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mark schlabach
when number 6 ole miss Will take the field against number 11 on Saturday tulane one in college football playoff first round gameThe Rebels will be led by first-time head coach Pete Golding, whose only activity on the X since January 2023 has been dropping a shark emoji from time to time.
At least the 41-year-old former defensive coordinator is predictable.
It wasn’t always like that with former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin the rebels suddenly left To take on an SEC opponent at the end of the regular season LSUKiffin seems to spend as much time on social media as he does in the minds of opposing defensive coordinators due to his unpredictable playcalling,
That’s not the only difference between the former allies turned rivals.
“I’m not changing who I am,” Golding said during his first session with reporters after being named as Kiffin’s replacement. “I wouldn’t change what I wear. I’m changing.” [not] Going to do yoga… I’m not doing anything like that—. I am who I am.”
According to local reporters, the once shaggy-haired Golding got a haircut after replacing Kiffin and has been more polished at news conferences. But he still has the beard and hat and sometimes has tobacco in his lips. The former Delta State defense remains as competitive as ever.
“You don’t know me well, but I don’t care whether I’m coaching football or playing tennis with my wife,” Golding said. “Like, I’m trying to fuck your ass, okay?”
In the 19 days since taking over the Rebels, Golding has worked hard to convince his players that the postseason isn’t about them — or Kiffin. That didn’t always seem to be the case under Kiffin, especially not when he was simultaneously acting so coolly. Florida And LSU for weeks.
“I think this group is focused on the mission, not the individual,” Golding said.
Still, as Ole Miss prepares to host what will likely be the largest sporting event in state history at Vought-Hemingway Stadium, it will be hard to completely forget Kiffin, who guided the Rebels to the first 11-win regular season in school history.
The Rebels are still running Kiffin’s offense, which led the SEC with 498.1 yards per game and was third in scoring with 37.3 points.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weise Jr., tight ends coach Joe Cox and receivers coach George McDonald boarded a private jet to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the day Kiffin left to join his staff at LSU. However, he has returned to Ole Miss to train in the CFP.
Nearly all of the Rebels’ defensive staff is intact and plan to remain with Golding in 2026; Kiffin’s brother, Chris, was the team’s linebackers coach and went to LSU with him.
Golding, former defensive coordinator utsa And alabamaWeis and others were welcomed back to finish the job they started — even if they’re coaching at one of the Rebels’ biggest rivals in 2026.
Goulding compared the situation to breaking up with a girlfriend and then reuniting with her. Yet even celebrity breakups are not as public and messy as Lane Kiffin’s separation from Ole Miss.
“Obviously, like any situation, you break up with your girlfriend and get back, you’re looking around and you’re seeing things that you probably didn’t see before, and you’re probably seeing some things that were there before, right?” Golding said.
Kiffin wanted to continue coaching the Rebels in the CFP even after informing Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter on November 29 that he was leaving for LSU. Carter and Chancellor Glenn Boyce made it clear to Kiffin that he would not be allowed to coach Ole Miss in the postseason if he accepted a job offer elsewhere.
Sources told ESPN that Kiffin warned his assistants that if they did not go along with him, they would not get the job at LSU.
Nevertheless, Ole Miss officials wanted Cox, McDonald and Weis to return to give the Rebels the best chance to win the CFP national championship.
“I think the big thing for our players, at any level — D-II, Division I, NFL — they want to be with guys that create value for them,” Golding said. “Preparing you to play really well, whether it’s individually, as a group or as a unit. When you get back into a routine, you’re doing it with the same guy who got you 11-1. It doesn’t really matter where he is in January.”
But that doesn’t mean the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry has cooled off. Kiffin moved general manager Billy Glasscock to Baton Rouge, so Goulding hired Austin Thomas, who had been Brian Kelly’s general manager at LSU.
On Tuesday, sources confirmed to ESPN that Goulding is also hiring LSU interim coach Frank Wilson as his running backs coach. Wilson, the so-called “King of New Orleans” for his ability to sign prospects from Louisiana’s most fertile recruiting region, starred at Ole Miss from 2005 to 2007. Wilson will coach LSU against Houston in the Kinder Texas Bowl on December 27.
Golding has a potential opening on his staff as Ole Miss running backs coach Kevin Smith is expected to reunite with Kiffin.
Golding declined to address the reports about Wilson on Wednesday. The school has announced that Golding has hired former East Carolina Offensive coordinator John David Baker and former kentucky Receivers coach L. Damien Washington.
On National Signing Day, the Tigers flipped three high school prospects who previously committed to Ole Miss: tight end jesse andersonreceiver Kori Barber and center Ryan Mirrett,
There’s also a possibility Kiffin and his staff could try to lure the quarterback trinidad chamblistailback kevan lacy and to LSU through the other transfer portal. Chambliss is still awaiting a decision from the NCAA on whether he will be granted another year of eligibility in 2022 after playing only two games at Division II Ferris State.
Ole Miss announced Thursday he linebacker suntaryn perkinsdefensive tackle Will EcholsCenter brisen sanders and defensive back Antonio Kite Committed to returning in 2026.
All of this makes Ole Miss on Saturday feel like the coaching version of “The Hunger Games,” but with mimosas, pimento-cheese sandwiches and Bloody Marys at the famous Grove. Or maybe it’s like the Christmas dinner of dysfunctional relatives, who will go back to bending each other over their knees after the holidays are over.
But the unpredictable uncle who can’t stay away from social media is not coming.
“It’s great that we got this first-round playoff game,” Ole Miss offensive lineman diego pound Said. “With everything else going on, we’ve started to ignore the noise. Just stay locked in. I think it’s good that it’s sports week because everyone is back on track.”
Golding emphasizes that every member of the Ole Miss coaching staff is committed to preparing the Rebels to play and getting the most out of their first CFP appearance.
The winner of Saturday’s game advances to play No. 3. Georgia in the CFP quarterfinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) on New Year’s Day in New Orleans, about 80 miles from the LSU campus in Baton Rouge.
“Any coach asking questions [what he’s doing next season],” Golding said. “Even if they succeed, right? A lot of people want them. Or they are not successful and are about to lose their job. There’s a state of indecision for everyone, including every locker room.”
Ole Miss quarterbacks coach Joe Judge said it’s no different than when NFL assistants and coordinators are preparing to move on to different jobs when they finish the season with their current teams.
Judge, who was the head coach of the New York Giants in 2020–21, said, “I’ve been to a lot of playoff games with guys who are getting ready to take a head coaching job or a coordinator job after the season.” “I’ve coached a lot of players whose contracts expired at the end of that season. You look at everything in the context that it’s our duty as coaches to work together and help the players finish this season, and we’ll deal with all the business later.”
Judge, who spent 10 seasons in various roles with the New England Patriots, has been a good sounding board for Golding as he prepares to be a head coach in charge for the first time. Judge has already signed an extension for Ole Miss to return in 2026.
“It’s really nice from a leadership perspective to have a person who is in the role that I’m in right now, to be able to close the door and bring them in and ask their opinion and say, ‘Hey, how did you do that?’” Golding said. “It’s not that you’re always going to do it this way, but that you have a realistic opinion of someone who has done it.”
One of the biggest changes for Golding on Saturday is him moving from the top of the coaching box down to the Ole Miss sideline. He is still expected to call defensive plays alongside co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach Brian Brown.
Golding called plays from the sideline in his five seasons as Alabama’s defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022 and in his first season at Ole Miss in 2023.
“Initially they thought of it as an interim [coach]He can stay up,” Brown said. “I said, ‘No, brother.’ You have to come down. Now this is your show, right?”
The rebels defeated the Green Wave in a way win 45-10 In Oxford on 20 September. Ole Miss piled up 548 yards of offense and 23 first downs. It was a breakout game for Chambliss, who threw for 307 yards and ran for 112 with two touchdowns.
Tulane didn’t have a star left tackle derrick graham available in that meeting and quarterback jake retzlaffJoe, who did not join the team until July, was still not comfortable with his receivers.
Green Wave (11-2) defeated ACC champion ruler 34-17 to start this season, and have won eight of nine games after losing to Ole Miss North Texas 34–21 in the American Conference championship game.
“We know we’ve done our part,” Golding said. “They always work very hard on defense. We know that’s not normal [AAC] Team. “They’re a very talented team, they’re very well coached and they’ll be excited to play.”
This may be John Sumrall’s final game as Tulane coach. Sumrall took the Florida job after Kiffin declined it. He asked to train the Green Wave through CFP, and the Tulane administration allowed him to do so.
Despite everything at stake, few first-time head coaches have faced more pressure than Goulding to win their first game.
“It’s huge,” Rebels defensive lineman work franklin Said. “We’re doing something that’s never been done. It’s going to be a historic first.” [CFP] game that no school in Mississippi has ever hosted. We’re excited, but that’s part of being a great impact team.”
