Golding Inherits Kiffin's Ole Miss — Roster, House and All — SkimNews
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- Pete Golding was named Ole Miss head coach on Nov. 30 after Lane Kiffin left for LSU, having first tried to talk Kiffin out of departing and then walking into athletic director Keith Carter's office to declare "I want this."
- Golding steered the Rebels to two College Football Playoff wins — over Tulane in the first round and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl — before a semifinal loss to Miami, racking up postseason victories before ever coaching a regular-season game.
- Golding literally bought Kiffin's Oxford home, and Kiffin said he watched Golding's movements via the Ring camera he never uninstalled; Kiffin joked afterward that Golding should swap it out.
- Golding keeps two notebooks — "because of," cataloging what coaches like Nick Saban and Kiffin did right, and "in spite of," listing practices he'll drop, including Kiffin's sideline basketball-dunk celebrations after big plays.
- Golding hired John David Baker, a Kiffin protégé who was on the Ole Miss staff from 2021-23, as his offensive play-caller, opting for continuity over a clean break with the previous regime.
- Golding faces tampering allegations from Clemson over linebacker Luke Ferrelli's recruitment; he has neither admitted nor denied involvement but told reporters the controversy is overblown and warned the NCAA would find far worse if it started snooping.
- Ole Miss opens the 2026 season against Louisville (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) with a Week 3 trip to Kiffin's LSU widely seen as the emotional referendum on whether the program is truly Golding's now.
Why it matters: Golding inherits a roster that just won two CFP games, but every result this season will be measured against the Kiffin standard — athletic director Keith Carter admitted as much, saying Kiffin "did take a lot of the focus off the players." With two coordinators loyal to the old regime and a Week 3 LSU trip framed as a referendum, Golding's program-defining wins and losses will all land in Kiffin's orbit until he produces them with his own recruits.
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