D-II head coach publicly accuses Coach Prime staffer of roster tampering, but all is not as it seems

Allegations of roster tampering have been around far longer than the transfer portal, but it was the introduction of the portal that have really accelerated allegations among coaches and programs. 

By and large, coaches have been vague in their public accusations, careful to not name particular coaches or particular programs on the record, but off the record there are plenty of stories of clandestine coaches reaching out to high school coaches, 7-on-7 coaches, or parents and friends to share that if the player were to hit the portal, they'd get a scholarship offer from School X - hypothetically speaking of course.

It goes without saying that Group of Five, and Division II and III coaches åre the most on guard, as they're the ones having protect their talented players on their rosters from poachers who can swoop in with the promise of NIL opportunities and the opportunity to play at a higher level.

It was only a matter of time before a coach got fed up with the whole charade and called out a fellow coach or program publicly.

That seemed to happen last night, as CSU-Pueblo (D-II) head coach Philip Vigil tagged Coach Prime, Colorado Football, and the NCAA and Big 12 Conference in a post to X about a Buffs staffer contacting a player on his roster.

However, as our title implies, things are not as they seem.

First, take a look at the messages that were screenshot that coach Vigil shared.

Few quick observations:

• Green chat bubbles should have been a first sign that something was off. Blue chat bubbles are the signifier of a fellow iPhone user, and something tells me Colorado isn't outfitting their player personnel department with Android devices. Something seems off
• Trying really hard to not be "that guy" but "highschool" is, and always has been two words.
• In nearly every story Ive heard shared where specifics are used to talk about roster tampering, it's always a phone conversation that takes place. Never text or DMs. Much harder to trace and prove that way. 

With that out of the way, let's get to the twist in the story.

Prime's assistant director of player personnel Devin Rispress responded within 15 minutes of Vigil's public accusation with some news of his own.

Someone was "catfishing" the CSU-Pueblo commit in question, posing to be Rispress.

We share this for the same reason "Catfish" was a hit MTV show for quite some time - as a cautionary tale to be extra sure who you're talking to online is who they say they are. Plenty of people pretending to be part of college football programs out there causing issues because they find some sort of twisted fun.

Things online aren't always as they seem.