CLEMSON — No one has been harder on Dabo Swinney than me when it comes to how the Clemson head coach has viewed the transfer portal and NIL.

Let’s face it, Swinney stubbornness to use them for the first couple of years are just two reasons why the Clemson Football Program has slipped. However, as I have written in the past, I have always understood why Swinney did not want to give into them, though it was inevitable he would have to one day if he wanted to continue to coach.

Swinney’s concern has always been about the players. How will they handle this new world where they can transfer wherever they want without penalty, while chasing the big bag of money.

Will they make decisions based on their own needs? Are they thinking about their future? Will they attend the school they really want to go to?

Are they considering their own happiness? Do they want to graduate from college? Are they making this more about the money or more about getting an education?

How will this help their mental state? What are their plans when their football careers are over?

What happened at Clemson on Friday and into Saturday morning is a travesty.

What happened?

Luke Ferrelli, who left Cal to come attend Clemson earlier this month, left the Clemson program on Friday well after signing his compensation contract, enrolling and attending classes and working out with the team.

In fact, Ferrelli worked out with the team on Friday morning, and by Saturday morning, he was heading back into the transfer portal.

He left campus. He turned in his books and his laptop. He was gone.

Why?

Because he was being tampered with, reportedly by Ole Miss, where he is expected to attend next year.

Why is he leaving Clemson?

I can tell you it has nothing to do with school. It’s all about the bag of money Ole Miss reportedly is offering up for the linebacker to attend Mississippi’s state college. And Clemson is not the only one the Rebels are doing this too. They are doing it to Syracuse, as well.

Miami is also doing it to Duke, and ironically, LSU is doing the same to Ole Miss. It is a vicious cycle that will continue to repeat itself over and over again.

And this is the exact thing Dabo Swinney was talking about a few years ago when the transfer portal and NIL started taking over the game of college football. His concern was players would start chasing the money instead of an education, which is what the whole purpose of going to college is for.

He also warned about how some schools would abuse the system, especially a system that has no rules in place to prevent tampering, which is obviously what has happened here.

Someone needs to step up and start calling out names. Force the NCAA to start doing something about improper contact with players.

Stop programs like Ole Miss, LSU and Miami from throwing ridiculous amounts of money around to entice 18 to 22 year old young men to make grown up decisions that in more cases than not doesn’t have their best interest at heart.

College Football needs Dabo Swinney to step up and call out these coaches by name. This is the only way it can be stopped. If not, and I am already seeing it, college football is going to push the diehard fans away, and then the players will not have an opportunity to get a college education, which is the biggest travesty of them all.