Pete Golding Continues Showing Refreshing Contrasts from Lane Kiffin

Many things have been said and can be said about the differences between Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding and his predecessor, Lane Kiffin. Golding is more unfiltered, yet down to business. While Kiffin can be uncensored, he takes a more lighthearted and almost humorous approach to how he carries himself in the public sphere.

Creating contrast is a good thing. While there was a lot of good about what Kiffin did in Oxford, and that shouldn’t be forgotten after his messy breakup. Golding was hired to be his own man and do things his way, while also keeping continuity with what Kiffin did.

Yet, Monday afternoon provided just another example of how wholly different Golding and Kiffin are, especially when it comes to dealing with the recent litigation that has allowed recently cut NFL players who just left college for the pros to come back for a fifth year of eligibility.

Two former Rebels, Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright, have already taken advantage of this by entering the transfer portal and then joining Kiffin in Baton Rouge. While both coaches acknowledged that the recent movement is just part of the times and left the door open to benefiting from it themselves, the two have very different approaches.

The Difference

Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding — Nov 23, 2023; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin (left) and Mississippi Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding (right) watch during the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

"I’m strictly basing it on ‘Okay, what’s in the room right now?’ Our numbers are where they’re supposed to be we got really good players that we went and recruited that have invested and bought into what we’re asking them to do,” Golding said when asked about adding players from the Class of 2022. “Then there are some spots that we got banged up, and that room wasn’t what it was in January.”

Ole Miss has yet to land a single player from the 2022 class who has been cut from the NFL. Yet the door is left entirely open for the possibility by Golding.

He certainly didn’t fault Kiffin and the Tigers for adding two players who Golding knows, likely as well as anyone, can make an impact.

But there’s a caveat.

“We got some guys with some season-ending injuries in certain spots that, if it becomes available to give us more opportunity and more depth, and that’s what we’re all doing, then we’ll have to look into that,” Golding said.

Meanwhile, the message put out in Baton Rouge from Kiffin himself struck a different cord.

“At the end of the day, because of these rulings, they’re either going to play for you, or they’re going to play somewhere else around the country,” Kiffin said. “We made a decision to recruit them, like probably most people are.”

Kiffin is right; other places are choosing to recruit players in situations similar to those of Wright and Harris. Ole Miss may very well end up adding an NFL player.

However, the way the Rebels have publicly stated they’ll do it is based on roster needs, not just adding talent for the sake of it.

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