Football
Ole Miss coach Pete Golding will embark on his first full year as a head coach next season after succeeding former Rebels coach Lane Kiffin in difficult circumstances last year. Kiffin departed Oxford after leading the Rebels to their best-ever regular season (11-1) and the cusp of the College Football Playoff.
After Kiffin was denied the chance to lead Ole Miss during the playoff, Golding acquitted himself impressively, leading the Rebels to a first-round win against the Tulane Green Wave, a Sugar Bowl win against the Georgia Bulldogs, and a narrow loss to the Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl.
Football Why Analyst Bryan Driskell Predicts Struggles for Pete Golding and Ole Miss
During Monday’s segment of the “Crain & Cone” podcast, Notre Dame insider Bryan Driskell chose Golding’s team as the most overrated preseason team and made a huge prediction about their fortunes next season.
“I think Ole Miss would be mine,” Driskell said. “They’re a team poised to take a step back. I think everything kind of just clicked for them last year and they had a lot of portal losses. Their schedule’s really tough, they had some key losses in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
“I understand why people rank them high, but I have them as a borderline top-20 team as opposed to a top-10 team. It’s not that I’m throwing strays at them, I think Ole Miss is just gonna take a bigger step back.”
In six seasons at the helm of the Rebels, Kiffin established them as a contender, leading Ole Miss to a 55-19 overall record, including four double-digit win seasons and the College Football Playoff last season, raising the expectations for Golding next season.
Golding managed to stem the exodus from Ole Miss to LSU, losing only four players to Kiffin’s Tigers via the transfer portal. In addition, the Rebels’ offense was bolstered by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss winning his eligibility battle for an extra season in college football.
While speaking to reporters on Monday, Golding embraced the expectations facing his Rebels team and revealed how he was preparing his team to cope with the hype next season.
“When you win, you fight complacency and become a target,” Golding said. “Teams circle you on the schedule. Our focus is on daily development, not looking ahead to big games. If we prepare the right way and don’t beat ourselves, we’ll have a chance. Most games are lost, not won. That’s the mindset, we have to play clean, disciplined football every day.”
In one of his biggest tests, Golding will face off against Kiffin next season when the LSU Tigers travel to Oxford on Sept. 19 in one of the most highly anticipated matchups inside what promises to be a volatile Vaught-Hemingway.
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