North Carolina Central football coach Trei Oliver is a big-time Virginia Cavaliers football team fan.
That’s after he accused Virginia Tech of tampering with one of his players before the Eagles’ home game against Howard.
At the Bill Dooley Pigskin Preview in Raleigh, Oliver said, “Virginia Tech was actually on my sideline recruiting our running back.” He explained that before the Nov. 15 game in Durham, he noticed a staff member on the NC Central sideline.
When he confronted others about it, Oliver was told the staff member was supposedly there to see George “Bulldog” Smith, an assistant AD.
Refusing that explanation, Oliver remarked, “First of all, Bulldog’s not that nice of a dude anyway.” Smith had been honored at the event earlier.
“That was pretty bold. I couldn’t believe it,” Oliver said. A couple of coaches tried to calm me down and say, ‘Yeah, Coach, he’s just down here visiting.’ But I knew what it was. I had to focus back on the game, and we won the football game. Two weeks later, my kid got in the (transfer) portal. Then they were the first people trying to get in his ear. But like I said, thank God he went to UVa., and UVa. is going to beat the smoke out of them other folks.”
North Carolina Central coach Trei Oliver says a Power 4 school went to great lengths to poach one of his players. pic.twitter.com/bwGqRGqLpC
— HBCU Sports (@HBCUSports) July 25, 2025
Oliver did not identify the player or name the Virginia Tech staff member involved. However, he stated the player eventually transferred to Virginia and not Virginia Tech, and Oliver claimed that the player received $400,000 as part of his transfer.
Context suggests the player is likely former NC Central running back J’Mari Taylor, who is now with Virginia.
Oliver shared his story in response to a prompt asking coaches to describe a “you got to be kidding me” moment in their careers. He addressed an audience alongside coaches from NC State, Duke, UNC, and ECU.
