Paul Finebaum's Take on Dabo Swinney, Ole Miss Football 'Tampering' Sparks Debate

Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels remain in headlines amid recent allegations surrounding "tampering" for Transfer Portal addition Luke Ferrelli last week.

In a tell-all interview with the Clemson media, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney took the podium where he accused Golding and Co. of "blatant tampering" after inking Ferrelli to a deal once he made the decision to re-enter the portal market.

Swinney walked reporters through the situation where Ferrelli initially departed the Cal Bears for the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason - then signed with Clemson.

Following a short stint with Clemson where he was enrolled with the university, Ferrelli then elected to to re-enter the free agent market where he signed with Ole Miss.

“There’s tampering, and then there’s blatant tampering,” Swinney said. “Tampering 101 is when you’re talking to kids who aren’t in the portal. Tampering 201 is when you’ve already negotiated the deal with the kids not in the portal.

“Tampering 301 is when you’ve got a kid who’s going in the portal to sign somewhere, move there, going to classes and you’re texting them while they’re in class. That’s like a whole ‘nother level of tampering.”

Dabo Swinney made headlines last week when he accused Ole Miss coach Pete Golding of “blatant” tampering.

Now, the NCAA is looking into the Clemson coach's claims, the organization confirmed to The Athletic.

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Now, according to The Athletic, the NCAA is getting involved and will be investigating the situation that's unfolded.

"The NCAA will investigate any credible allegations of tampering and expect full cooperation from all involved as is required by NCAA rules," the organization said to The Athletic's Grace Raynor. "We will not comment further on any ongoing investigation."

Now, SEC Network's Paul Finebaum has chimed in on the situation with his thoughts surrounding the tamperating accusations - calling out Swinney for his decision to tell-all.

“There’s Dabo Swinney, who just does the wrong thing at the wrong time,” Finebaum told Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic. “(He’s) looking more distant, more out of touch, more antiquated than he has ever been.

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"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. Last year, being in the playoffs was more of an outlier than it was reality.

“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. That’s a bad look for a guy that, really, still has support of a fan base, because he has been one of the more remarkable coaches at changing a program’s direction than anyone in modern history.”

Finebaum wasn't done just yet - continuing to chime in on the matter on Swinney and Co.

“Dabo use phrases that, while legitimate in sound, don’t really matter much anymore,” Finebaum continued. “Like, ‘we’re going to turn you in.’ I mean, that used to be the golden phrase, ‘if you do that one more time.’ … And it really doesn’t matter what he says. He just, he still comes off the same way — he comes off whiny and out of touch.”

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