What no Ole Miss coaching search after Pete Golding promotion means for Rebels in CFP
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OXFORD — Ole Miss football center Brycen Sanders didn’t act like he’d just received devastating news when he walked out of the Manning Center on a blustery Nov. 30 day.
He and his teammates left the Ole Miss team facility about 20 minutes after a 1 p.m. team meeting. Sanders broke the silence to a group of bundled up reporters and fans near the parking lot wanting news about coach Lane Kiffin.
“We’re going to the natty, baby,” Sanders whooped before getting into his vehicle. Enthusiastic fans hollered support back.
As Ole Miss football players trickled out of the glass-enclosed lobby, news leaked too. Kiffin was taking the job at LSU. There would be no coaching search. Pete Golding, Ole Miss’ defensive coordinator since 2023, would take over as permanent head coach.
From outside the Manning Center, the unfolding of the past 24 hours seemed like devastating news. Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1 SEC) has won 11 games for the first time in school history.
The Rebels have locked in a spot in their first-ever College Football Playoff and the coach who got them there will be building a bitter rival’s program when the CFP is played. But people leaving the meeting didn’t act devastated that Golding got the promotion.
Linebacker TJ Dottery let a “Hotty Toddy” out before climbing into his car.
What no coaching search means for Ole Miss
Golding can fire up a room. In his press conferences with media, he’s upbeat and engaging. Not shy about mixing in a curse word or two.
Promoting Golding to permanent head coach shows Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter’s belief in him. No interim coach label. No coaching search. No trying to hire Rhett Lashlee from SMU or Brent Key from Georgia Tech or someone else.
“Today’s team meeting was a clear indicator of his ability to galvanize our squad,” Carter said in a statement about Golding. “All of our players and coaches are ecstatic and ready to lock arms for a playoff run.”
Golding is from Hammond, Louisiana. He’s been coaching since 2007 but has never gotten a head coaching job. Now if the Rebels can hang on to a top-8 seed to host a CFP game, Golding will coach in what Kiffin said would be the biggest sporting event in Mississippi history.
“We could not be more excited to announce Pete Golding as the next head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels,” Carter said. “His tenure will begin immediately as he leads our program in the pursuit of a national title.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football ditches coaching search, promotes Pete Golding
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