CLEMSON — I hate to bring up old wounds, but enough is enough.

It might just be me, but does it not feel like some in the national media portray Ole Miss as the victim in the whole Luke Ferrelli situation and Dabo Swinney and Clemson as the bad guys?

Case in point, I was reading Lindy’s Sports’ annual College Football National 2026 Preview magazine today, and I was surprised what it had under the Ole Miss section in its Top 25 Picks. The Rebels are ranked No. 9 in Lindy’s Preseason Top 25 Poll, but that is not what surprised me.

It’s what was written, and I have a pretty good idea who wrote it, that surprised me. Under Bad News for Ole Miss, it is written, “TJ Dottery left for LSU, following coach Lane Kiffin. Yet, linebacker Luke Ferrelli transferred from Cal (by way of Clemson, much to the displeasure of Dabo Swinney) to bolster the inside.”

First, Ferrelli did not transfer to Ole Miss from Cal. He transferred from Clemson. I love how some in the national media love to leave out the fact that Ferrelli had already transferred from Cal to Clemson.

I also love how they leave out the fact he was no longer in the transfer portal when Ole Miss, allegedly, contacted Ferrelli. You know where Ferrelli was when Ole Miss reached out to the linebacker. He was enrolled at Clemson.

He also was, allegedly, in a Clemson classroom when Ole Miss contacted him. So, yes, Swinney had every right to be pissed off. What doesn’t the writer get?

He was no longer a Cal player. He was a Clemson player. He took his name out of the transfer portal when he committed to Clemson and, this is important, ENROLLED at Clemson.

Ferrelli did not come to Ole Miss from Cal Berkley. No, he came from Clemson. He was no longer a Cal Bear. He was a Clemson Tiger, and to get back into the transfer portal, he had to go to Clemson’s compliance office and ask if they could put him back in the portal.

However, the shots at Dabo Swinney did not end there. Poor Ole Miss (use Shirley Temple’s voice) did nothing wrong. How dare that mean man in Clemson accuse the Rebels of such a thing as tampering?

In Lindy’s section called “Transfer Portal Winners and Losers” I have a feeling this same writer wrote this when calling Clemson a “Loser.”

“He finally dipped his toe into the pool, but lack of portal success is haunting Dabo Swinney, who accused Ole Miss of tampering after the Rebels landed former Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli soon after he signed with the Tigers.”

What!?

Swinney did more than accuse Ole Miss of tampering, he provided detailed evidence. There is a lengthy video on The Clemson Insider where he breaks down the events of what happened on that infamous weekend in Clemson.

How can a writer, who is supposed to be objective, end it right there or portray the whole situation as something Clemson made up or being petty. I can tell you that is how I read it. And if the writer is who I think it is (just go to the list of contributing writers’ section on the “Letter from the Publisher” page at the front of the magazine to see who I am talking about) then I am not as surprised he portrayed the situation this way.

But, as I wrote, the writer is still supposed to be objective and in no way was the writer, or writers, telling both sides of the story when these passive aggressive daggers were thrown at Clemson.

The good news for Clemson is that it seems the NCAA is taking the Ferrelli situation seriously. It reported on May 22, it opened its investigation into allegations of tampering by Ole Miss.

As for how Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding responded to Swinney’s accusations, he did not deny it. According to an article in the USA TODAY, Golding basically shrugged and hinted at SEC spring meetings if the NCAA punishes him, he’ll tattle on other cheaters.

Good, let him tattle. That’s a good thing, that will get this tampering issue under control.

Oh, by the way, that same article that called Clemson a “Loser” in the transfer portal, it also called Ole Miss—the team that cheated and is not denying it—a “Winner.”

“The Rebels showed they mean business with a top-five transfer class anchored by wide receiver Horatio Fields (Auburn), defensive tackle Jeheim Oatis (Colorado) and offensive tackle Carius Curne (LSU).”

The Ole Miss piece in the article did not mention Ferrelli, Clemson or the NCAA investigation at all. Interesting.