On Friday, we saw a truly unprecedented moment in college football as Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney and Athletic Director Graham Neff detailed exactly what led to Luke Ferrelli leaving Clemson for Ole Miss. Dabo Swinney laid out an entire timeline, naming HC Pete Golding, AD Austin Thomas, and Jaxson Dart among others for tampering with Luke Ferrelli.
Luke Ferrelli had signed with Clemson, and was even on campus attending classes when Ole Miss started to tamper with him. Ferrelli and his agent had kept Dabo Swinney and his staff in the loop before he ended up deciding to transfer to Ole Miss which gave Swinney all the ammo and information to go after Ole Miss.
8 minutes of Dabo Swinney flaming Ole Miss for tampering with Clemson’s Luke Ferrelli
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) January 23, 2026
“Pete Golding just does what he does."
Dabo shares an entire timeline of the events
Wow
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Paul Finebaum shows his SEC bias bashing Dabo Swinney
Most fans of college football have applauded Dabo Swinney as he called out everything that's wrong with this current model of the sport and the lack of rules. There are few people who have taken the opposite stance, but with an SEC school under attack, it was only a matter of time before their biggest fan jumped in the mix.
Paul Finebaum appeared on McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning where he decided to bash Dabo Swinney and not Pete Golding or Luke Ferrelli.
"Dabo use phrases that, while legitimate in sound, don’t really matter much anymore, like, ‘we’re going to turn you in.’ I mean, that used to be the golden phrase, ‘if you do that one more time.’ … And it really doesn’t matter what he says. He just, he still comes off the same way he comes off whiny and out of touch."Paul Finebaum
If Dabo Swinney comes off as complaining it's because he has every right to complain. Clemson recruited Ferrelli to the point where he enrolled at the school, and it only ended with him at Ole Miss because the Rebels tampered with a deal that was in place well after the fact.
There has to be rules that are enforced at some point in college football, and if it takes Dabo Swinney complaining than it'll end up being great for the sport. Dabo Swinney has been the most outspoken against this era, and he's the perfect figure to continue battling against this current model.