During a news conference last week, Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney went scorched earth on Ole Miss Rebels coach Pete Golding for tampering with one of his players. According to Swinney, Golding repeatedly contacted linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who had committed to the Tigers just three weeks ago, to convince him to defect to Oxford.
Ferrelli joined Swinney’s Tigers from the California Golden Bears via the transfer portal on Jan. 7 and departed Death Valley for Oxford two weeks later.
Alex Golesh Sides With Clemson’s Dabo Swinney on Tampering Saga
The NCAA revealed on Tuesday that an investigation had already been opened after Swinney’s public outing of the Rebels. New Auburn coach Alex Golesh waded into the matter of Golding possibly tampering with Ferrelli while speaking to reporters.
“Is it right to call a kid that’s on somebody else’s roster to go get him? It’s not. I think, in a lot of ways, what goes around comes around… I’m a strong believer in the football gods will find you at some point.” – Auburn HC Alex Golesh on tampering in college football pic.twitter.com/s82kVi5f9D
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) January 29, 2026
“It’s been going on for a really long time. This portal era amplified it in every imaginable way,” Golesh said. “Is it right to call a kid that’s on somebody else’s roster to go get him? It’s not. I think, in a lot of ways, what goes around comes around. I’m a strong believer in the football gods will find you at some point.”
Ferrelli was one of the most coveted players in the portal after an impressive freshman season during which he won the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned a 72.3 PFSN’s CFB LB Impact score.
Clemson vs. Ole Miss Tampering Claims Divides CFB World
During Monday’s segment of the “McElroy & Cubelic in The Morning” show, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum blasted Swinney for outing Golding while claiming that the Clemson coach was outdated in how he operates in the transfer portal, accounting for the Tigers’ fall from grace.
“What it really does is it emboldens Ole Miss people,” Finebaum said. “Feeling, ‘OK, our guy is working hard. Our guy is trying to do whatever it takes, whether it’s, in theory, legal or not.’ And that’s kind of where we are in college athletics, as you guys know.
“And then there’s Dabo Swinney, who just does the wrong thing at the wrong time, looking more distant, more out of touch, more antiquated, more antediluvian than he has ever been. And for a guy that just finished an absolutely miserable season, it doesn’t help him because he is years removed from a legitimate national championship contender.”
Swinney has been notoriously transfer portal shy in the NIL and portal era, but has been more aggressive in his transfers this offseason after the Tigers finished a disappointing season at 7-6 despite being in the preseason Top 25 AP Poll.
