Dabo Swinney said LSU coach Lane Kiffin had "zero" to do with his allegation that Ole Miss tampered with one of his recruits. Evan Bernstein / Getty ImagesSept. 2, 2026 Updated Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney downplayed a report Wednesday that first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin shared insight into a tampering allegation against his former program, Ole Miss.“Lane Kiffin had nothing to do with that. Zero,” Swinney said during a news conference. “I was turning that in the moment he left.”The tampering allegation in question centers on Luke Ferrelli, a linebacker who transferred from Cal to Clemson in the offseason. Shortly after he arrived at Clemson, Ferrelli re-entered the portal and landed at Ole Miss. Swinney publicly blasted the Rebels and reported them to the NCAA.An excerpt from the forthcoming book, “Lane being Lane,” published Wednesday by CBS Sports, said Kiffin “passed along information … to help Swinney in his crusade against (Rebels coach Pete) Golding and Ole Miss.” Kiffin left the Rebels after the regular season — and before the College Football Playoff — to take over rival LSU.Swinney said that Kiffin did indeed reach out — but so did several other coaches. Clemson, Swinney said, didn’t need or use information that came from other outside sources because it had enough to report on its own.“I ain’t into none of that (hearsay),” Swinney said. “I don’t care about any of that. I didn’t share nothing with anybody other than this is what happened at my school and gave the exact timeline, and that’s it.”Kiffin’s No. 11 Tigers host Clemson on Saturday. Two weeks later, Kiffin returns to Ole Miss in one of the most anticipated games of the season.