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Pete Golding mostly avoided the question the first time he was asked about tampering, saying he didn’t want to get into his “feelings. But when the subject came up again, he couldn’t resist.
Speaking Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa, Golding stopped short of addressing the allegations directly. He did, however, assert that NCAA rules might put unrealistic restraints on players looking to transfer, the kind of restraints that wouldn’t be accepted in any job market.
“Let me put it to you this way, OK?,” Golding said. “So obviously you’re a reporter, tight. Would you quit your job before interviewing for another job or being offered another job? No, no, no. Nobody would, but we have a (transfer) portal that you can go in with a ‘Do Not Contact’ [tag]. I’m gonna quit my job where I’m getting paid, and I’m gonna go in saying, ‘I need a new job,’ but nobody can call me to interview.
“What have we created? So we’ve created it on top of representation for these players. Right. That it’s their responsibility to make sure they get paid really well and they also have opportunities. So by design, it’s put a lot of people in bad positions.”
The first-year Ole Miss head coach has become the face of tampering in college football, largely because of allegations brought forth in January by Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. Linebacker Luke Ferrelli transferred twice in the offseason, from California to Clemson, and then to Ole Miss after Swinney said Golding coaxed him back into the portal once he’d already enrolled in classes — which would be a blatant violation of NCAA rules.
In May, it was revealed that the NCAA had investigated Swinney’s claims, though the results of that investigation have not yet been released.
Golding had plenty to say on the subject Tuesday. He noted that the types of things of which he is being accused have been going on in college football for decades. And he questioned why players are held to different standards than coaches, who can leave for new jobs more or less at will (though they do have contracts with buyouts, which not all players do).
“Let’s not act like recruiting in college football for the last hundred years is the most moral thing that’s ever been existed,” Golding said. “I mean, like, what are we talking about here? … I mean, the model obviously has been broken, and I’m all for everybody being on the same playing field and doing the same things. I get it.
“But I think that’s in any job. Like coaches, we’re under contract. You don’t think other ADs are calling us during the year? (The) same ones that are bitching about all this stuff, are the same ones calling coaches to come to other schools. So it’s everywhere. It’s in every profession. So I’m not saying I’ve got all the answers. I’m not saying that at all.”
Golding then argued that many in college football have taken an “everybody does it anyway” attitude when it comes to tampering and have “gone along to get along,” using a driving analogy to illustrate his point.
“We go by the rules of the program, right?,” Golding said. “And go with the flow. Just like when you’re on the interstate and people are flying by you, what do you start doing? You’re damn right or you’re gonna get hit, right? Does that make sense in this profession? You’re gonna get fired, right?
“… College football is constantly changing, all those type of things. So hopefully we’ll all decide on what’s fair for everybody.”
Here’s full video of Golding’s tampering response:
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