Clemson coach Dabo Swinney went after Ole Miss and its coaching staff late Friday afternoon. Ole Miss’s crime? Blatantly tampering with a Clemson player and getting them to move to Ole Miss for more money. What can or will be done about it is unclear at this point. So Swinney may have been howling at the wind. Does it matter, though, that Swinney was right?
Does It Matter If Dabo Swinney Was Right?
The Receipts
Swinney held an hour-long news conference on Friday. It included a 10+ minute calculated statement that included explicit details of conversations between Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding, transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli, and Ferrelli’s agent, Ryan Williams.
Ferrelli had transferred from Cal to Clemson. He had signed his revenue-sharing deal and enrolled in classes at the school. According to Swinney, that did not stop Ole Miss from trying to get Ferrelli to transfer again just as the portal window was closing late last week.
Swinney read from a purported text message from Golding to Ferrelli as the linebacker sat in an 8 am class at Clemson. “I know you’re signed but what’s the buyout?” Swinney said that was the text from Golding to Ferrelli. That was followed by a photo of a $1 million contract offer. Swinney said there were also phone calls from quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and former quarterback Jaxson Dart attempting to lure Ferrelli back into the portal.
The Bigger Picture
Swinney was joined by Clemson athletic director Graham Neff as they detailed more communications. It included what they said was an effort by Williams to get more money from Clemson in exchange for copies of all the correspondence.
Ferrelli eventually did go back into the portal and leave for Ole Miss. Swinney called the events a “straightforward case of tampering.” He went on to decry the system that allows for these actions without repercussions. But just as importantly, he called out his fellow coaches for complaining about tampering in the past but not calling out the perpetrators of the events.
A Story as Old as Time
Reaching out to players to induce them to move to another school has been happening for decades. But now there are millions of dollars attached to the practice. And while coaches decry the events, most, prior to Swinney’s press conference, have refused to name names.
A Power Four conference coach told Last Word that many of the conversations were happening during post-game handshakes on the field. He said that players were directed by their coach who to approach with “chatter” of moving to the other school.
Others did it at times when it was easier to get away with it. In 2022, Notre Dame sent representatives down to Tampa to negotiate with Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman as the Demon Deacons prepared to face Missouri in the Gasparilla Bowl. Hartman had already said he would not be returning to Wake for his final year of eligibility. Most assumed that meant going to the NFL. While Demon Deacon players were having team bonding sessions, Notre Dame was entertaining its quarterback for the next year. The timing made it a certainty that there was nothing Wake could or would do about it.
The New World
The moves by schools to poach players from other teams are now more brazen, with so much money on the line. Duke is suing its quarterback, Darian Mensah, for agreeing to go to another school (undisclosed but believed to be Miami) while still under a two-year agreement in Durham.
Washington threatened lawsuits against LSU and its quarterback, Demond Williams, Jr., for the same thing. Williams relented and agreed to return to Washington.
Wake Forest offensive lineman Melvin Siani entered the portal just days after signing a new contract with the school. A mere four hours after entering the portal, he had signed with Texas. The timing clearly indicated that there had been an offer before he went into the portal. No legal action is expected in that case.
Swinney was blunt when addressing his coaching colleagues on Friday. “Be an example to young coaches in this profession and be people of integrity, or shut your mouth and don’t complain.”
What Punishment?
Coaches have also told us they do not name names because they do not believe there is anyone to dole out consequences. Jon Duncan, the NCAA’s Vice President of Enforcement, issued a statement Friday related to the Clemson/Ole Miss issue. “The NCAA will investigate any credible allegations of tampering and expect full cooperation from all involved as is required by NCAA rules. We will not comment further on any ongoing investigation.”
NCAA Bylaw 13.1.1.3 prohibits unauthorized communication with student-athletes enrolled at other institutions, but no one can remember the last time the NCAA penalized a school for tampering.
Conferences are only going to be heard from if the offending school is not one of theirs. Does anyone expect the ACC to potentially take action against Miami if it is the guilty party in the Mensah case? Two of their own schools are involved, with one of them having just played for the national championship? Not likely we will hear from the conference offices.
Do As We Say, Not As We Do
More than two dozen states included tampering rules in the NIL legislation they passed in the last five years. Most of the legislation was intended to flex state muscles over the NCAA. Certainly, it was never intended to punish schools if the offenders were in their own state.
Mississippi Senate Bill 2313 was passed in July 2021. It prohibits tampering or improper inducement, including with the use of money, to get a student athlete to go to another school. But if you were to ask those who voted for the bill, they would likely tell you it was designed to protect players in Mississippi from being poached by other schools. They were not thinking of punishing Mississippi schools for doing the tampering. The legislation applies to schools not named Ole Miss.
And of course, if the schools are not going to abide by the system, it’s going to be hard to expect 20-year-old men to honor their contracts.
Swinney was right. And he has the receipts to prove it. So what’s next? Is there even a next?
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