“Whoop His A–”: Pete Golding Adds to Lane Kiffin’s Misery With Blunt Ole Miss Statement

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Ahead of the (2-1) LSU Tigers vs the Texas A&M Aggies game, Ole Miss HC Pete Golding’s comments on beating Lane Kiffin have further amplified last week’s win. On The Rich Eisen Show, the HC admitted he never viewed the LSU game as the Rebels’ Super Bowl, but there was something personal about facing his former colleague.

“It was there, a feeling after the game that you are excited. You’re damn right. Whether I’m playing Kiffin in pickleball or football, I’m trying to whoop his a**,” Golding said. “So there was that piece of it. After it, I was excited for our players and our administration, you know, and our staff who put a lot into it.”

That blunt admission adds a layer to an already emotional week in Oxford because Golding spent much of the aftermath of Ole Miss’ 32-24 victory over LSU insisting that the game was not bigger than the rest of the season.

That did not mean he was going to hide how satisfying it was to beat Kiffin, the coach who left Ole Miss for LSU. This opened the door for Golding to take over the program. The two teams then met as top-10 AP-ranked teams for the first time in over 60 years.

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Golding made the distinction clear as the game mattered and he just did not want it to become the definition of his first season as Ole Miss’ head coach.

“I didn’t look at it as the Super Bowl,” Golding added on Eisen’s show. “I said that before, and that’s the truth. I didn’t look at it like he’s my big brother and all that type of stuff.”

Instead, Golding said his experience at Alabama helped him approach the moment differently. After spending five and a half years in Tuscaloosa and being around some of college football’s biggest games, he said the focus had to remain on preparation and execution. Still, the coach could acknowledge the emotion once the game was over.

That part of the quote probably says more about Golding’s competitive nature than any lingering issue with Kiffin. The Rebels had spent months preparing for the possibility of this game, and the situation made it impossible to treat it like an ordinary September game. But Golding also acknowledged LSU.

“I think beating any good team and any good football coach, and I put Kiffin in that category, you know, and it was no different than playing Kirby in the Sugar Bowl, man,” Golding added. “I mean, when you play good teams that are coached really well, like you got to get them prepared and you got to make good decisions, but your players got to go out there and execute at a high level.”

Kiffin returned to Oxford for the first time since leaving Ole Miss for LSU in November 2025, shortly before the Rebels began their College Football Playoff run. Golding, who had been the defensive coordinator, took over as head coach and guided Ole Miss through a Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia.

By the time LSU arrived in Oxford, both teams were ranked in the top 10. Ole Miss entered No. 8, LSU No. 7, and more than 70,000 fans packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for one of the most anticipated games of the season.

The Rebels then built a 24-7 halftime lead before LSU fought back to tie the game. Trinidad Chambliss eventually put Ole Miss back in front with a 14-yard touchdown run, while Jaylon Braxton sealed the victory with an interception in the end zone. Chambliss finished with 363 passing yards and two touchdown passes in the win.

That made Golding’s statement afterward particularly interesting. He was clearly happy to beat Kiffin and simply refused to let that happiness change the bigger picture.

“And for that reward, we get to go play Florida in the Swamp as a top-25 team,” Golding told Eisen. “So congratulations.”

Ole Miss is 3-0 after beating LSU, but Florida awaits next in a road game. The Rebels have bigger ambitions than one September night in Oxford, even if that night came with a little extra satisfaction for their new head coach.

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