Clemson’s Dabo Swinney accuses Ole Miss of ‘blatant tampering’ with transfer Luke Ferrelli
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney publicly accused Ole Miss coach Pete Golding of tampering with a transfer the Tigers signed during the winter transfer portal window during a news conference on Friday.
Cal transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who entered the portal shortly after it opened early this month, signed with Clemson on Jan. 7. Swinney said Ferrelli signed with Clemson, moved to town on Jan. 11, rented an apartment, bought a car, began taking classes and attended team and position meetings before being pursued by Ole Miss. Ferrelli eventually re-entered the portal on Thursday and signed with the Rebels.
Minutes after introducing Chad Morris as Clemson’s new offensive coordinator, Swinney — with athletic director Graham Neff at his side — discussed his other transfer signees, then spent roughly an hour dictating a detailed account of Ferrelli’s movement to Clemson, Ole Miss’ alleged pursuit of him and how he wound up with the Rebels. The account was complete with specific dates and times of calls and text messages.
“There’s tampering, and there’s blatant tampering,” an impassioned 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 when the kid’s not in the portal. Tampering 301 is when you’ve got a kid who’s gone in the portal, signed somewhere, moved there, gone to classes and you’re texting them while they’re in class.
“That’s like a whole other level of tampering.”
An Ole Miss spokesman didn’t have a comment when reached Friday afternoon by The Athletic.
Swinney’s rant was rare in that he openly accused another coach, publicly and by name, of tampering with his players. Tampering is a long-cited issue by college football coaches since transfer restrictions were loosened and players were able to be compensated for their name, image and likeness in 2021. By NCAA rule, schools are not allowed to contact players who are not in the transfer portal, but coaches acknowledge that it’s a widespread problem.
Coaches and athletic directors have often complained about it, but enforcement by the NCAA has been scant, and many are reluctant to publicly point the finger at their counterparts.
Swinney showed no such reservation on Friday.
“This is just a really sad state of affairs,” Swinney said. “To me, we have a broken system. And if there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules and we have no governance. It’s really just that simple.”
Swinney laid out a detailed timeline of how Ferrelli’s movement played out from the coach’s perspective.
• Jan. 4 — Clemson general manager Jordan Sorrells has an initial conversation with Ferrelli’s agent, Ryan Williams of Athletes First.
• Jan. 5 — Ferrelli and his father arrive at Clemson around 8:30 p.m. and visit Swinney at his home shortly after 9 p.m. so they can get to know each other. Swinney asks Ferrelli’s father how their recent visit to Ole Miss went, and Ferrelli’s father allegedly tells Swinney the visit was “not good” and “a mess,” as well as “unorganized” and “chaos.” Swinney says he’s looking forward to their Clemson visit the next morning.
• Jan. 6 — Ferrelli, his father and Williams take the on-campus visit. Ferrelli verbally accepts terms on an NIL contract and commits to Clemson. “We got our linebacker,” Swinney said. Clemson cancels all other linebacker visits. At 3:30 p.m., the Ferrellis head back to their home in California.
• Jan. 7 — Ferrelli signs a financial aid agreement with Clemson at 11 a.m., making his signing with the school official.
• Jan. 11 — Ferrelli moves to Clemson, rents an apartment, buys a car, begins attending classes, training with the team and participating in team and positional meetings.
• Jan. 14 — In a phone conversation at 9:49 p.m., Williams calls Sorrells and tells him that Ole Miss has been “coming hard” after Ferrelli. Williams assures Sorrells that Ferrelli has no interest in leaving Clemson.
• Jan. 15 late morning — Sorrells speaks with Swinney about the conversation with Williams. Swinney instructs Sorrells to speak with Ole Miss general manager Austin Thomas — whom Sorrells knows — to let him know that Clemson is aware of what’s going on and would turn the Rebels in if they don’t cease communication with Ferrelli. Swinney, who acknowledges Golding has only been a head coach for a month, wants to give Ole Miss some “grace” and believes this conversation will put an end to the issue.
• Jan. 15 early afternoon — Sorrells and Thomas speak on the phone, and Thomas asserts that he told Williams that he wanted “no part of this” and “that his relationship with Sorrells was more important to him” than acquiring Ferrelli. But, Thomas said — according to Swinney’s account — “Pete Golding just does what he does.” At 1:30 p.m., Sorrells speaks with Ferrelli, in his office, and Ferrelli claims that Golding texted him on the morning of Jan. 14 while sitting in his 8 a.m. class at Clemson. Ferrelli says the text from Golding read, “I know you’re signed, what’s the buyout?” Ferrelli also says Golding allegedly texted him “a picture of a $1 million contract.” Ferrelli adds that Golding had former Ole Miss star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss call Ferrelli to help convince him to enter the transfer portal. Ferrelli mentions former Rebels QB Jaxson Dart called as well. But Ferrelli continues to assure Sorrells that “he had no intention of leaving.” Sorrells communicated as much to Swinney.
• Jan. 16 morning — Clemson has a staff meeting on the final day the portal is open. At 11:20 a.m., Ferrelli calls linebackers coach Ben Boulware to inform him that Ole Miss had reached out again and doubled their original offer to him. Ferrelli maintains to Boulware that “we’re good.” Boulware instructs Ferrelli to go to Clemson’s football offices to meet with Sorrells and Swinney. At 11:22 a.m., Boulware texts Sorrells to inform him that Ferrelli’s offer from Ole Miss was raised to two years for $2 million.
• Jan. 16 lunchtime — Sorrells speaks to Williams again at 11:57 a.m. Williams confirms, per Swinney, that Golding “had continued to communicate with Luke and had raised the offer once again.” Sorrells had asked Ferrelli to provide Clemson with the text messages from Golding, but Williams was hesitant to burn bridges with Ole Miss, as, according to Swinney, “you never know what will happen down the road.” Williams, however, allegedly tells Clemson that if the Tigers were to “add a second year at $1 million to the already agreed-upon NIL deal” he signed with Clemson, then Williams and Ferrelli’s camp would “gladly give (Clemson) whatever we need in order to turn Ole Miss in.” Sorrells declined this offer.
• Jan. 16: 12:30 p.m. — Sorrells meets Ferrelli in the parking lot of Clemson’s football facility, where Ferrelli says he was on his way to again reiterate to Sorrells and Swinney that he wasn’t leaving Clemson. Sorrells fills in Swinney, who is not in the building at the time. Swinney calls Ferrelli, but doesn’t get an answer.
• Jan 16: 4:14 p.m. — Sorrells comes to see Swinney in his office. He informs Swinney and defensive coordinator Tom Allen that he had received a call from Clemson compliance, “telling him that Luke is in our compliance office trying to request to re-enter the transfer portal.” A call from Sorrells to Ferelli goes unanswered. Five minutes later, Sorrells calls Williams again to inform him of Ferrelli’s request to enter the portal. Williams texts back and says he is flying and therefore can’t talk on the phone, so Sorrells fills him in via text message. Per Swinney, Williams responds, “Oh (expletive). Let me try and find out.”
• Jan. 16, 4:15 p.m. — Swinney calls Clemson athletic director Graham Neff and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who will also reach out to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.
• Jan. 16: 4:40 p.m. — Sorrells and Allen go to Ferrelli’s apartment. Luke is in the driveway, and, according to Swinney, tells them, “I’m going to Ole Miss.” Sorrells and Allen talk to him, and the conversation ends with Ferrelli saying, “I need to clear my head,” per Swinney.
• Jan. 16: 5:39 p.m. — Sorrells speaks with Thomas again and tells him that Clemson would “pursue all options to hold them accountable for tampering.” Less than two hours later, at 7:20 p.m., after a phone call with Allen and Boulware to inform them of his decision to enter the portal, he calls Swinney to tell him the same. The portal closes at the end of the night on Jan. 16, though schools are allowed two business days to process transfers once they’ve given notification of their intention to transfer. Clemson makes initial contact with the NCAA.
• Friday — Sitting next to Neff, Swinney confirms that Clemson turned Golding and Ole Miss into the NCAA: “This shouldn’t be a three-year or a three-month investigation. This might take three days,” Swinney says. “They’re either gonna tell the truth or they’re gonna lie. … All you’ve gotta do is get the phone.”
After laying out the timeline, Swinney stressed that his rant was not solely about Ferrelli, but about the larger issue with tampering in the sport. “It’s about the next kid and about the message that’s being sent if this blatant tampering is allowed to happen without consequences.”
He later added, “I stay in my lane most of the time, but I am not gonna let someone just flat out tamper with my program. If you tamper with my players, I’m going to turn you in.”
Afterward, he spent time reading from prepared remarks about the messy state of college athletics and proposing solutions.
“When is enough enough?” Swinney said. “If we have rules, and tampering is a rule, then there should be consequences for that. And shame on the adults. If we’re not going to hold each other accountable for something as big as this, then we’ve got bigger issues. … Maybe this is a tipping point.”
Swinney’s accusations are the latest in a string of high-profile transfer incidents that have reverberated across the sport. Earlier this month, Washington quarterback Demond Williams announced he intended to enter the transfer portal only days after he signed a contract to remain with the Huskies in 2026. Williams ultimately reneged and announced that he will stay with Washington this season.
Recently, Duke sued its 2025 starting quarterback, Darian Mensah, after he notified the school of his intention to transfer. Mensah has one-year left on a two-year NIL contract and officially entered the portal this week after a judge ruled that the school cannot bar him from doing so. However, a temporary restraining order is currently preventing Mensah from enrolling elsewhere, with a hearing on the matter scheduled for next week.
— Antonio Morales contributed to this report
