickly learned that instead of removing the under-the-table deals that were common in previous eras, they made "cheating" worse.

"I’ve had multiple discussions with players I’ve had, teams calling them and offering money. ‘I’ve got NIL, I’ve got this offer here, I’ve got this,’ and you’ve got to sit down with them, their parents and go through it all. Power 4, within our own league, with the things that go on," Fisher explained. "I thought, really, when NIL came in, we thought it would be good, because some of this — there were teams that were doing NIL before NIL was popular, okay? … I thought NIL would at least make it fair, take the cheating out of ball. It’s made it worse."

Fisher and A&M had a reputation for the exact type of arrangements that he now criticizes. But what this interview implies is that they were beating other top schools who were engaging in the same type of negotiations with top recruits and transfers.

He does make the point that the current model seems unsustainable. Schools like Kansas State are always going to lose top players like Will Howard to programs like Ohio State. There's a flip side as well; USC struggled to get its NIL programs aligned, costing them top recruiting classes. The Trojans have done a better job of late, and combined with improved on-field play, their recruiting has improved substantially in 2024.

What the fix is, no one's quite sure. But a fix is most certainly necessary.