CHARLOTTE — Dabo Swinney says put some rules in place when it comes to schools tampering with another school’s players or just “say the heck with it.”

The Clemson coach has been adamant about the NCAA holding teams accountable for stealing another team’s players since the transfer portal era began. But he was even more fiery about the subject when it happened to Clemson this past winter.

“We are probably going to need some congressional help from that,” Swinney said about any tampering rules falling in place during Day 2 of ACC Kickoff. “There has to be some type of rule in place. There needs to be consequences or just say ‘the heck with it’ and do not worry about it and let it be the wild, wild west.”

Luke Ferrelli transferred to Clemson from Cal in January. However, after signing with the Tigers, then attending team activities and starting classes, Swinney accused Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding of contacting Ferrelli directly, which is a direct violation of NCAA rules.

Shortly thereafter, Ferrelli was headed to Ole Miss, leaving Clemson with a hole in its defense.

“There are these other leagues that have rules. There are consequences – suspensions, fines, firings or whatever. There are contracts and things like that,” Clemson’s head coach said. “There are lots of things. To this point, it is rampant because in college sports nobody really fears or worries about those consequences.”

If the Protect the College Sports Act is passed by Congress, that could all change. The PCSA has a provision already in place that will call for teams tampering with another school’s players to be punished.

It was reported on Thursday that the PCSA could get passed through the Senate as early as next week after the SEC and Big Ten sent their provisions to those that wrote the bill.