In the age of NIL and the transfer portal, tampering seems to happen daily in college football without ever having real consequences. Other schools constantly contact players before even entering their names in the transfer portal, leaving their old programs out high and dry as they leave to pursue more money.
This recently happened to Illinois head coach Bret Bielema, who hinted at a top SEC program tampering with the Fighting Illini’s leading rusher from 2024.
Bret Bielema Hints At Georgia Tampering With Josh McCray’s Transfer
Josh McCray was Illinois’ most productive running back in 2024, leading the team with 609 yards and ten touchdowns.
At the end of the season, McCray decided to enter the transfer portal and committed to the Georgia Bulldogs within two days.
Illinois head coach Bret Bielema was on the “Triple Option” podcast and explained that something about McCray’s exit from the program did not add up.
“We did lose a guy to Georgia,” Bielam said. “Somehow, he found his way to the portal, and 12 hours after being in the portal, he was on a flight to Georgia. I don’t know how that happened, but it’s crazy.”
While Bielma was clearly not happy with how things went down, and seems to insinuate that there was some foul play from the Bulldogs, he went on to clear up that he holds no resentment towards his former running back.
“Wish Josh all the best,” Bielema said. “He took advantage of that opportunity.”
It’s not provable whether Georgia actually tampered with McCray, but for the young running back to be on a flight to Athens within 12 hours of being in the portal is suspicious, to say the least.
The good news for Bielema is that he believes that under the new revenue-sharing model ruled on in the House v. NCAA settlement, Illinois will be on an even playing field regarding recruiting.
“I know right now we are beating schools that I have never beaten before,” Bielema said. “We can go head to head with any SEC or Big Ten school.”
Under these new guidelines, programs will all be capped on how much they can give players. As Bielema pointed out, this allows him to compete with the best programs in the country and should limit the number of McCray situations he sees in the future.
If Bielema is anything, it’s adaptable. He has been a head coach in college football for 16 years, first starting his career with Wisconsin in 2006. He’s seen it all and has done a good job getting Illinois’ NIL funding to where it needs to be.
Time will tell if Bielema faces more portal adversity, but the coach seems confident that the Fighting Illini are set up for the future.
