NCAA Is Proposing Significant Punishment For Transfer Violations

Story by

Chris Rosvoglou

Wed, Feb 25, 2026 ·

2 min read

The NCAA might finally take a stand against teams tampering with transfers.

Roughly a month ago, Clemson's Dabo Swinney publicly called out Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding for tampering with one of his players. He shared messages that proved the Rebels were trying to lure linebacker Luke Ferrelli into the transfer portal despite already joining the Tigers on campus.

“This is a whole other level of tampering,” Swinney said. “It’s total hypocrisy. This is a really sad state of affairs. We have a broken system, and if there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules and we have no governance.”

Clearly, Swinney's call for change was heard by the NCAA Division I FBS Oversight Committee. On Wednesday, the committee proposed penalties for teams that add transfers outside of the two-week portal window in January.

The penalties would include the following:

The school's head coach would be banned from all football and administrative duties for six contests. This includes recruiting and team meetings.
The school would receive a fine that's worth 20% of its football budget.
The school would have to reduce its number of roster spots by five for the next season.

Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding runs off the field during warmups before the CFP Fiesta Bowl at the State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.© Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images. — Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding runs off the field during warmups before the CFP Fiesta Bowl at the State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.© Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&period;
(© Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&period;)

Will these penalties be approved?

This proposal from the FBS Oversight Committee will be discussed at the Division I Cabinet meeting in April.

"We felt this was appropriate to place an emphasis on this rule with where we are in Division I football," said Mark Alnutt, the chair of the oversight committee and athletic director at Buffalo. "We have a window for student-athletes to notify their school when they would like to enter the Transfer Portal. If there is movement without going through the process as it is legislated, the committee felt there needed to be significant penalties."

If this proposal gets approved, it'll be effective immediately. We can't wait to see how this plays out.

This story was originally published by The Spun on Feb 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.