Clemson football and coach Dabo Swinney aren’t letting the Luke Ferrelli situation go.
The Tigers announced their transfer portal class on Monday, Jan. 26, although they didn’t bother removing Ferrelli, a Cal linebacker transfer, from the school’s roster.
Instead, when navigating to his bio, users are prompted to click on a link that reads, “Click here for Luke Ferrelli’s timeline at Clemson.” Doing so redirects them to a clip of Swinney’s scorched-earth news conference detailing Ferrelli’s flip from Clemson to Ole Miss.
REQUIRED READING: Why Dabo Swinney said he went public with Ole Miss, Pete Golding tampering allegations
Swinney called out Ole Miss and coach Pete Golding for tampering with Ferrelli, who signed with the Tigers on Jan. 7. Ferrelli was then listed on Clemson’s roster — and his addition was announced by the school — before he re-entered the transfer portal and flipped to Ole Miss on Jan. 16. He committed to the Rebels on Jan. 22.
Ferrelli finished his redshirt freshman season in 2025 with 91 total tackles, a sack and an interception. He was a 3-star high school recruit but became a sought-after transfer portal prospect.
Swinney said Golding texted Ferrelli and asked what his buyout was, despite him already being signed to Clemson. Ole Miss offered Ferrelli a two-year contract for $1 million annually, according to Swinney.
“If you tamper with my players, I’m going to turn you in,” Swinney said at his Jan. 23 news conference.
Clemson added 11 players via the transfer portal this offseason, which is the most in a single season in program history, perhaps signifying a change in Swinney’s roster-building methodology. The Ferrelli situation is certainly one that’s somewhat new for Swinney and Clemson’s program.
Keeping Ferrelli’s bio page up on Clemson’s official site could be Swinney’s version of playing hardball to the rest of college football.
“There’s tampering, and then there’s blatant tampering,” Swinney said. “Tampering 101 is when you’re talking to kids who aren’t in the portal. Tampering 201 is when you’ve already negotiated the deal with the kids not in the portal.
“Tampering 301 is when you got a kid who’s going in the portal, signed somewhere, moved there, going to classes and you’re texting them while they’re in class. That’s like a whole other level of tampering.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luke Ferrelli’s Clemson bio still active, redirects to Dabo Swinney rant
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