Pete Golding Shakes Up Ole Miss Football Staff With Pair of New Hires This Week

Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels have reconstructed the staff in Oxford this offseason following Lane Kiffin's decision to depart the program for the head coaching gig at LSU.

Once Kiffin made his decision final, multiple Ole Miss staffers on offense followed the LSU shot-caller where Golding has quickly filled the voids across the last 70 days.

The Rebels hired offensive coordinator John David Baker away from East Carolina where he is set to make his second stint with the Ole Miss program.

Across Baker's first stint with the Ole Miss Rebels, he served the program's co-offensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023 along with taking on duties as the tight ends coach from 2021-23.

Following multiple seasons with Ole Miss, Baker then made the move to East Carolina where he became the offensive coordinator of the Pirates across the last two seasons - accepting the gig after the 2023 season.

Ole Miss Rebels Football: John David Baker. — Courtesy of John David Baker's Instagram.

While with East Carolina, Baker navigated one of the top offenses in the American Conference while averaging 464.7 yards per game this season - making them the league’s third best offense behind North Texas (504.3) and South Florida (501.7).

Now, Ole Miss will bring in two more staffers from East Carolina where Baker will have two bright minds alongside him in Oxford.

According to Football Scoop, "East Carolina senior offensive analyst Aaron Auer and GA Cam Nichols are joining the new staff at Ole Miss."

East Carolina senior offensive analyst Aaron Auer and GA Cam Nichols are joining the new staff at Ole Miss, sources tell @FootballScoop.https://t.co/3q1zYgOhUt pic.twitter.com/oLnfCutaYt
— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) February 7, 2026

The East Carolina Bio on Auer:

"During the 2023 season, he worked as the tight ends coach under Mike Houston where his group caught 30 passes for 180 yards (6.0 ypc) with two touchdowns, while helping the offense average 277.3 total yards per game including 113.3 rushing yards per contest.

"Auer’s appointment on April 4, 2023, extended an almost three-year term where he served as a graduate assistant (2020-22) and as a senior offensive analyst for the Pirates which began in February of 2022.

"He has been involved in coaching since working as a scout and eventually a student assistant coach at Georgia beginning in 2016. In 2019, Auer was elevated to offensive quality control in May, spending nearly four years with Georgia's coaching staff at his alma mater.

"Entering his ninth year in coaching, Auer has been a part of six bowl games which includes the 2017 Rose Bowl (champions), 2017 National Championship, 2018 Sugar Bowl, 2021 Military Bowl, 2022 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl (champions) and the 2024 Go Bowling Military Bowl (champions), while also serving on a staff that appeared in the 2017 (champions) and 2018 SEC title games."

Now, Auer and Nichols are Ole Miss bound after finalizing deals with the Rebels this week, according to Football Scoop.

More Ole Miss News:

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Ole Miss Football Recruiting Notebook: Three Targets Pete Golding Must Land in Year 1

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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.