The NCAA has already indirectly punished Ole Miss by denying quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’s eligibility waiver twice. Now an SEC coach is calling for “severe” punishments for the Rebels.
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer heard what his instate rival, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, said more than two weeks ago about Ole Miss tampering with linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
“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’ve got a kid who’s going in the portal to sign somewhere, move there, going to classes and you’re texting them while they’re in class. That’s like a whole other level of tampering.”
Swinney said that Clemson turned over all evidence and documentation to the NCAA with the intent of the NCAA investigating and punishing the Rebels. Beamer hopes there is a severe penalty coming because of that.
“What the penalty should be, that’s for other people to figure out, but I believe it should be severe,” Beamer said in a Wednesday press conference. “I mean, if we have rules and we’re not going to enforce them, then what the hell do we have rules for? That’s kind of how I see it.
Shane Beamer was asked about tampering today and consequences for it:
"What the penalty should be, that's for other people to figure out. But I believe it should be severe. If we have rules and we're not going to enforce 'em then what the hell do we have rules for?" pic.twitter.com/J1wgnNtoyy
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) February 4, 2026
“I’m not sitting here in a glass house or whatever. I’m sure there’s a gray area that we’ve been in at some point and ticked off some school. We try and do things the right way. There’s a lot happening right now. Just every kid in the portal, every kid in America, young man, has an agent, and those agents are reaching out to schools.
“That’s happening. I mean, that’s happening during the season, and it’s not just this year. It’s been happening for multiple years, where agents of players at other schools are reaching out to colleges about players they represent. Sure, there’s players on our team that have agents that their agents were reaching out to schools back during the season. That’s just the world we live in.”
“I can honestly say, as a head football coach, I’ve never contacted a guy that’s not in the portal, much less put in a text message, much less asking what’s your buyout? And again, I know what’s reported. I don’t know what’s true, what’s not true, so I’m not going to sit here and claim that I have all the facts, I don’t, but I know what’s been reported. But I would say that myself and every coach in America is sitting around waiting to see what’s going to happen in regard to that situation, because if it’s proven that that did happen, and then nothing happens, then you think it’s the wild wild west now, just wait what it’s going to turn into.”
Taylor’s Take
It’s already there, in my opinion, but Beamer has a point. If tampering is left unchecked, things will get even crazier.
The problem is that, like Beamer said, there is back-and-forth communication between schools and players (or their agents). The same punishment given the Ole Miss, if there’s one given, should also be given to a lot of other schools.
It’s highly unlikely Swinney and Clemson are the only ones that have the evidence, but none have come out publicly like Swinney did. Should those schools turn in their evidence, their punishments should match whatever Ole Miss gets.
I also find it highly unlikely Beamer is as innocent as he says he is, beyond the gray areas every program operates in.
He said “as a head football coach” which is specific enough to ask “what about as an assistant coach?” Also, he’s not doing any of that but what about South Carolina’s General Manager or other assistant coaches?
At the end of the day, that’s the uncomfortable truth Beamer tiptoed around: everyone wants the NCAA to drop the hammer on Ole Miss, but no one wants to admit how many hammers would have to fall if the standard were applied evenly.
Tampering isn’t a Rebel‑specific disease — it’s the cost of doing business in a sport where agents, assistants, and back‑channels operate nonstop. If the NCAA really wants to make an example of someone, fine. But pretending Ole Miss is the lone villain in a system built on winks and gray areas isn’t enforcement. It’s selective outrage, and the sport has more than enough of that already.
