Urban Meyer claims Ole Miss tampering accusations from Dabo Swinney 'should be a one-week investigation'

During an epic rant Friday, Dabo Swinney publicly accused first-year Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding of “blatant tampering” after the Rebels flipped Clemson linebacker signee Luke Ferrelli the day before. Ferrelli was already a full week into classes at Clemson when he decided to back out of his deal with the Tigers, re-enter the portal Jan. 22 and transfer to Oxford instead.

“There’s tampering. And then, there’s blatant tampering,” Swinney said during a nearly two-hour press conference Friday. “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.”

Swinney and Clemson athletic director Graham Neff revealed they’ve already reported Ole Miss’ actions to the NCAA, providing definitive receipts and a detailed timeline of the Rebels’ conversations with Ferrelli despite the fact that he’d already signed paperwork with the Tigers.

Reaction to Swinney’s accusations have been strong in the days following, with most around the sport applauding the Clemson coach’s direct call-out. At the same time, there’s also an overwhelming sense of resignation that an already-neutered NCAA won’t have what it takes to levy any significant consequences.

Urban Meyer blasts NCAA governance: ‘There are no rules, the NCAA is gone, it’s over’

“If this is all true, and it sounds like Dabo has the goods right there, … this should be a one-week investigation,” former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said in Wednesday’s episode of The Triple Option podcast. “You go on the campus (at) Ole Miss, you meet with the athletic director and the coach and say … ‘We have facts here, you can’t lie to the NCAA, and if you (do) you can’t coach.’ The investigation is then over. But then they’ll hire Tom Mars, that (famed sports) attorney, they’ll fight it and I guess they’ll win. It really bothers me.

“If nothing happens, there’s no governance, there’s no rules, and it’ll be the most chaotic … which it already is. So I’m disappointed.”

Meyer continued to rail against the NCAA, which has been mired in a litany of legal challenges to the organization’s authority, which has severely limited its governance capabilities in recent years.

“There are no rules, the NCAA is gone, it’s over,” Meyer added. “… Law and order without consequences is not law and order. It’s chaos. … This actually disgusts me, it makes me sick. Because I hear people say ‘everybody does it,’ and no, everybody doesn’t do it.”

Mark Ingram on Dabo Swinney allegations: ‘If that’s not tampering, I don’t know what is’

Triple Option co-host and fellow FOX Sports analyst Mark Ingram II was more hopeful in the perceived cut-and-dry nature of Clemson’s allegations against Ole Miss. But even the Alabama alumnus wasn’t certain whatever resolution comes from the NCAA’s pending investigation will ultimately fix anything.

“The NCAA has a chance to make a stand here,” Ingram said. “You have a linebacker who committed, who moved to Clemson, who is actively in class, and you have the DC and the head coach from another school allegedly texting the man when he’s in class offering him a deal, (then) upping the deal again. If that’s not tampering, I don’t know what is.

“And if there is no tampering, then we have a problem in college football right now.”