As tampering persists, Luke Ferrelli and Ole Miss is a college football problem

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As tampering persists, Luke Ferrelli and Ole Miss is a college football problem
By David Hood
9 hours ago

Clemson’s Luke Ferrelli problem is really a college football problem.

Clemson fans were excited when the Tigers signed former Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli out of the transfer portal. The ACC defensive freshman of the year put up big numbers at Cal and was expected to slide in beside Sammy Brown as a playmaker.

Ferrelli was on campus and, as we were told, was working out in the weight room on Friday and getting to know his teammates. I spoke with Ferrelli after the signing and he was excited to get back to Clemson and start classes.

Then Ole Miss began to tamper, making an initial offer to Ferrelli and then adding to it when it appeared the first offer wasn’t enough. Clemson was made aware of what was going on and the hope was that the Tigers would keep Ferrelli, but it’s now obvious that he is headed to Ole Miss.

What are Clemson’s options? As I was told this morning by two sources close to the situation, this is more than a Clemson problem. This is a college football problem, especially when coaches can openly tamper with a player. And Clemson won’t let this one go. I’ve been told the administration is looking at all options, and I don’t expect a resolution in the next few days. Maybe a week or two. But as I was told this morning by one source, Clemson is not the school you want to mess with when it comes to this.

Why? Because other coaches are reticent to call out other coaches, because everyone keeps receipts – Pete Golding at Ole Miss might be hesitant to call out Lane Kiffin because Kiffin knows where the bodies are buried. And vice versa. But as one person texted me this morning, “Nobody has receipts on our guy.”

My guess is that “our guy” will not hesitate to call out what he has seen, especially if he was shown evidence of tampering. In other words, Clemson won’t look the other way on this and it could get messy. It should get messy. Because, as I said above, this is more than a Clemson problem; it’s a college football problem. I had one coach tell me this morning, “This is completely unhealthy and broken and unsustainable. If this type of blatant tampering is allowed, then we have no college football.”

As our Brandon Rink said this morning, now that the Miami’s and the Ole Miss’s of the world have gotten a taste of the College Football Playoff apple, they want more. And they will do whatever it takes to get that next bite.

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