As you know, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made headlines earlier this year when he called out Ole Miss for what Swinney called “blatant” tampering with Cal transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli. During his press conference on Jan. 23, Swinney criticized Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding for allegedly luring Ferrelli into the transfer portal and influencing his flip from the Tigers to the Rebels.

Swinney claims that Golding texted Ferrelli directly while he was sitting in class after having already enrolled at Clemson. Ferrelli had already signed his financial aid agreement and was taking part in football activities before ultimately re-entering the portal and committing to the Rebels on Jan. 22.

According to a report from ESPN on Friday, the NCAA opened an investigation of the Ole Miss football program the same day that Swinney accused Golding of tampering with Ferrelli.

An NCAA associate director of enforcement emailed Ole Miss senior associate athletic director for compliance Taylor Hall on Jan. 23, according to documents obtained by ESPN’s David Hale and Mark Schlabach:

“In the email, the associate director requested that Golding’s university-issued cell phone and personal phones be forensically imaged. The NCAA also requested the same of phones used by Ole Miss general manager Austin Thomas, inside linebackers coach Jay Shoop, outside linebackers coach Matt Kitchens, director of player personnel Jai Choudhary and senior associate athletic director for strategy/cap management Matt McLaughlin.

“The NCAA also asked that Ferrelli’s phones be forensically imaged and that each individual’s phone records from December 2025 to January 2026 be submitted to enforcement staff.”

ESPN cited sources saying the NCAA investigation is still “in the early stages.”

In late March, Golding – who is entering his first full season as Ole Miss’s head coach — reacted to Swinney’s tampering accusations, saying, “There’s two sides to every story.”

“I’m not going to sit up here and use the podium as a grandstand and all of that,” Golding said. “That’s why there is enforcement. That’s why we have our compliance office. They do all that.”

At the ACC Spring Meetings earlier this month, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips addressed tampering in general, and the Clemson-Ole Miss case specifically.

“It has to be addressed,” Phillips said of tampering.

“[NCAA president] Charlie Baker has promised us, with his staff, and I believe him – I think very highly of Charlie – that case in particular is going to be dealt with,” Phillips added of the Clemson-Ole Miss case. “Part of this thing, though, is there has to be repercussions for improper behavior. And until that occurs, I think the tampering piece maybe stays at the level that it’s at right now. So, we’ll be interested to hear when that [Clemson-Ole Miss] case is brought forward, and the judgement of the NCAA in that matter.”