Pete Golding comments on controversial recruitment of transfer LB Luke Ferrelli
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding didn’t get into details of the headline-grabbing accusations of tampering, but it’s clear the Rebels are happy to have Luke Ferrelli and they don’t appear to be worried about any NCAA fallout.
Golding spoke on the addition of Ferrelli during a Tuesday media opportunity. The Cal transfer linebacker signed with Clemson out of the portal but ultimately ended up at Ole Miss. Tigers coach Dabo Swinney blasted Golding and the Rebels in a press conference.
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“Obviously, there’s two sides to every story, right?” Golding said, per CBS Sports. “So I’m not going to sit up here and use the podium as a grandstand and all of that. That’s why there is enforcement. That’s why we have our compliance office. They do all that.”
The Ole Miss coach also emphasized that the Rebels had engaged Ferrelli as a transfer recruit earlier in the process.
“The bottom line with the recruitment of Luke, he came here on an official visit prior to the Fiesta Bowl,” Golding said.
As for why Golding’s staff went to so much trouble to add Ferrelli, Golding pointed out the need to fill an important spot on the Rebel defense.
“I told him, ‘I want you to be our green-dot mike, but right now we’ve got a green-dot Mike (linebacker),'” Golding said. “And that spot’s not going to be available until we have one available.”
The “green dot” signifies the one player who can use helmet communication with the coaches. For Ole Miss, that spot opened up with the departure of TJ Dottery for LSU.
Golding notably did not comment on the timeline of communication with Ferrelli. Swinney alleged that Ole Miss continued to recruit Ferrelli after he had enrolled at Clemson.
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Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
