Former Clemson Transfer Luke Ferrelli Makes Official Commitment Elsewhere

After a hectic saga over the last week, the Clemson Tigers' former transfer will be heading to the SEC next season.

Former Cal transfer Luke Ferrelli (41) flipped his transfer from Clemson to Ole Miss officially on Thursday. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers’ saga with former Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli has come to a close, as he made a decision on where he would end up next. 

Ferrelli made the official commitment to join Ole Miss next season, completing a shocking flip that saw Clemson lose one of its top transfers in the class. The Tigers will now enter next season without an additional linebacker, which would have helped due to the departures of multiple players. 

The transfer was confirmed by On3’s Dan Morrison, making it nearly 24 hours since Ferrelli re-entered the transfer portal. 

BREAKING: Cal/Clemson transfer LB Luke Ferrelli has committed to Ole Miss, @Hayesfawcett3 reports🦈https://t.co/j57381L48q https://t.co/Kvpvh2dwwJ pic.twitter.com/O78hRJgd2h

— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) January 22, 2026

The saga emerged last week, when the OMSpirit, On3’s site for Ole Miss, reported that Ferrelli and the Rebels were in contact with each other, even though the linebacker was in Clemson. The Carlsbad, California, native was attending classes and team workouts over the week with the Tigers, then left abruptly and told the program about his transfer elsewhere. 

Over last weekend, Ferrelli then took “Clemson FB” out of his social media handles, creating even more speculation that he was going to leave. Now, that switch has been completed. 

In his freshman season at Cal, Ferrelli had a standout season, one that gave him the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honor as well. He finished with 91 total tackles, a sack and an interception for the Golden Bears in 2025. He will look to build on that at Ole Miss next season. 

Being able to have three years of eligibility remaining, the signing for the Tigers was monumental, most likely having their starter for seasons to come to play alongside Sammy Brown. 

Going forward, Brown will have a new teammate that is already in-house. Redshirt senior Kobe McCloud and senior Jeremiah Alexander were the two that saw the most snaps after Brown and Wade Woodaz. Woodaz declared for the NFL Draft, due to being out of eligibility. 

The Tigers also saw losses from Dee Crayton and Jamal Anderson, who both entered the transfer portal and are heading elsewhere. Crayton signed with UNLV and Anderson joined SMU over the last few weeks. 

Head coach Dabo Swinney has yet to issue a statement about the situation. However, offensive coordinator Chad Morris has his introductory press conference on Friday afternoon. Swinney is expected to join him, as well as athletic director Graham Neff, who could be going in detail about what will happen going forward. 

Follow along with Clemson Tigers on SI’s transfer portal tracker to view all of the program’s acquisitions and transfers going into next season.