Shane Beamer says tampering penalties ‘should be severe,’ weighs in on Clemson-Ole Miss dispute
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The Palmetto Bowl is one of the most bitter rivalries in college football, but Shane Beamer is taking Dabo Swinney’s side on one of the sport’s most pressing issues. Beamer was asked for his thoughts on tampering during a Wednesday media session, and he had plenty to say on the matter.
Swinney lobbed tampering accusations at Ole Miss and Pete Golding after Cal transfer Luke Ferrelli initially signed with the Tigers but ultimately joined the Rebels. The Clemson coach alleged that Ferrelli was contacted by Ole Miss about his buyout after having signed with Clemson. Beamer supports his in-state rival calling out the alleged tampering.
“What Dabo did? Yes, absolutely, being able to call it out, and I’m sure he, like other schools, turns stuff in when there’s issues and if there’s issues with something,” Beamer said in support. “… I think a lot of those conversations happen head coach to head coach. Then, if there’s things that need to be turned into the NCAA or the SEC, we have, but certainly to be able to call someone out publicly like that was the next step, and we’ll see what happens.”
Beamer said that penalties for tampering need to be severe, noting that otherwise it raises questions of why have any rules on the matter. The South Carolina coach acknowledged that sometimes coaches enter a gray area when dealing with transfer players.
“What the penalty should be, that’s for other people to figure out, but I believe it should be severe,” Beamer said Wednesday. “I mean, if we have rules and we’re not going to enforce them, then what the hell do we have rules for? That’s kind of how I see it. And trust me … Am I sitting here, you know, from what is it, the expression in a glass house or whatever? I’m sure there’s a grey area that we’ve been in at some point and ticked off some school. We try and do things the right way.
“There’s a lot happening right now, just every kid in the portal, every kid in America, has an agent, and those agents are reaching out to schools. That’s happening. I mean, that’s happening during the season, and it’s not just this year. It’s been happening for multiple years where agents of players at other schools are reaching out to colleges about the players they represent.”
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.
