Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Gives Update Regarding Luke Ferrelli, Ole Miss Situation

About a month ago, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney made a statement across the college football landscape regarding the transfer portal and tampering.

Jan. 23’s press conference saw Swinney keep receipts regarding the situation of Ole Miss linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who was tampered with by head coach Pete Golding and forced a late switch after committing to the Tigers during the portal period.

In his first media availability since, Swinney revealed more context on what has happened since, speaking to the media on Wednesday afternoon. There hasn’t been any legal action on Clemson’s end that has pursued the matter, although the NCAA has been talking about it since the actions.

However, there’s a bigger message underneath, which was strictly to make a statement about what regulations college football has now.

“I mean, it is what it is,” Swinney said. “I think, if nothing else, at least we sparked a lot of conversation. It’s not about a player or anything like that.”

Last week, Swinney attended a Nike camp with 20 other head coaches, an annual event where other coaches with the Nike sponsorship are able to meet for a professional event. The Clemson head coach calls it the “best professional development thing that I do every year.” An event like that would be able to have conversations about situations like the transfer portal regulations, which Swinney did not specifically say on Wednesday if those topics were brought up.

However, Golding was not there, nor has Swinney spoken to him directly since he called the Ole Miss head coach out for tampering with his former linebacker. However, since the dust has settled, the Clemson head coach said that he’s strictly now looking for answers.

“It’s really just about like, what can and we can’t do?” he said. “And, just trying to get some clarity on what that is, but, you know, we’ll see. It’s not about getting people in trouble.”

The NCAA has begun to clap back at the idea of tampering in this new time in the sport, sending a memo to schools within the entity about the consequences that would occur if caught doing so. That would be the most recent advancement from Swinney’s comments in late January.

In a memo sent today to NCAA schools, VP of Enforcement Jon Duncan announces that the DI Board of Directors has charged the staff to “pursue significant penalties” for tampering violations, while also more publicly announcing cases, and reminded schools about the tampering bylaw. pic.twitter.com/UwLWVBQEkq
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 23, 2026

2026 was Swinney’s first true time of going around in the transfer portal, adding 10 players from other schools to the program. That included Ferrelli for about a week-and-a-half before the Rebels poached him, but he is looking for a true answer about how this process should end up going as the ideas of revenue share and NIL continue to influence decisions.

Sometimes, it’s the simple questions.

“How many times can you go in and out of the portal in a two-week period?” Swinney said. “Can you go in three times and you sign with three schools? Like, you know, there’s just a lot of things that we need to get some answers from a coaching standpoint, and something that we got to do better.”

Regarding the specific situation with Ferrelli and the Tigers, though, the Clemson head coach has nothing to add to it, and will look to coach the team that he has as spring ball because on Wednesday.

“Everybody understands that,” he said, “but there’s no update or anything like that.”