North Dakota football is in trouble with the NCAA. An investigation found tampering violations tied to assistant coach Travis Stepps.

It became known that Stepps had been in contact with a player at another school who had not entered the NCAA transfer portal yet. As a result, the North Dakota football program was fined $25,000 and given one year of probation.

Additionally, the NCAA mandated that North Dakota would see a 3% reduction in official paid visits, along with a week-long ban on recruitment communications during the transfer portal window next year.

Stepps had communicated with the athlete throughout the fall before the transfer window opened. He knew the contact was prohibited but continued regardless.

The case came to light through North Dakota's own compliance office. Stepps forwarded the player's transcript internally, staff spotted the issue, and the school self-reported to the NCAA immediately.

As the head coach, Eric Schmidt was also held accountable under NCAA Division I Bylaws. But the investigation revealed that he had no personal knowledge of the conversations and had built a culture of compliance. He faces zero individual penalties.

Stepps, however, will face the real consequences of his actions, which include a one-year show-cause order and a one-game suspension in 2026.

Additionally, any school employing him must restrict his contact with four-year transfer prospects during the January 2027 window.

The University of North Dakota, the coaches, and the NCAA enforcement staff have all agreed on the penalties imposed as part of the negotiated resolution.

Why This Case Reflects a Bigger Problem Across College Football

North Dakota is not the only program the NCAA has gone after for prohibited contact. Iowa's football program was handed nearly identical tampering penalties in April, with Kirk Ferentz and an assistant both suspended for one game.

The NCAA oversight committee pushed for emergency legislation in February. They wanted much stiffer consequences for portal violations. This latest tampering attempt has proved that the issue had clearly gotten out of hand.

ESPN asked coaches and general managers across the sport about it. The answer was blunt."Nobody's clean, except maybe Dabo," a group of five GMs said during an ESPN survey held earlier this year.

The NCAA classified this as a Level II mitigated case, noting that North Dakota's prompt cooperation helped bring the penalties down.

Their decision to self-report mattered. Most programs would not do that. The light penalties here tell you exactly how much that decision mattered.

Do you think the NCAA's tampering penalties are strict enough to stop coaches from breaking portal rules? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at the Michigan Football Community.

Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit