Dabo Swinney calls out Pete Golding, Ole Miss for tampering with Luke Ferrelli
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Dabo Swinney held court with reporters on Friday as the offseason hit, but this was no innocent press conference. It was anything but that.
The Clemson head coach was fired up, talking to reporters for some 19 minutes about Luke Ferrelli’s controversial transfer flip from Clemson to Ole Miss. During Swinney’s long rant, he accused Ole Miss, new Rebels head coach Pete Golding and program general manager Austin Thomas of “blatant tampering” with Ferrelli.
Swinney also claimed to reporters that Golding offered Ferrelli a $1 million contract while he was in class at Clemson.
“Like having an affair on your honeymoon,” Dabo Swinney said of the messy situation.
The Ferrelli saga started when the former California star linebacker committed to Clemson and Swinney on Jan. 6. Ferrelli had entered the transfer portal on Jan. 2, so in a matter of days Ferrelli had decided to head cross-country and stay in the ACC.
Swinney revealed that Clemson was only going to add 1 linebacker through this transfer portal cycle, and Ferrelli was the Tigers’ target. Everything seemed to be going accordingly as Ferrelli settled in at Clemson, until Ferrelli re-entered the transfer portal on Thursday and then committed to Ole Miss.
The whole complex timeline of Ferrelli’s move from Cal to Clemson and then to Ole Miss was shared by Swinney during his press conference, when he also revealed conversations that took place between Ferrelli and Ole Miss. Swinney shared that Golding texted Ferrelli: “I know you’re signed, but what is your buyout?”
In addition to Swinney’s accusations of tampering against Golding and Ole Miss during his press conference on Friday, Clemson has also reached out to the NCAA regarding those tampering accusations, according to Swinney.
Ferrelli recorded a whopping 91 tackles, 38 of them solo, with 1 sack and 1 interception during the 2025 season with the Golden Bears.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
