Ole Miss and Louisville coordinator matchups
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At the core of previews for a season-opening game, you’ll find a list of players who will likely have prominent roles, followed a lot of who knows what will actually happen.
Ole Miss and Louisville have plenty of players with talent and experience, but they’ve never competed when it matters with their current respective groups. Will there be communication problems, chemistry issues, bad matchups, a lack of understanding roles, and an inability to adapt on the fly?
As you might suspect, the answer to that is a big ol’ who knows. We’ll find out on Sunday night.
Of the known quantities, we could regurgitate most of the Ole Miss roster and key Louisville players, but I wanted to take a look at coordinators for both teams. These four guys will be responsible for dialing up ball plays, countering the moves of their counterparts, and keeping their players and other coaches from freaking out.
Pete Golding vs. Jeff Brohm
If I had a research staff that wasn’t just me googling until I get tired, I would drop in a stat right here about two head coaches who are also coordinators and call plays directly against each other. No idea what that stat would be, but I’m sure it would be interesting.
Golding will call the defense for Ole Miss, which he’s done since 2023. That is also the year Brohm became head coach/offensive coordinator at Louisville.
Both men have nearly two decades of experience in directing their groups, and their paths have crossed twice prior to Sunday night’s game.
In 2012, Brohm was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UAB, while Golding was the defensive coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana. On October 6th of that season, the two teams stepped into the rectangular circle of Legion Field.
The Blazers pasted the Lions 52-3 and piled up 512 yards of offense (356 through the air). Granted, the Lions were (and still are) an FCS team, but that UAB team went 3-9.
And in an even wilder stat, do you know who the quarterback was for Southeastern Louisiana that day (and season)?
NATHAN STANLEY.
He finished 10 of 23 for 78 yards and 1 interception. JUST LIKE A LATE-STAGE HOUSTON NUTT QUARTERBACK SHOULD PERFORM.
[brief pause to lie down after thinking about Nathan Stanley and the 2010 Ole Miss season]
In 2015, Brohm was the head coach/offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky, and Golding was the defensive backs coach at Southern Mississippi. In the Conference USA Championship Game on December 5th, the Hilltoppers defeated the Golden Eagles 45-28, while throwing for 410 yards.
Obviously, Golding wasn’t calling plays against Brohm in that game, but he got another real good look at what Brohm’s offense could do to a defense.
If Pete Golding is the football psychopath I think he is, he most certainly remembers both of those games and not being able to stop the bleeding. Probably has it written down on a wall somewhere. Like an actual load-bearing wall not meant for writing.
Finally, I am pleased to report no former Ole Miss players that would make me scream in ALL CAPS played quarterback for either team that day.
John David Baker vs. Mark Ivey
As we know, Baker spent the last two seasons as East Carolina offensive coordinator where he revived a terrible Pirates offense into a mostly functional unit, though one with flaws. The main concern about Baker is whether he can be the guy while under more pressure and coaching against elite coaches and players.
And that’s not commentary on his time at East Carolina. As of this writing, we literally do not know how it will go for him and his offense in 2026.
Ivey, who has been on staff at Louisville since 2019*, was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in February, along with Steve Ellis. Though the two share the title, Ivey will call the defense during games.
*DL coach ‘19-’22; LB coach ‘23-’25
What’s interesting about Ivey is the last time he was a defensive coordinator was in 2001 (!!!) when he coached at Gulf Coast High School in Naples, Florida. Uh, that is OF NOTE.
Look, Ivey may turn out to be great, but an internal promotion for a guy who has never been a defensive coordinator at any college level screams David Cutcliffe Era Ole Miss Defensive Coordinator™. In Cutcliffe’s defense, he never did that, but he did hire a guy who washed out of college coaching and was in the CFL when he called.
Also of note, Ivey’s co-coordinator, Steve Ellis, has been a defensive coordinator before, but it was over a decade ago:
- Nicholls State 2006-08
- Middle Tennessee State 2011-14 (co-DC ‘12-’14)
Granted, I don’t have my fingers on the pulse of Louisville football, but it seems odd that Brohm, who is 28-12 (16-8) in three seasons there, didn’t (or couldn’t) hire a defensive coordinator with more experience. The point being, if he had a mediocre record and was in hot seat territory, I could see difficulties in finding an outside hire willing to take that career risk, but that’s not an issue here.
Based on my reading of Louisville internet, Ivey is well thought of internally and among fans, but the program seems like it’s above being a training ground for first-year defensive coordinators.
However, as the theme of yet another preview, who knows.
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