Clemson coach Dabo Swinney set the college football world alight with his claims that Ole Miss Rebels coach Pete Golding was engaged in tampering. Former California Golden Bears linebacker Luke Ferrelli committed to the Tigers on Jan. 7, then entered the transfer portal again on Jan. 16 and flipped his commitment to Ole Miss.
Dabo Swinney Gets Urban Meyer Backing After Tampering Fiasco
On Tuesday, the NCAA announced it had opened an investigation into the saga that has sparked widespread discourse about the open transfer portal in the NIL era.
During Wednesday’s segment of the “Triple Option” podcast, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer backed Swinney’s decision to publicly out Golding and the Rebels for tampering.
“There are no rules, the NCAA is gone, it’s over,” Meyer said. “I can just hear it, there’s gonna be a two-year investigation on something that should just be fixed right now. I heard there were 90 infractions of tampering last year, but law and order without consequences is not law and order, it’s chaos.
“This disgusts me, it makes me sick, because I hear people say, everybody does it. No, everybody doesn’t do it. If this is all true and it sounds to me like Dabo has the goods right there, this should not be a three-year investigation. I actually see people taking shots at Dabo. Dabo is doing the right thing, turn them in.”
Ferrelli is the reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year after tallying 91 tackles, one sack, one pass breakup, and one interception for the Golden Bears, earning a 72.3 PFSN College Linebacker Impact score, and was a huge get for Swinney’s Tigers before the Rebels swooped in.
Swinney’s Receipts Could Spell Trouble for Ole Miss
During Tuesday’s segment of the “Always College Football” podcast, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy revealed his belief that, due to Swinney’s certainty about the tampering allegations, the NCAA would be forced to act on the information this time.
“Normally, I’d say the NCAA will issue a sternly worded letter in 4.5 years after they do their investigation, and it’s done. Nobody cares,” McElroy said. “This feels a little bit different. Now the NCAA has responded already, that almost never happens.”
“If you’re texting an enrolled student, someone who is technically a Clemson Tiger sitting in a Clemson classroom, that takes poaching to a whole new level. If he’s got receipts to claim that this went down, and he’s going to hand the NCAA the easiest layup they’ve ever had. If nothing happens here… then the party’s over. There are no rules at this point.”
In a controversial transfer portal window that has ebbed and flowed all month, the Swinney versus Golding fiasco threatens to spill over into chaos as college football wrestles with its new reality.
