Ole Miss tampering probe hits close to home for USF fans with Alex Golesh

The ongoing probe into whether the University of Mississippi football program is guilty of tampering to get a player from Clemson to transfer to Ole Miss could be the thread that unravels into the sport's next massive controversy.

And in this conspiracy-driven world, it wouldn't be surprising if USF fans raised an eyebrow or two in the direction of Auburn. After all, 13 now-former Bulls transferred there after Alex Golesh left USF to lead the Tigers.

The exodus from Tampa to the Plains started almost immediately after Golesh took the job. It was a stampede after the Transfer Portal opened on January 2. Before anyone shouts AH HAH, though, look at the big picture.

If new USF head coach Brian Hartline suspected any tampering by Golesh, we would have known it by now. Does that mean there weren't ongoing conversations between player agents and Auburn reps about financial arrangements before the portal opened? Of course not.

Even if there was, anyone who pays attention to college football today wouldn't be surprised. Players and their agents are cashing in after the NCAA straitjacket on what they could legally receive while enrolled in school was correctly loosened.

I'm in the corner with those who believe Golesh did a remarkable job at USF. He inherited a program that would have struggled to beat a top high school team and, in three years, turned it into a playoff contender. The USF players who followed Golesh to Auburn saw a chance to upgrade to an SEC program with a coach they knew and trusted.

But a sizeable portion of Bulls Nation felt like a jilted lover when Golesh couldn't beat it out of town fast enough once Auburn called. He was linked with other jobs for most of the season. The week of USF's final regular-season game, a guy in Arkansas jumped the gun and said Golesh was going there. He was wrong, of course, but it meant that other programs were having chats with Golesh's agent while the season was ongoing.

After pounding Rice to close the regular season, Golesh said he planned to sit down with his wife and see what their next move would be. About 90 minutes after that, Golesh's phone rang.

If that discussion with his wife actually happened, I'd guess it went something like this:

"Honey?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh ... wait a second. I gotta take this call. Hello? Auburn! LET'S GOOOOOOO!"

"Honey?"

"Yeah?"

"We're moving to Auburn."

End of discussion.

Yes, he was disingenuous. But, USF recovered quickly by hiring Hartline, and, frankly, that's an upgrade.

That said, the Ole Miss situation is explosive and it is bound to raise suspicion throughout the sport. Back when it wasn't unusual to see multiple SEC football teams on probation, the saying in the conference was that if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying.

Every conference needs to get a handle on this right now because there are multiple ways to tamper. Forget the NCAA -- it's a toothless organization. Leagues like the SEC and Big Ten -- and, yes, the American Conference -- can police this themselves.

Heavy fines. Roster reductions. Public shaming, Suspensions.

Clandestinely trying to lure a player who hasn't entered the portal is the line you can't cross. But who are we kidding? Some programs will just take that as a challenge.