Ole Miss Rebels Head Coach Pete Golding Makes Splash in Latest Coaching Rankings

The college football world is expecting big things from Pete Golding during his first full season in Oxford.

Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding runs off the field during warmups before the CFP Fiesta Bowl at the State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. | Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels football team is hoping to ride the wave of a successful 2025 season into the upcoming 2026 campaign. However, there have been quite a few changes.

Thankfully, for the program, most of these changes happened before the end of last season. New head coach Pete Golding already has a few games under his belt as the leader of the Rebels' sideline. Actually, he's the only coach to start his new job during the College Football Playoff. Golding led the Rebels to a semifinal appearance, and it appears the expectations are the same for 2026.

Bill Bender of The Sporting News recently ranked all 138 head coaches in college football. If Bender's rankings are any indication, a lot of people have high expectations for Golding in year one.

A New Era

Head coach Pete Golding speaks at Ole Miss “Meet the Rebels” in Oxford, Miss. on Saturday, April 25, 2026. | Bruce Newman/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bender has Golding as the 33rd best coach in the country coming into the 2026 season. That's a pretty impressive place to debut as a rookie head coach. While Golding is a first-year head coach, it's easy to see why he is so high on the list.

No matter which program it is, every athletic department wants to know how a potential coach can handle the pressure. What's more pressure than being thrust into the spotlight of a national championship caliber team after their head coach bounces for another job in the same conference?

If anything, Golding showed the entire coach that he can handle anything thrown his way. Unfortunately for Ole Miss, that could mean that others come calling if Golding has a strong 2026 campaign.

Although Golding has yet to show any signs that he would be interested in jumping ship. He also really has been given the opportunity to have those thoughts.

Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding runs off the field during warmups before the CFP Fiesta Bowl at the State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. | Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

33rd is a great start, but if the Rebels were to finish 33rd in the season, red alerts would be flashing all over Oxford. There is plenty of work to be done before Golding officially starts his first full season. But the fan base, as well as the university, has to be happy with how everything has started in this new era.

Wouldn't it be something if this 33rd ranked coach picked up a big win over a top 10 ranked coach in their third game of the season? If you put two and two together, you'll understand just how important that game is. Golding will be looking to prove that he belongs in the discussions of the best coaches in college football.

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