Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell relayed stories from players about other college football programs allegedly tampering with them. Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

College football coach believes rivals guilty of tampering

Originally posted on CFB-HQ on SI | By James Parks | Last updated Jul 12, 2024 10:43 AM ET

Tampering remains a big subject around college football, especially in a more wide open area when schools are allowed to use NIL incentives and the transfer portal to build their rosters.

Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell has joined the chorus of program leaders at the Group of Five level to call out the NCAA and address the issue, speaking at the Mountain West Conference Media Days, relaying a story involving his own players.

Jay Norvell on P4 schools trying to tamper with Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi & Tory Horton.

Said today that schools like Kansas State, Texas A&M & Ole Miss all went after CSU’s stars pic.twitter.com/doZIbNkB5M
— DNVR Rams (@DNVR_Rams) July 11, 2024

Norvell claims there may have been tampering coming from Kansas State as regards Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, with the player telling the coach that the Wildcats offered him $600,000 to enter the transfer portal this offseason.

"Same thing with Brayden," Norvell told reporters. "Brayden had the same kind of offers. If you have enough evidence, you can prove it. But a smoking gun's a smoking gun. He said a guy from Kansas State called him, offered him $600,000, because they lost their quarterback, if he got in the portal."

Norvell added: "But I'm not accusing Kansas State of anything. I'm just telling you what the kid told me. If they don't want their name thrown in it, I think they should probably get a handle on their people. But there's a lot of that going on in college football, and that's just the way things are."

Fowler-Nicolosi had a strong outing as a redshirt freshman for Colorado State, scoring 22 touchdowns in the air while covering 3,640 yards passing.

According to Norvell's story, those numbers were good enough for a Kansas State supporter to offer a spot on the team after veteran Will Howard transferred to Ohio State.

And it illustrated a problem that he believes is endemic to college football across the board.

This article first appeared on CFB-HQ on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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