When Dabo Swinney blindsided Ole Miss with an unprecedented rant alleging them of tampering, Pete Golding chose the higher road ans stayed silent.
It just felt right then. Avoiding any unnecessary drama based off on merely verbal receipts.
However, the claims coming from Fresno State, plus the increasing anxiety surrounding the NCAA's investigation, amplify the stakes for Golding.
The narrative of painting Pete Golding the fall guy for a reportedly much-prevelant gray practice that the NCAA has been overlooking for years is spreading across college football like wildfire.
If the allegations proved true, the NCAA would be looking to make a statement with the punishment they give Golding. It could range anywhere from a single or multiple game ban to a much more serious violation, like getting benched for the foreseeable future.
Pete Golding should pull out his own receipts
For Ole Miss fans, though, all of it would be completely unjust. Golding is taking the fall for something that most other coaches also have their hands dirty with.
Something that has also affected Golding himself much worse than Dabo Swinney.
Just days before the transfer portal closed, term sheets and contracts were leaked in the Ole Miss locker room. The mass exodus that followed was one of the wildest this season, much more damaging than what Swinney claims he suffered from.
The Rebs lost their star players, and then some, as the transfer portal entries reached a whopping 22.
And guess who benefitted the most from the exodus? Everyone has the answer.
In fact, the answer came with the report of the term sheets, rumors that none other than Lane Kiffin did it.
While Kiffin already had the commit from WR Winston Watkins, Kiffin scored three more heavyweight transfers from Ole Miss following the mass exodus.
The list included sopme of the best players in this portal cycle, let alone the best Rebels players, in OL Devin harper, LB TJ Dottery, and Edge Princewill Umanmielen.
No way all that happened on its own. It was too calculated to pass off as a mere coincidence.
Instead of waiting around for the situation to turn dire, Golding should also release some receipts he has of his own of the rumored tampering from Kiffin to altogether shift the blame from him to the real issue: the NCAA's carelessness.