​Cincinnati football coach Scott Satterfield said Texas Tech was among the schools that contacted former Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby about a potential transfer before the end of the 2025 season, a move that would violate NCAA tampering rules. Speaking at Big 12 Football Media Days in Frisco, Texas, Satterfield spoke to The Athletic about what he described as the Red Raiders’ alleged outreach to Sorsby. “We had already heard that schools had reached out — Texas Tech in particular had already reached out — with four games left,” Satterfield told The Athletic. “So we knew we wouldn’t be able to compete financially with that, so we’d started looking for quarterbacks.”
The Athletic reported that Sorsby’s agent, Ron Slavin, denied that his client heard from other teams during the season. Requests for comment from Texas Tech and Cincinnati had not yet been returned by USA TODAY Sports. In the current era of name, image and likeness, tampering with players who are not in the transfer portal has become more commonplace, though it remains against NCAA rules. While violations are not widespread, they have occurred on occasion, drawing scrutiny from programs, agents and players alike.
Satterfield faced a steady line of questions about his former quarterback. Sorsby, who became a major offseason storyline after admitting to placing thousands of sports bets and being banned from college athletics, was among the most sought-after transfer portal targets this offseason. Sorsby will not play for Texas Tech this season and has since left the program. He is now preparing for the 2027 NFL Draft after the NFL declined to hold a supplemental draft. Initially, a local judge in Lubbock County granted him a temporary injunction to play for the Red Raiders in 2026, but Texas Tech and Sorsby ultimately parted ways.
Satterfield was asked at the podium on July 8 about Cincinnati receiving a letter of inquiry from the NCAA regarding Sorsby’s gambling, though he declined to comment. He has maintained that Cincinnati was unaware of any gambling by Sorsby, though Slavin has publicly claimed that Cincinnati knew about it for years. “They didn’t do anything wrong here,” Slavin said of Texas Tech. “If anybody should be questioned or face scrutiny, it should be Cincinnati because they knew for two years and never said anything and didn’t do anything about it. So that’s the part of the story that gets lost.”
Satterfield stressed that Cincinnati did not know about any illegal sports bets by Sorsby while he was with the Bearcats. “Absolutely we didn’t know,” Satterfield said, via The Athletic. “If we knew he was doing anything illegal, we would not have played him.”
Sorsby accrued 2,800 passing yards and 27 touchdowns during his time at Cincinnati, before circumstances and off-field issues led to his departure and a complicated path through the transfer landscape. The evolving nature of transfer rules, tampering concerns, and gambling inquiries continues to shape how teams, players, and agents maneuver within college football’s shifting regulatory environment.