When it comes to the rules regarding players, the NCAA has largely become toothless. When it comes to the rules that apply to the various programs, the NCAA still has some apparent bite.
Via ESPN, the NCAA launched a tampering investigation of Ole Miss on the same day Clemson coach Dabo Swinney publicly complained that Ole Miss coach Pete Golding had tampered with linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
Per the report, a public-records request showed that an NCAA associate director of enforcement emailed Ole Miss just a few hours before Swinney complained during a January 23 press conference that Golding had tampered with Ferrelli, who had ditched Clemson for Ole Miss.
The email asked that the university-issued cell phone and personal phones of Golding and other Ole Miss employees be forensically imaged, including G.M. 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 requested Ferrelli’s phone records.
The investigation, per the report, is in the early stages.
“This is a whole other level of tampering,” Swinney said at the time. “It’s total hypocrisy. . . . This is a really sad state of affairs. We have a broken system, and if there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules and we have no governance. . . .
“I’m not trying to get anybody fired, but when is enough enough? If we have rules, and tampering is a rule, then there should be a consequence for that. And shame on the adults if we’re not going to hold each other accountable.”
He’s right. Although the NIL era creates a certain amount of chaos, the programs should be expected to respect basic standards. And if the NCAA won’t apply the rules, the programs absolutely should seek any and all legal remedies available in court.
