Rules for thee, not me. Hypocritical Ole Miss in middle of NIL dispute | Opinion

They’ve won every possible way since being stood up at the alter. 

In the court of public opinion, and the court of judge shopping. 

By retaining the two most important players on the roster, and beating their tormentor for them in the process. 

By being jilted by Lane Kiffin, a coach who’s equal parts rare ability and loose cannon. And being saved by a lovable everyman Pete Golding, a coach who seemingly wins the day every time he opens his mouth.

Why in the world would Ole Miss push it now? 

We’re all addicted to the Lane Kiffin show as LSU coach rules SEC media days

No one wanted Bill Belichick before UNC called. Disaster was inevitable

Why would the university — riding a hot streak on and off the field since Kiffin decided last December that Ole Miss wasn’t good enough and LSU was — decide to sue two payers who they say broke NIL deals and left to follow Kiffin to LSU?

I get it. In this upside-down world of no accountability for players and NIL deals, where a player can transfer from one school, be enrolled in classes at his new school, and accept another offer from another school and transfer again — ahem, Ole Miss? — someone at some point has to take responsibility for his actions. 

Ole Miss thinks it should be edge Princewill Umanmielen and guard Devin Harper, two former Rebels players who are now projected starters for LSU. Both left Ole Miss after a last-minute loss to Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals. 

And after both, Ole Miss says, signed NIL deals with the Rebels days earlier.

The school’s publicist rolled out a timeline and details to anyone interested in hearing their side of the beef. Weird how there was no timeline and details for Luke Ferrelli’s departure from Clemson and arrival at Ole Miss. 

But that’s another story for another lingering argument about tampering. Of which, by the way, Golding absolutely crushed at SEC media days while defending the Rebels’ pursuit of Ferrelli.

But instead of merrily going along its way and taking another win in the offseason, Ole Miss decided to get greedy. 

It’s not enough that quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was given an extra year of eligibility by a hometown judge, which was eventually upheld by — I’m not making this up — the state of Mississippi Supreme Court. 

Not enough that star tailback Kewan Lacy reportedly turned down more money from LSU and Kiffin to stay at Ole Miss. 

Not enough that Ole Miss proved it could win on the big stage without Kiffin, and still be a force in procuring talent from the transfer portal.

Ole Miss just had to go down this road of petty petulance. 

I have no problem forcing Umanmielen and Harper to pay back any money given to them from the time signed with Ole Miss, to the time they entered the transfer portal and signed with LSU. But to enforce a breach of contract fees of $550,000 and $400,000, respectively, and include attorney fees and court costs, looks like a wildly spiteful decision. 

It also has the stinging aftertaste of rules for thee, but not for me. 

I don’t care that Ferrelli hadn’t yet officially signed his NIL deal with Clemson. Ole Miss swooped in and offered him more money, and took him — out of classes — from Clemson. So the argument rules are made to be followed rings as hollow as Kiffin’s declaration he wasn’t saying minority players didn’t want to play in Oxford, he was simply relaying the message to Vanity Fair that parents of recruits told him that.

As the brilliant sage Marcia Brady once said, “Sure, Jan.” 

“The University of Mississippi has a responsibility to enforce its contractual terms,” Ole Miss said in a released statement, “and this position is consistent with the actions of other institutions in the current landscape of college athletics.” 

The good folks in Oxford may want to ask Clemson about that one.

There’s bad karma around the corner with this thing, just waiting to leap out and bite Ole Miss. The Rebels have climbed nearly all the way to the top of the college football ladder since Kiffin’s messy departure, both on the field and in the court of public opinion. 

But as they say in the south: the higher you get on the ladder, the more your ass shows.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rules for thee, not me. Hypocritical Ole Miss in middle of NIL dispute | Opinion