It was a long wait for Ole Miss fans to get the dirt on the Luke Ferrelli saga from Pete Golding, but he made it worth it.
There was a vengeful, haunting familiarity to the scene. Golding stood there on the podium with that same 'try me' energy Dabo Swinney had before he went nuclear on Ole Miss in January, ready to level anyone in his path.
Pete Golding's side of the Luke Ferrelli tampering allegations
The only difference? Golding choose the higher road.
"There's two sides to every story. I'm not going to sit up here and use the podium as a grandstand and all of that. That's why there is enforcement. That's why we have our compliance office. They do all that," Golding said on Wednesday in what was easily his most stone-cold response to date.
In his side of the story, Golding argued that Ferrelli was involved with the Rebels long before Swinney's timeline alleges.
"The bottom line with the recruitment of Luke, he came here on an official visit prior to the Fiesta Bowl," Golding added. "I told him, 'I want you to be our green-dot mike, but right now we've got a green-dot mike. And that spot's not going to be available until we have one available."
Golding’s recruitment of Ferrelli wasn't just about a roster spot; he wanted him as the 'green dot' Mike, hand-delivering the helmet-to-sideline comms usually reserved for veteran anchors.
The unavailable spot opened up on Jan. 16 as TJ Dottery followed Lane Kiffin to LSU, vacating the spot.
Bottom line: "(Ferrelli) is a kid that wanted to be here. We wanted him to be here. At the end of it, he came over and he's here right now."
The NCAA is expected to move in, but doing so could ignite a college football-wide firestorm. Between protests and the calls for a rulebook overhaul, it’s a hornet's nest the NCAA isn't ready to poke just yet.