The Lane Kiffin-Ole Miss soap opera that dominated the college football news cycle last fall ended with Kiffin going to LSU and defensive coordinator Pete Golding being named head coach.
Golding proceeded to build on Kiffin’s tenure and capped the best season in Ole Miss history by winning two College Football Playoff games and taking the Rebels to the semifinals of the CFP in the Fiesta Bowl.
The drama that followed Kiffin around Oxford all last season was likely a distraction for Ole Miss, even if Golding’s superb coaching in the CFP negated its impact.
Going into his first full season as the head coach at Ole Miss, Golding harbors no hard feelings for Kiffin, who he and the Rebels will face on Sept. 19 in Oxford in what is arguably the most hyped-up college football game of the 2026 regular season.
Pete Golding, Lane Kiffin are all good
“Lane and I are good,” Golding said Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa, Florida. “I did not know Coach Kiffin prior to taking the Ole Miss job. I wasn’t at Alabama when Coach Kiffin was. I didn’t come to Ole Miss to be with Coach Kiffin; I came to Ole Miss to raise three kids.
