Over the past few weeks, there has been significant discussion surrounding college football and tampering, sparked by Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney calling out Ole Miss and head coach Pete Golding during a press conference. 

Swinney alleged that Ole Miss/Golding reached out to former Clemson linebacker Luke Ferrelli while he was already out of the transfer portal, enrolled at the University, attending classes, and even participating in team activities. Now, the situation, allegations and evidence are being investigated by the NCAA.

On Wednesday afternoon, South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer was asked about the situation and what penalty might be appropriate once the investigation concludes. While he stopped short of offering a specific punishment, he made it clear he opposes the idea of the issue going without consequences.

“What the penalty should be, that’s for other people to figure out,” Beamer said. “But I believe it should be severe. If we have rules and we’re not going to enforce them, then what the hell do we have rules for? That’s how I see it… I’m sure there’s a gray area that [South Carolina] has been in at some point and ticked off some school.”

The rival coach went on to explain that situations like this have become increasingly common in today’s college football landscape, arguing that the rise of the transfer portal and player representation has blurred the lines of what constitutes tampering.

“We try to do things the right way,” he continued. “There’s a lot happening right now. Every kid in the portal and every kid in America has an agent, and those agents are reaching out to schools. 

“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 the players they represent.”

Beamer even went so far as to say that some of his own players likely had agents in contact with other schools during the season, using his program as an example to show that this isn’t an isolated incident or limited to just one school.

“I’m sure there’s players on our team that have agents that were reaching out to schools back during the season,” Beamer stated. “That’s just the world we live in, so I’m not sitting here saying we’re holier than now. We’ve never done anything wrong. I don’t think we have. But there’s certainly a gray area that’s hard to figure out what’s black and what’s white in so many ways.”

Nevertheless, Beamer continued to acknowledge how the sport currently operates, but used the moment to distance himself and throw a few shots at the allegation involving Golding, stressing that those actions are certainly not how he runs his program.

“But, I can honestly say as a head football coach, I’ve never contacted a guy that’s not in the portal,” he made clear. “Much less put it in a text message, much less ask him, ‘What’s your buyout?” Again, I know what’s reported. I don’t know what’s true, what’s not true… but I know what’s been reported.”

“I would say that myself and every coach in America is sitting around and waiting to see what’s going to happen in regards to that situation because if it’s proven that that did happen, and then nothing happens, then, if you think it’s the Wild Wild West now — just wait.”

Later in the press conference, Beamer once again stood up for his in-state rival on the situation and essentially said that other coaches should acknowledge and call it out publicly, as Dabo did, if they deem it a necessary next step.

“What Dabo did? Yes, absolutely, being able to call it out, and I’m sure he, like other schools, turns stuff in when there’s issues and if there’s issues with something,” the 48-year-old coach said.

Beamer closed his comments by providing context for why going public is often viewed as a last resort, explaining how these situations are typically handled between programs and coaches before reaching that breaking point.

“I’ve had a coach call me if there’s something that he didn’t think was quite right in regards to communication with a player,” he finished. “I’ve called coaches if I didn’t think something was quite right in regards to a player. I think a lot of those conversations happen head coach to head coach.”

“Then, if there’s things that need to be turned into the NCAA or the SEC, we have, but certainly to be able to call someone out publicly like that was the next step, and we’ll see what happens.”