Lane Kiffin seems to be the new Nick Saban as far as one of the main candidates rumored in every head coaching search the last few years. A few of the latest would be the aforementioned Crimson Tide last year when Saban retired, and most recently the Florida Gators who have a coach on the hot seat in Billy Napier.
Whether Kiffin leaves this off-season or not is to be determined. The 49-year-old head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels has been in Oxford for what is his fifth season currently, which is the longest he has been at any stop. With many reasons to stay in Oxford, the “what if” scenario is something intriguing as to who would replace the offensive-minded Kiffin if he does leave.
If Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss, who will be the next head coach?
While one may think that the Rebels would keep with the theme of an offensive-minded coach to replace Kiffin, this may not be the case. Defensive coordinator, Pete Golding is in his second season with the school after serving in the same role for Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide for five seasons prior to his arrival in Oxford.
Pete Golding has tremendous strides as the defensive coordinator for the Ole Miss Rebels
In his first season in charge of the defense in 2023, Golding improved the Rebels drastically from their abysmal 2022 performance to a 59th overall defensive ranking in 2023. So far in 2024, Golding has the Rebels defense ranked first in the country, allowing just 11 points per game.
Pete Golding shouldered the blame as defensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide
Golding took a lot of heat from fans during his time in Tuscaloosa, and seemed to be the only to take the blame consistently. In defense of Tide fans, Golding’s defenses regressed in a few statistical categories during his time with the team, including turnovers per game which was under one by the time he left.
Pete Golding is maximizing Ole Miss’s talent on defense
While the Rebels are surprisingly struggling on offense with third-year starting quarterback Jaxson Dart and tight end Caden Prieskorn, defense is a different story. Stars like Chris “Poo” Paul, Trey Amos and Suntarine Perkins are more than holding their own for the Rebels who are allowing under 300 yards per game so far in 2024.
Pete Golding provides continuity for the Ole Miss program as the next head coach
If Kiffin does depart at some point, stars seem to be aligning well in Oxford for the Rebels and Golding to promote the coordinator to his first head coaching gig. Not only does Golding have the experience in coaching under Saban and Kiffin, but he would provide familiarity and continuity to a program that seemingly did not have that stability when it transitioned from Hugh Freeze to Matt Luke nearly a decade ago.
Golding also knows the state well. Golding played division II college football for Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi and has nearly a decade of experience as an assistant coach at multiple schools throughout the state. As we have seen with new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer who is failing to recruit in-state so far for the Tide, high school relationships matter. And for the Rebels, inserting Golding would be a positive in this regard one would think given all of his experience in the state and recruiting.
The counter is that Kiffin stays in Oxford for a long time and Goldin inevitably gets his first head coaching gig elsewhere, but time will have to tell.