Jimbo Fisher knows all too well what it’s like dealing with agents luring his top players away from the college game and unto the pros, and he’s apparently not a fan of the process. Agents have been known to do sneaky and underhanded things to get players to sign with them, and sometimes they don’t always adhere to the rules set by the NCAA. Fisher is now speaking out against the agents that are ignoring the NCAA bylaws, and his sentiment is that they deserve to be put in jail.
“Here’s the problem; the agent isn’t the problem. It’s the runners,” Fisher explained. “You want me to tell you what? You get caught, you go to jail. You’re never going to stop a problem until there’s a punishment. It’s like your kid — if they keep doing something and you say ‘don’t do that,’ okay so you turn your back and what does the kid do? Does it again.”
“You’ve got to punish these guys when you catch them. It needs to be like the RICO act; who they’re tied, represented to — it should go all the way back.”
States like North Carolina already have laws in place prohibiting unethical practices by agents, but Jimbo is certainly making it known that he’s in favor for a nationwide implementation of such laws. However, Jimbo makes no mention of what should happen to the players who work with agents who break the rules or players who flat out break laws. Fisher’s star quarterback, Jameis Winston, was infamous for stealing crab legs from a Tallahassee grocery store but suffered a simple suspension from baseball activities. It’s easy to point the finger at someone else when they’ve committed a “crime” that affects you, as is Fisher’s perception of rule-breaking agents.
[h/t CBS Sports]