Ole Miss Rebels football sent an assessment that puts all the pressure on Pete Golding and Trinidad Chambliss

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Ole Miss Rebels football sent an assessment that puts all the pressure on Pete Golding and Trinidad Chambliss originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Ole Miss Rebels football coach Pete Golding has what CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford deems a team with an open championship window in 2026, given the return of quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.

Crawford believes there are still issues elsewhere, though, including the loss of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. to the LSU Tigers during Lane Kiffin’s hostile raid of the Rebels. In fact, Crawford fully put the pressure on Ole Miss’s leadership – Golding, because the “volatility” is high within the program relative to other SEC contenders, and Chambliss, because he has to make the new receiving corps work.

“Roster turnover may finally catch up to the Rebels in several critical areas, but Pete Golding's portal strategy deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. That's why Ole Miss lands at No. 4 here as the final projected SEC playoff team. That said, volatility feels more likely in Oxford than at the three programs ahead of the Rebels exiting spring. Watch the wide receiver replacements closely, including Horatio Fields, Darrell Gill Jr. and Johntay Cook. Ole Miss must replace significant production there,” Crawford wrote.

Crawford had the University of Mississippi at No. 4 in his SEC post-spring rankings, behind the Tigers at No. 3, the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 2, and the Texas Longhorns at No. 1 overall.

Ole Miss has a one-year window to keep hope alive in Oxford

You could see the headlines now if Golding doesn’t maintain a high standard from last season with many of the team’s core components, not just with offensive skill-position players, either.

Kiffin and his assistants will be deemed the reason the Rebels were ever in a position to make the CFP and advance to within one game of the championship game. Weis will especially get credit if Chambliss and Co. don’t touch their No. 2 rank in the FBS in total offense (489.7 yards per game) and No. 3 rank in the SEC for scoring offense (36.9 points per game). Golding will be seen as a lame duck who can’t do much with the resources gathered and earned by his predecessor.

There’s a lot of hope riding on what Ole Miss can accomplish this season. That urgency could either fuel something great or weigh down the locker room as it chases the ghosts of Kiffin’s past glory in Oxford.

That Week 3 game against LSU feels like the bellwether game for the whole year, though the Louisville Cardinals in Week 1 shouldn’t be looked past, either. Ohio State Buckeyes transfer Lincoln Kienholz takes over under center, while difference-making guard and Boston College Eagles transfer Eryx Daugherty will spruce up a run game with elite RB Isaac Brown back in the fold.

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