Dabo Swinney made national headlines last week when the Clemson coach publicly accused Ole Miss coach Pete Golding of “blatant” tampering.
Now he’s hoping for a quick resolution.
The NCAA confirmed to The Athletic via a statement Monday night that it is involved in the matter. Though the organization did not provide specifics, officials have been in direct contact with Clemson about Swinney’s allegations.
“The NCAA will investigate any credible allegations of tampering and expect full cooperation from all involved as is required by NCAA rules,” NCAA vice president of enforcement Jon Duncan said in the statement. “We will not comment further on any ongoing investigation.”
Late Friday afternoon, Swinney laid out the case against Golding, who Swinney said directly tampered with now-former Clemson linebacker Luke Ferrelli. Ferrelli transferred from Cal to Clemson and signed a revenue-sharing contract with the Tigers on Jan. 7. He moved to Clemson, S.C., on Jan. 11, rented an apartment, bought a car, enrolled in classes and began team meetings and workouts with the Tigers.
According to Swinney, Ferrelli told Clemson general manager Jordan Sorrells on Jan. 15 that Golding texted him during his 8 a.m. class the previous day, allegedly writing: “I know you’re signed, what’s the buyout?” Golding also allegedly texted Ferrelli a picture of a $1 million contract and allegedly asked former Ole Miss star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss to call him and convince him to enter the transfer portal.
On Jan. 16, the final day of the transfer portal window, Ferrelli informed Clemson coaches and personnel staff that he was leaving for Ole Miss — despite initially reassuring Clemson coaches he had no interest in parting ways with the Tigers.
Swinney said Clemson informed Golding that it would contact the NCAA if Ole Miss did not stop communicating with Ferrelli. Tigers athletic director Graham Neff said Friday that the NCAA was “surprised” to hear from Clemson.
“The NCAA quite frankly was surprised that a school was willing to come forward as directly and transparently as we have,” Neff said. “Normally, there’s a lot of complaints in the media, hearsay amongst the industry, etcetera. Very little actually gets reported (from the schools). That’s coming from the NCAA directly. And so we’re very eager and resolute to do so.”
The NCAA processed 90 tampering cases last year, but this is the highest-profile of its kind, with Swinney taking the rare step of publicly going on the record with accusations against another sitting head coach.
Though the NCAA would not comment on the exact documents it has received from Clemson, Swinney quoted text messages and laid out a minute-by-minute timeline in his news conference last week. Clemson even linked the video of Swinney sharing the timeline on Ferrelli’s official Clemson bio page, which remains active, with a note saying: “Click here for Luke Ferrelli’s timeline at Clemson.”
Ferrelli’s father, Ryan, did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment.
Neff has stood by Swinney, saying Friday that Clemson is “united, aligned and supportive of Coach.”
Swinney said the NCAA shouldn’t need much time to rule on the matter. Ole Miss has not commented.
“This shouldn’t be a three-year or a three-month investigation. This might take three days,” he said. “(Ole Miss is) either gonna tell the truth or they’re gonna lie. … All you’ve gotta do is get the phone.”