Steve Spurrier takes jab at Clemson over tampering complaint: ‘Dabo, there ain’t no rules anymore’
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Steve Spurrier understands that the landscape of college football has changed dramatically since his last game as South Carolina‘s head coach over a decade ago. Since then, the transfer portal and NIL are the name of the game, with coaches being forced to adapt or see their programs fade.
That’s not to say all of them are doing so ethically. Tampering has been reported as a common occurrence — it’s a matter of whether a program gets caught doing it or not. In January, Dabo Swinney infamously levied a tampering accusation toward Pete Golding in January after linebacker Luke Ferrelli signed with Clemson out of the portal but later signed with Ole Miss amid an apparent two-year, $2 million contract offer.
Swinney, of course, has been ardently opposed to the current portal and NIL guidelines, and the always-quotable Spurrier had a message for his former in-state counterpart.
“I thought by now somebody would have told Dabo, ‘Dabo, there ain’t no rules anymore,'” Spurrier said during a Zoom call with media on Monday discussing his entry into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.
With 187 wins and a pair of national championships to his credit, Swinney’s body of work speaks for itself. But Clemson has failed to make the College Football Playoff over the last four seasons and is coming off its worst record (7-6) since 2010.
Spurrier called for Swinney to change his approach to keep the Tigers’ program from slipping further.
“I think Dabo has learned now he’s got to start paying his players just like everybody else is, or you’ll get left behind,” Spurrier said. “You can complain, but I don’t know (what) good it’s going to do. There’s no rules. Somebody tell Dabo there’s no rules now.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
