Dabo Swinney Charges Ole Miss With Tampering to Lure Luke Ferrelli

Former Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli is in the midst of a college football controversy growing out of the unbridled transfer portal landscape.

Ferrelli, who was named ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year for the Bears, announced plans on Jan. 1 to enter the transfer portal and five days later signed with Clemson.

But Ferrelli re-entered the portal on Thursday and officially signed with Ole Miss, triggering charges of tampering on Friday from angry Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, according to reports by ESPN, USA Today and other outlets.

Former Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Swinney laid out details and a timeline for what transpired during a Friday news conference, specifically going after Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, whom he said made repeated attempts to lure Ferrelli back into the portal. Swinney called it a “straightforward case of tampering.”

Ferrelli had signed a revenue-sharing contract, purchased a car, rented an apartment and begun classes, Swinney said, before Ole Miss came calling.

Swinney told reporters that on Jan. 14, Ferrelli’s agent reached out to Clemson general manager Jordan Sorrells to inform him that "Ole Miss was going hard" after Ferrelli.

Swinney alleged that contact between Ole Miss and Ferrelli began during an 8 a.m. class in which Ferrelli received a text message that said, “I know you’re signed, but what’s the buyout?” After that, Ferrelli received a photo of a $1 million contract, then phone calls from current Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and former QB and NFL player Jaxson Dart, Swinney said.

Ferrelli told Clemson he wasn’t interested in leaving, Swinney said, but Ferrelli's agent, Ryan Williams reportedly declined to provide copies of the text messages unless the Tigers added a $1 million second-year extension to the contact. Clemson refused to revise the original deal.

Swinney blasted the sport for not have any way to govern the transfer portal system that is left open for this sort of activity.

"This is a whole other level of tampering," Swinney said. "It's total hypocrisy. ... This is a really sad state of affairs. We have a broken system, and if there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules and we have no governance.”

Ferrelli, a native of San Diego, was second on the Bears with 87 tackles, including five tackles for loss. His last-second interception on the goal line sealed Cal’s 28-24 victory at Boston College.

He was named honorable mention All-ACC.

"This is not about a linebacker at Clemson," Swinney said. "I don't want anyone on our team that doesn't want to be here. But it's about the next kid and the next kid and the message that's being sent with just blatant tampering being allowed to happen without consequences. This isn't about our program. It's about college football.”

Clemson submitted a complaint to the NCAA on Jan. 16, according to Swinney, and the university will consider legal action if there is no resolution.

Swinney said he believes the current landscape is setting up a generation of players for failure and lasting hardship.

"If we don't act about these current transfer rules, we're going to look up in five or six years and see a mass of players without degrees who'll have spent their short-term money. We’re going to have a bunch of screwed-up 30-year-olds,” Swinney said.

“I believe college football is set up to reward the 2 percent that have a chance to make it to the NFL. As adults, we should know better and do better for the 98 percent of college football players who won't play in the NFL. I think we have a responsibility to make sure we educate, equip and graduate young men that have been entrusted to all of us in college football.”

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