Paul Finebaum Blasts Dabo Swinney’s Handling of Ole Miss Tampering Allegations

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney drew national attention on Friday, hurling public accusations of tampering at Ole Miss and new head coach Pete Golding, both of whom were involved in poaching Clemson transfer Luke Ferrelli.

According to Swinney and the program, the contact occurred while Ferrelli was still enrolled at the University, attending classes and participating in team activities, and had not officially re-entered the transfer portal.

On Monday, ESPN's Paul Finebaum — a renowned Dabo Swinney critic — joined the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning show, with Finebaum bluntly telling the hosts how he feels about the entire situation.

When asked what impact Swinney's public accusations would actually have moving forward, Finebaum made it clear he didn't believe the situation would lead to any meaningful change across college football.

"Really nothing," Finebaum replied. "What it really does is it emboldens Ole Miss people. Feeling, 'OK, our guy is working hard. Our guy is trying to do whatever it takes, whether it's, in theory, legal or not.' And that's kind of where we are in college athletics, as you guys know."

While the longtime ESPN personality argued that the comments may energize Ole Miss supporters, he said the larger fallout centers on how Swinney himself is perceived in the current college football landscape, especially after a brutal 7-6 finish this past season.

"And then there's Dabo Swinney, who just does the wrong thing at the wrong time, looking more distant, more out of touch, more antiquated, more antediluvian than he has ever been," Finebaum continued. "And for a guy that just finished an absolutely miserable season, it doesn't help him because he is years removed from a legitimate national championship contender."

He even went as far as to discredit their 2024 College Football Playoff run — which was their first appearance since 2020 — calling it "more of an outlier than it was reality." Mind you, he said this after a poor 2025 campaign, not when it actually occurred.

"Last year [in the 2024 season], being in the playoffs was more of an outlier than it was reality," he said. "Everybody knows Clemson started the season in the top five and ended up nowhere, and I just think it hurts him more than it has in the past."

Despite his harsh critique, Finebaum acknowledged Swinney's role in transforming Clemson into the program it is today. However, he still feels the veteran head coach is moving away from the Clemson standard.

Monday wasn't the first time he's mentioned something like this, either; earlier in the season, he advised Swinney to leave the program, inferring it would be in his best interest.

"And that's a bad look for a guy that really still has support of a fanbase because he has been one of the more remarkable coaches in changing a program's direction than anyone in modern history. But he just looks farther and farther away from ever getting Clemson to that moment again."

Later in the show, Finebaum was asked whether there is anything that can realistically be done to curb behavior like the alleged tampering involving Golding.

"Not much," he responded. "There's a little bit, I guess, and I think what everybody in college athletics is waiting to find out is, will anybody do anything? And I think that's really the problem with Dabo."

According to Finebaum, part of the issue lies in how outdated specific approaches have become in the modern era of college athletics.

"Dabo used phrases that, while legitimate in sound, don't really matter much anymore – like, 'We're going to turn you in,'" he vocalized. "That used to be the golden phrase – 'If you do that one more time, Mike Dubose, I'm going to turn you in.' And it just doesn't work much anymore. I mean, there's a way to do this, and I think he could have done it effectively by letting other people do it."

Finebaum added that, regardless of intent, Swinney's public delivery ultimately distracts from the point he is trying to make, and, in his view, situations like Ferrelli's should be handled behind the scenes.

"But I think Dabo's problem — and it really doesn't matter what he said — he still comes off the same way, and that's that he comes off whiny and out of touch. And I don't really think he's that far removed from anybody else."

"It's a frustrating thing. I've heard other coaches, even in the SEC, screaming about stuff like this, but I think there's a way to do it. He should let the administrators handle it, as opposed to him doing it."