Dabo Swinney immediately hit the headlines with his viral rant about the chaotic nature of the transfer portal, which has become increasingly unpredictable- almost like the Wild West. With NIL deals now in play, some player transfers raise questions about loyalty.
The NCAA bans tampering, but enforcing this rule is difficult, and coaches and agents even communicate with players before they officially enter the portal.
Fran Brown Makes Tampering Claims After Dabo Swinney’s Rant
Duke filed a lawsuit against quarterback Darian Mensah last week after he announced his intention to leave Durham. Mensah had signed a two-year deal with the Blue Devils in December 2024 but now aims to transfer to Miami. For the time being, he remains in the transfer portal as Duke continues to battle over the contract dispute.
Speaking on ‘Cuse Sports Talk, Syracuse head coach Fran Brown discussed how he had a similar situation with a defensive lineman compared to what Duke and Mensah are dealing with.
“That almost happened to us,” Brown said. “Somebody tried to come get my D-tackle. I just hit the coach up, told him, ‘Hey, listen, I already know what’s going on. We’re not doing that. He’s staying here to play for me.’ Me and the kid’s parent got into an
argument. But at the end of the day, the parent understood and knew that I cared and loved his son. So he’s like, yeah, ‘you right. He’s going to stay there with you.'”
‘Tore the paper up. He left the office. I was happy I left the office the same way. So I could start worrying about that portal… But what happened with Mensah is, I mean, it’s the game, right? It’s the nature of the business. It’s not illegal. So, I mean, you just got to keep, you know, make sure you’re close to your players, right? Sometimes you may feel that’s enough money.”
Brown’s comments came just a few days after Swinney’s Clemson saw the departure of transfer-portal linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who ranked 163rd on PFSN’s College Football LBi with a 72.3 score. Ferrelli had already enrolled at Clemson and started team activities before transferring.
Swinney detailed a timeline at a press conference on Friday, alleging that Ole Miss coach Pete Golding directly contacted Ferrelli and discussed NIL deals while he was still at Clemson.
“There’s tampering, and then there’s blatant tampering,” Swinney said. “Tampering 101 is when you’re talking to kids who aren’t in the portal. Tampering 201 is when you’ve already negotiated the deal with the kids not in the portal. Tampering 301 is when you got a kid who’s going in the portal, signed somewhere, moved there, going to classes and you’re texting them while they’re in class. That’s like a whole other level of tampering.”
“I am not going to let someone flat out tamper with my program. If you tamper with my players, I’m going to turn you in,” he added.
The tampering claims around Ferrelli’s transfer have prompted an official NCAA inquiry, as Vice President of Enforcement Jon Duncan confirmed the investigation but declined further comment. If the evidence Swinney presented is verified, Ole Miss could face significant NCAA scrutiny.
