“I will look for you. I will find you. …”
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney didn’t quite go full-blown Liam Neeson from Taken … but it was pretty close!
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Swinney detailed how Ole Miss Rebels head coach Pete Golding contacted Tigers linebacker Luke Ferrelli while he was in an 8 a.m. class. Ferrelli had recently transferred to Clemson from California but later re-entered the portal and committed to Ole Miss.
Swinney claimed that Golding said “I know you’re signed, [but] what’s the buyout?” in a text message to Ferrelli and later sent a photo of a $1 million contract. Former Ole Miss quarterbacks Trinidad Chambliss and Jaxson Dart had phone calls with Ferrelli to persuade him to join the Rebels.
Want more? Swinney revealed that Ferrelli’s agent told Clemson general manager Jordan Sorrells that he was “hesitant” to hand over Golding’s text messages to the Tigers. However, Ferrelli’s agent also told Clemson that if they “were to add a second year at $1 million to the already agreed-upon deal with Luke, then they would gladly give us whatever we need in order to turn Ole Miss in.”
Dabo Swinney details alleged tampering between Ole Miss and LB Luke Ferrelli
Ferrelli later entered the transfer portal and eventually went to Ole Miss.
“There’s tampering, and then there’s blatant tampering. Tampering 1.01 is when you’re talking to kids who aren’t in the portal. Tampering 2.01 is when you’ve already negotiated the deal when the kid’s not in the portal. Tampering 3.01 is when you’ve got a kid who’s going in the portal, signed somewhere, moved there, is going to classes, and you’re texting them while they’re in class,” Swinney said about Ole Miss. “That’s like another level of tampering, and it’s total hypocrisy because all this is going on while they, on the other side, are trying to fight their defensive end from going in the portal.
“They have accused, publicly, others of tampering with their roster and their players while they are over here tampering. This is just a really sad state of affairs. To me, we have a broken system. If there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules and we have no governance. It’s really just that simple.”
Clemson administrators and coaches have been compiling evidence that relates to tampering regarding Ferrelli and are prepared to pursue allegations “to the fullest extent,” according to Yahoo Sports.
“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,” Swinney said. “There’s a lot more I can say, but I’m going to let the NCAA do its job.”
Dabo Swinney breaks down alleged tampering in College Football
So, who is Ferrelli? Last season, the redshirt freshman linebacker — who appeared in all 13 games for the Golden Bears — totaled 91 combined tackles, one sack, one interception and one pass defended.
As for Clemson, the Tigers are coming off a 7-6 season (4-4 in ACC play). Meanwhile, Ole Miss reached the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff and went a combined 13-2 despite head coach Lane Kiffin leaving Oxford to become the new head coach of the LSU Tigers after the 2025 regular season; Golding was promoted to full-time head coach after Kiffin’s departure.
Swinney’s way of summarizing the situation? “[It’s] like having an affair on your honeymoon.”
What a sport.
