The Pete Golding Effect: How Ole Miss Football Will Reload Defensively in 2025

Since Pete Golding has come to Oxford, he has produced an improved defense every year. Is that even possible in 2025?
Sep 21, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding watches during warm ups prior to the game against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Sep 21, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding watches during warm ups prior to the game against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
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The 2024 Ole Miss defense might have been the one of the most dominant in school history, especially in the the front seven where they sacked the opposing quarterbacks 55 times, second only to Ohio State.

The Rebels are losing some big-time names to the NFL Draft, including Walter Nolen, Princely Umanmielen, Jared Ivey, JJ Pegues, Chris "Pooh" Paul Jr., Trey Amos, John Saunders and Trey Washington. While these players are going to be sorely missed by Rebel Nation, the staff seems confident in its ability to replace these guys with not just portal players but players already on the roster.

With that being said, let's take a look at some names to watch defensively in 2025.

Defensive Line

In 2024, the Rebels' recruiting process looked simple: recruit the top defensive linemen in the state of Mississippi. In the past, Mississippi State has taken the Rebels to the cleaners when it came to recruiting defensive lineman in the state, but in 2024, it was flipped on its head with the Rebels signing a handful of big-time prospects.

Guys like Kam Franklin, William Echols, and Jeffery Rush looked to be the future of this front, but the future is now, and these names should be big pieces of the Ole Miss d-line in 2025. Also, don't forget about Zxavian Harris, Jam Brown, and Akelo Stone who were outstanding depth pieces for the Rebs in 2024.

The Rebels have added two edge transfer players, De'Shawn Womack and Princewill Umanmielen, but expect Ole Miss to actively seek out more disruptors upfront.

Linebacker

TJ Dottery is back to lead a group with a lot of new faces in 2025. The Rebels were very active when it came to backers in the first portal cycle, snagging two more pieces to fill the void left by Pooh Paul.

Andruw Jones and Jaden Yates are two guys who have played a lot of football, but the jump to the SEC can be very difficult, especially at linebacker. The Rebels will also return Suntarine Perkins, Raymond Collins, Daniel Demery, and Tyler Banks. Banks is one to watch for to fill the shoes of a Pooh Paul as he has adequate size and speed to play that enforcer role that Pooh played so well.

Defensive Back

The defensive backfield might be the most worrisome spot for the Rebels as they lose arguably the top corner in the SEC in Trey Amos as well as two of their top tacklers in safeties Tre Washington and John Saunders.

The Rebels have brought in Jaylon Braxton who has been an All-SEC player at Arkansas as well as two productive SEC defensive backs in Sage Ryan and Antonio Kite, but I expect the Rebels to be consistently recruiting corners and safeties throughout the spring and summer portal cycles.

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Jackson Harris
JACKSON HARRIS

Harris, a native of Dallas, Texas, is a staff writer at The Grove Report, specializing in football and baseball coverage of the Ole Miss Rebels.