Ole Miss Head Coach Pete Golding Raves About Florida Gators Hiring Jon Sumrall

Sumrall will make the move from Tulane to Florida after the College Football Playoff, Golding speaks highly of the newest SEC coach.

Dec 1, 2025; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin and Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall poses with a Florida Gators jersey during the press conference at the Heavener Football Training Center at the University of Florida. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1 SEC) will square off against the Tulane Green Wave in the first-round of the College Football Playoff this month with Jon Sumrall's crew heading to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

In what will be a historic matchup in Oxford, Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding and Co. will make the program's College Football Playoff debut amid a dominant 2025 campaign for the Rebels.

“I think everybody in the country is talking about Ole Miss football,” Pete Golding said. “Why? Because they’re in the Playoff. People talk about people that win. I don’t care what they dress like. What they do is their notoriety outside of things, absolutely.

"But if you win games and you compete for championships and you put guys in the first round of the draft and they get drafted and you recruit at a really high level, right?

"And you recruit good players on signing day, then they’re talking about the football program, for the football program, for the development of the players, for winning football games and continuing to do that.” 

Aug 31, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding watches during warm ups prior to the game against the Furman Paladins at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Ole Miss took down the Green Wave in September, but it hasn't stopped Golding and the Rebels from understanding a rejuvenated Tulane squad will be heading to the Magnolia State.

Sumrall's program is looking to send him out on a positive note after accepting the Florida Gators head coaching gig with all eyes set to be on the first-round matchup on Dec. 20.

Now, Golding has weighed in on Sumrall, what's in store and the latest head coach to join the SEC in Sumrall.

Pete Golding's Take: Respect for Sumrall

“Obviously with us defensive guys, there aren’t a lot of us, so we’ve got to stick together,” Golding said. “Jon and I go way back. I recruit Louisiana and obviously he’s been at Tulane. My brother lives in New Orleans so I love getting down there and seeing him.

"I think the world of him and I’m thinking a lot about him. I was just calling him, and obviously the Selection Show hadn’t come up, so I told him hopefully y’all got to go to Oregon and bring your ass out West.

UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin and new UF head football coach Jon Sumrall pose with a jersey at a press conference James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center in Gainesville, FL on Monday, December 1, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun] | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“But, he had a good indication that he was kinda pushing to get back to Oxford. It’s a little closer, so I was just congratulating him on a heck of a year and also talking about some of the Florida transition.

"I told him he better bring his a** to Gainesville because he’s gonna be losing all these players over the next two weeks if he’s not down there saving that program. But I was just messing with him and congratulating him.”

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