TAMPA, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Unearthed at Ole Miss after an of betrayal, unkept promises and watching college football’s ugly underbelly tearing at the fabric of an institution came this surprise from the new coach there, Pete Golding:
鈥淚 have no ill will toward Coach Kiffin,鈥� Golding said Wednesday at SEC Media Days.
Golding was the up-and-coming defensive coordinator who was asked to pick up the pieces when his old boss, Lane Kiffin, for a seven-year, $91 million deal just as the Rebels were about to embark on their first trip to the College Football Playoff last season.
Partly thanks to the fact that the coach had two of the game’s most explosive players in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, Golding racked up two wins, over Tulane and Georgia, and almost a third.
That made Mississippi’s decision to give him a five-year contract right after Kiffin’s departure look like a stroke of genius. It also gave Golding a spot at the podium in Tampa, where he opened up and became an early favorite to 鈥渨in鈥� the 38th version of the SEC’s annual preseason football gabfest.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the ex, right? There鈥檚 always going to be the history,” said Golding, who is married with three children. “Do you have an ex? Are you married? Well, if you do get married and you have an ex that your wife knows about, like, she doesn鈥檛 ever end; she鈥檚 never dead. She鈥檚 always going to get brought up, and so that鈥檚 kind of where it is right now. That鈥檚 always going to be there a little bit, which is fun to a certain degree.鈥�
Fun, indeed. And it’s no sure thing that Ole Miss is going to take a step back from last year’s 13-2 record and its trip to the national semifinals just because its celebrity coach, Kiffin, has moved west. (By the way, Ole Miss hosts LSU on Sept. 19.)
Chambliss is returning off a 3,900-yard, 22-touchdown season , where he was granted a sixth year of eligibility. Lacy’s 73-yard touchdown run in Mississippi’s CFP loss to Miami capped a playoff stretch that identified him as a first-tier threat. The Rebels have launched Heisman Trophy campaigns for both.
鈥淵ou know they鈥檙e really good players,鈥� Golding said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to talk to you about that. Y’all already know that.鈥�
Golding flicks away questions about tampering allegations
Golding was equally colorful about tampering, a topic the Rebels were drawn into this offseason when Clemson’s Dabo Sweeney accused Ole Miss of unethically , who had barely moved from Cal to Death Valley when he suddenly bailed for Mississippi.
Without getting into details of the Ferelli affair 鈥� which served as a rare example of a coach calling out another coach for tampering 鈥� Golding pointed to one of the key problems about the transfer portal, saying it’s only natural a player would want to know he has a place to go before he leaves his current school. Add agents into the mix, who can easily circumvent rules that prohibit contacting the player, and chaos ensues.
鈥淏y design it鈥檚 put a lot of people in bad positions,鈥� Golding said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 not act like recruiting in college football for the last 100 years is the most moral thing.鈥�
Golding is a new homeowner and it’s Kiffin’s old house
When it comes to ethics and morals, though, the conversation down South seems to funnel back to Ole Miss these days. And Golding and Kiffin.
Kiffin’s move, the pundits say, showed college sports’ money-grubbing opportunistic side at its worst. The intended to regulate the industry includes what’s known as a 鈥淟ane Kiffin Rule” that restricts when coaches can leave for new jobs.
It has made for great headlines. Golding’s reaction to it 鈥� golden, as well. And in a sign that all may truly be forgiven, ESPN reported that not long after Kiffin bailed for Baton Rouge
He said he and Kiffin text frequently, and there’s a friendship there that goes beyond coaching.
鈥淚 can separate the two. Some people can鈥檛,鈥� Golding said. “I probably shouldn鈥檛 say this, but I don鈥檛 care, all right? Like I told an Ole Miss group the other day, 鈥業n 2021, if you said you could look in 2025 and you鈥檙e about to be 11-1 and go to the playoff, would you take it if your coach was leaving?鈥� Hell yeah. You would. Everybody won from it. It鈥檚 OK.鈥�
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up . AP college football: and
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
