- - Pete Golding has no message for Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss doubters: 'I don't have s*** to say to anybody else'

Andy BackstromJanuary 8, 2026 at 2:38 AM

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Pete Golding has guided Ole Miss through the latest of Lane Kiffin's messy head-coaching departures and piloted a galvanized Rebels program to its first two College Football Playoff victories.

He went from defensive coordinator to head coach on Nov. 30 after Kiffin abruptly ended his six-season run in Oxford to head to Baton Rouge and take the reins at LSU.

That left a then-11-win Ole Miss team enjoying the best season in school history in the spotlight of one of college football's most controversial stories, with NIL money, a poorly timed transfer portal window and, of course, poached coaches at the center of the madness.

Golding has been asked about the chaos repeatedly.

He emphasized Wednesday ahead of his sixth-seeded Rebels' Fiesta Bowl CFP semifinal showdown versus 10th-seeded Miami that he believes every year is pretty chaotic, and that if Kiffin's departure was going to happen, there actually couldn't have been a better time.

He challenged the narrative that's obsessed over Ole Miss' postseason circumstances, especially when he was asked at his joint news conference with Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal if he has a message for Kiffin and Rebels doubters who didn't think they could make a run at a national title without Kiffin.

"Yeah, I don't have a message for anybody else," Golding said.

"I think our team had a message. They had a message about how they prepared and how they play and that they weren't tired of playing."

Golding, who had served as Ole Miss' DC since 2023 leading up to his promotion, said that if he had a message it'd be about the importance of team over everything else.

"I'm replaceable, you're replaceable, our players are replaceable," he said. "I think you want to build a program to where it's heading in the right direction and one person, one player or anything like that's not going to derail that.

"There's been too much invested in that, and it's been aligned correctly that one person is not going to impact something so drastically. If it is, it's probably not built right. If one coach in any sport can determine the outcome of it, he probably doesn't have a very good staff. I mean, if one player can determine the outcome of it, we probably didn't recruit and create the right depth."

An impassioned Golding continued: "It's a team game. I mean, there's so many people that go into it. So the timing of when it happened, in my opinion, it couldn't happen at a better time for the players because everything was already in place. Everything was on the track. It's headed the right direction. We got really good players. There was already a culture created. They knew the expectation. The only thing that was different is who's running them out the tunnel. And to be honest with you, I don't think the players give a damn who runs them out the tunnel."

Ole Miss HC Pete Golding keeps it real 🗣️💯 pic.twitter.com/Oh20Eapulw

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Golding drove home the point that, more than anything, players care about their plan, about being held accountable and about people who care about them.

"I think that's been the message our players have created," Golding said. "I don't have s*** to say to anybody else."

Golding has appeared unfazed by his shapeshifting coaching staff, which has featured assistants who are following Kiffin to LSU.

The 41-year-old Golding started his coaching career at Division II Delta State in Cleveland, Mississippi. Eventually he moved up to the FCS, where he coached at Southeastern Louisiana.

Long before he was coordinating Nick Saban's defense at Alabama, he was dealing with far fewer resources on much smaller staffs.

"We got six coaches in Division II," Golding said Wednesday. "You're the strength and conditioning coach, you're the academic coordinator, you got to coach.

"I walk in the offensive room this morning, and there's nine guys that have been here all year in there, and there's four more added to it. There's 13 guys in an offensive staff room. ... I think we have enough guys to be able to coach and know the system and do it the right way."

Golding confirmed that two of four assistants who coached Ole Miss in a Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal win over Georgia and are part of Kiffin's new staff at LSU won't be with the Rebels in Thursday's game against Miami. Tight ends coach/co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox and wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator George McDonald will not coach for Ole Miss, whereas offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and running backs coach Kevin Smith are still on board.

Golding explained that there's been "constant communication," and that he's understanding of Cox and McDonald's competing interests.

"They have another job that is paying them, and they have a responsibility," Golding said. "And at this time, the way the calendar is now, and I wasn't going to get into this, but they're trying to — they have 35 guys that are in the portal, and they have to build a team [at LSU].

"So, obviously, do they want to be here? You're damn right they do. But again, I mean the situation that it is, right, they've got a job to do, and they've got to build a team where they're at. And where the window is right now, we've made it when it's in the semifinals of the national championship."

Golding later noted: "To answer your question, yes, we've got plenty of people."

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Source: “AOL Sports”