Ole Miss Rebels head coach Pete Golding has large shoes to fill, as the man he’s replacing, Lane Kiffin, led the Rebels to the College Football Playoff in his final season with the program.

The book is still out on whether Golden can replicate Kiffin’s success, but he’s already dealing with some drama, just like his predecessor had become accustomed to. Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney accused the Rebels program of tampering in order to poach star linebacker Luke Ferrelli and reported it to the NCAA.

“Listen, this guy has been a head coach for four weeks,” Swinney said over the winter. “I said, ‘You reach out to the GM. I’m going to give him some grace. And you let him know that we know what’s going on, and if he doesn’t cease communication, I’m going to turn him in.’ I really thought that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t…

“There’s tampering. And then, there’s blatant tampering. 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 ‘nother level of tampering.”

Golding breaks his silence

Now, Golding is addressing the allegations.

“Obviously, I think there’s two sides to every story,” Golding said, via The Spun. “I’m not going to sit up here and use the podium as a grandstand and all that. That’s why there is enforcement.

“That’s why we have a compliance office, that they do all that. So, the bottom line, the recruitment of Luke, he came on an official visit prior to the Fiesta Bowl, and I told him, ‘Hey, I want you to be our green-dot Mike, but right now we got a green-dot Mike. And that spot’s not going to be available until we have one available.’

“So, I want you. He wants to be here. I said, ‘But right now there ain’t a spot available. So, if that spot becomes available, it’s yours.’ It’s a kid that wanted to be here, that we wanted to be here, that at the end of it, came open, and he’s here, and we’re happy to have him.”

The NCAA’s investigation into the matter is still ongoing, but it feels as if it gets harder by the year for it to enforce its rules. Still, that hasn’t stopped the governing body from imposing new, harsh penalties for ‘ghost’ transfers.