Ole Miss Coach Gives Flimsy Response to Clemson's Tampering Claims

Earlier this week, there was confirmation involving the Clemson Tigers and the alleged tampering of linebacker Luke Ferrelli with Ole Miss. Now, head coach Pete Golding shared his thoughts about the situat

The Ole Miss head coach was asked about it during the SEC spring meetings in Miramar Beach, Florida, as well as his program’s identity since taking the job after Lane Kiffin. Golding bluntly said that he’s not concerned about what other programs, especially in his conference, think of him.

He’s using past success, like the College Football Playoff semifinal appearance this past season, to guide the team forward.

“I couldn't care less what everybody else thinks of us," Golding said. "I think our players understand, there's a bull's-eye and a circle on them now based on their success and what they've done on the field.”

When it came to Ferrelli, the Rebels had to do it because tampering occurred with them. Coincidentally, it involved a former Clemson linebacker in T.J. Dottery (formerly Dudley), who left at the last minute from Ole Miss to join Kiffin at LSU.

That’s what Golding spun it into instead of taking full blame for what occurred back in January.

"Not comparing [Ferrelli] to a guy who's been a [multiyear] starter somewhere that wasn't in the portal that's at a new school now after going to a semifinal, like, what are we doing?" Golding said. "That's the piece where everybody's at. There's an enforcement of [Ferrelli], who just took an [official visit] , but there's not an enforcement of [Dottery], who's been here for three years, and he's been tampered with the entire time? What are we doing?"

Ferrelli was an enrolled Clemson student when Golding reached out to him, asking how much money he would need to jump ship with the Tigers. On Wednesday, the Rebels' head coach said that’s happening everywhere, and if he were to be penalized for it, everybody else should be penalized for it because it’s occurring so frequently.

“Some things you feel shouldn't matter that they're making a big deal about, but I think it's about the enforcement of it, and that's what everybody wants: What are the rules, and is everybody going to be held accountable to the same standard?” Golding said. “Up to this point, that hasn't been the case."

A lot of his responses left foggy takeaways, but Golding and Swinney are alike in the way that change is needed within the NCAA. Especially with how prominent the transfer portal has gotten in today’s landscape, Golding both tampered and saw his team tampered with, allegedly, and that has to change in his eyes.

“There’s a lot more people involved that everybody might not know. Everyone wants clarity,” he said. “Enforcement about a lot of these things is a real problem. I’m not going to sit up here and say whatever we did or we didn’t do, was it right or was it wrong?

But, you know, when you go through what we went through (with tampering), and what you’re seeing day-in and day-out, some things you feel like shouldn’t matter that they’re making a big deal about.”

The Ole Miss head coach will leave that to his other departments that focus on the rules and regulations of this situation, but until then, there wasn’t a lot of transparency regarding the actions he took to take away one of the Tigers’ most important pieces in the transfer portal.

"That's why we have a compliance department," Golding said. "There's been an investigation, and all that type of stuff will come out. We know the guidelines in place. It's my responsibility to hold [assistant coaches] accountable and to set a really good example."

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