By Matt AudiletShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe Ole Miss Rebels quickly found their full-time head coaching replacement for Lane Kiffin after he left the program for LSU on Sunday, hiring defensive coordinator Pete Golding for the team's upcoming College Football Playoff run and beyond.
Like Kiffin, Golding got his most valuable coaching experience as a coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama from 2018-2022. The 41-year-old coach took over as the defensive coordinator in Oxford before the 2023 college football season, joining Kiffin's staff.
Despite his status as a first-time head coach, Ole Miss is confident in Golding's ability to lead the program moving forward.
"We could not be more excited to announce Pete Golding as the next head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels," athletic director Keith Carter wrote in a statement on Sunday. "His tenure will begin immediately as he leads our program in the pursuit of a national title. Today's team meeting was a clear indicator of his ability to galvanize our squad. All of our players and coaches are ecstatic and ready to lock arms for a playoff run."
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ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum isn't quite as confident.
During an appearance with "Get Up" on Monday morning, Finebaum said Golding is "far inferior" to Kiffin as the Rebels embark on their College Football Playoff run.
...More Football: Ole Miss AD Releases Statement After Head Coaching Announcement
Finebaum believes the CFP selection committee will take Golding's inexperience into account when revealing its final rankings.
"Now the difference is you would have had Lane Kiffin as your head coach. Now you have Pete Golding," Finebaum said. "Anybody heard of him? Not really. Is he a better coach than Lane Kiffin? No, he’s a far inferior coach, but he still has the same team. So what does he get out of that team? I think they should stay where they are, but I don’t trust this committee to do that.”
Ole Miss just finished up its best regular season in program history, notching an 11-1 record. Now under the guidance of Golding, the Rebels will look to finish the job without Kiffin at the helm.
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