Golding Challenges Will Echoles, Kam Franklin to Pull Teammates to ‘The Standard’

OXFORD, Miss. — Week 4 wasn’t a pretty showing by any means for Ole Miss in all three phases during its 24-point loss to Florida, marking its first of the season, but particularly defensively more than anything else.

The Rebels surrendered nearly 500 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns, with five scores coming in the second half, to Florida’s offense. The most glaring issue for Ole Miss’ defense was its inability to defend the run, allowing over 300 rushing yards.

In his postgame interview in Gainesville, head coach Pete Golding was candid about his defense’s struggles, alluding to their bye week as a period of self-reflection and reevaluation.

Standout defensive tackle Will Echoles relayed those same sentiments during the Rebels’ bye week.

“Right now it’s kind of like a self-reflect week. Right now we’re just focused on us. PG made it very simple in the meetings,” Echoles said following Tuesday’s bye week practice. “It’s about striking blocks, getting off blocks (and) making plays. I feel like sometimes as a defense we try to play too perfect. Trying to do all the right things right, instead of being instinctual. Today PG, it was all about just keys and reads, attacking blocks, coming off the ball — just finding the ball and being relentless in our pursuit to the ball. Just getting back to the old days like we were in peewee, you’re just out there playing. Playing fast, fearless and physical. We’re just trying to get back to that standard.”

“As you watch the film, we just put a lot of L.O.V.E on film — lack of violence. It’s just something (that) starts during the week. It’s a mindset too. We gotta be determined and willing to tackle the ball carrier. Strike blocks that start with my position group, so we gotta be better at that. But it just gotta be ‘want to’. I mean, PG can call all the calls, but if we’re not going out there and executing our job, or just having that ‘want to’ to get the ball carrier on the ground and just be determined to stop the opposing offense, then it’s never going to work.”

Coach's Challenge

Jan 8, 2026; Glendale, AZ, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive line coach Randall Joyner against the Miami Hurricanes in CFP. — Jan 8, 2026; Glendale, AZ, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive line coach Randall Joyner against the Miami Hurricanes during the 2026 Fiesta Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

According to Echoles, Golding and defensive line coach Randall Joyner have challenged him and Kam Franklin to pull teammates to their playing level standard. Without Echoles and Franklin, there’s a real case to be made that Ole Miss’ run defense would be the worst in the country.

It already ranks dead last in the SEC going into Week 5.

“My season, it’s been good, (but) I’m still getting started. We got some big time games coming up, so I’m excited to play them. For me, it’s just about getting the guys beside me playing to the level that I know I’m capable of playing at,” Echoles added. “That’s a big thing PG talked about, Coach Joyner talked about — Me and Kam just pulling guys to the level and to the standard that we need to play at.

It’s a lead by example thing, but it starts on Tuesdays. We’re only as good as our scout team, so getting a better look, but it’s on us. We got to create our own energy, especially on the road when got your (opposing) crowd. It’s a tough environment to play in, The Swamp, probably the toughest place I’ve played in since I’ve been in college. You got to create your own energy and that starts up front. Making plays — all it takes is one big spark play to get the team rolling.”

As for the Gators’ success on the ground throughout Saturday’s loss, Echoles believes Ole Miss should’ve ‘been better prepared’, but that the Rebels’ lack of physicality remains the point of emphasis for the rest of the season.

“I feel like they did a great job with their scheme, how they attacked us in the C area. We just gotta be more physical, honestly. Point blank period.If you watch the film, you can see it’s just a lack of being physical (and) guys trading one-for-one blocks,” Echoles explained. “Just to get them on the ground, you gotta be determined. I ain’t going to say they just did nothing special. I mean, when you miss 10+ tackles when you have 200 yards after contact, you supposed to have that many rushing yards, you supposed to look that good. It’s all on us, just getting our job done.”

“I mean, hell, we lost. You never want to lose, especially a game I feel like we could’ve won, could’ve been more competitive (and) could’ve been more physical. Ain’t many teams going to be better than us up front or as a defense or as a team. When you drop one, an important one on the road, it stings a little bit…We could’ve been better prepared this past week, but like I said, it’s a ‘want to’ thing. You gotta want to do it (and) you gotta love doing it. Until we do that, we gonna get the same results, but I feel like our guys are going to respond the right way and get the job done.”

Following the bye week, Ole Miss will be back on the road as it returns to Music City to pay Vanderbilt a visit. The Commodores don't have one of the better offensive rush attacks in the SEC, so Ole Miss’ defense will look to bounce-back in a big way defending the run in Week 6.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google