Last season, the Duke Blue Devils won the ACC title with QB Darian Mensah, only to face an unanticipated situation. After announcing that he’d return for the 2026 season, the QB unexpectedly entered the portal on the last day of the window. Duke filed a lawsuit, but to no avail. In the end, the program reached a financial settlement with its former QB. He is in Miami now.

Duke head coach Manny Diaz appeared on a panel at the 2026 Pigskin Preview. Sitting beside him was UNC head coach Bill Belichick. When someone asked a question about tampering, the Blue Devils HC shared his ordeal. And he found support from Belichick, who shared his own ordeal.

“Similarly, exactly, we signed a player, and the following day, he signed the same contract at an SEC school,” Belichick said, as shared on the Tar Heel Tribune. “And the SEC school didn’t release him. I mean, you can take him to court; you can fight it and all that. By the time you win the case, the guy’s eligibility is up anyway, so there’s really no recourse to that.”

College football is rife with examples of rival teams poaching players, and that even led to legal disputes. Bill Belichick signed QB Ryan Browne from Purdue in 2025. He reportedly completed his spring camp practices, had his roster place sorted at UNC, and yet chose to ditch the program at the last minute. He re-entered the portal in the spring window and returned to Purdue.

In May 2025, UNC GM Michael Lombardi publicly addressed concerns about players ditching their already signed contracts for greater incentives at other programs. He especially highlighted several players, including former UNC LB Amare Campbell and Edge Beau Atkinson, for backing out of their NIL agreements. According to him, they could do that because of the “loosely written” language in the early contracts and the lack of legal repercussions.

“I think to Diaz’s point, a set of rules that you gotta find ways of enforcing,” Bill Belichick said. “But the conferences don’t necessarily support. They’re not going to turn against the team in their conference. I think Manny losing a player to a conference team at the 11th hour, I think our conference should find a way to keep that from happening. But that’s above my pay grade.”

Almost all major programs, including Clemson, Nebraska, and several others, have highlighted issues with tampering. Many analysts and legal scholars have argued for collective bargaining to counter antitrust lawsuits arising from those NIL disputes. Many leagues, including the NBA and NFL, already have anti-tampering rules in place. The teams also agree to a set of rules that they must follow.

Another proposed suggestion is federal legislation to amend the rules, requesting antitrust exemptions for the NCAA. The Senate Commerce Committee has already voted the College Sports Act out, but the full Senate still needs to vote on it. Lawmakers had earlier expected that vote to take place in the summer. However, reports have emerged that it will now only take place after Congress’s summer recess.