Pete Golding shows he's in charge as Ole Miss dominates without Lane Kiffin: 'He controls what he wants'
Tweaks are needed here and there, but Golding kept the Ole Miss playoff train steaming toward New Orleans
By
John Talty
•
6 min read
OXFORD, Miss. -- With "Pete!" chants ringing out loudly inside a still packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, a fired-up and soaking wet Pete Golding embraced the moment walking off the field with his two sons, pumped his fist to the sky and emphatically tossed his visor into the crowd.
It was a move his predecessor Lane Kiffin had made before, but this was different.
After Kiffin jilted Ole Miss for LSU, the Rebels faithful needed someone to direct their adoration to and they did so overwhelmingly for a first-time head coach who just delivered the first playoff win in program history. Ole Miss fans loved Pete Golding, and he loved them back.
"Well, we just had a home playoff game in Oxford, decent signing day and we just won the game," Golding deadpanned about the chants of his name. "I'm well aware how the other side goes when you don't win the game so I've been on both sides of that."
After No. 6 Ole Miss' 43-10 blowout win over No. 11 Tulane to set up a Sugar Bowl rematch against No. 3 Georgia, it can be easy to ignore how much pressure Golding faced in his debut. In his first ever game as a head coach, Golding had to win a playoff game at home against a team the Kiffin-led Ole Miss team beat by 35 points in September. He had to do so after a chaotic stretch in which Kiffin's will-he-or-won't-he decision sucked all the oxygen out of the program and overshadowed the special season the Rebels were having.
Losing Kiffin, who fought until the very end to coach this team through the playoff, could have imploded a lesser team. No head coach has ever left a playoff-bound team before it played in the College Football Playoff, and it may be awhile before we see another pull a Kiffin. There were a lot of emotions -- some good, some bad -- for a group of college-aged men to have to process in real-time over the last two weeks leading up to this game.
Maybe getting Tulane as the first post-Kiffin game was the ideal scenario for Ole Miss to find its footing. It certainly looked easy from the jump as Ole Miss raced out to a 14-0 lead and didn't give up a touchdown until a garbage-time score with four minutes left in the game.
But you can imagine how disastrous it could have been for Golding, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter and the rest of the coaching staff if Tulane somehow won. Carter made a bold decision to hold his ground in not allowing Kiffin to continue to coach this team, and then doubled down promoting Golding from defensive coordinator to full-time head coach.
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Ole Miss badly needed Golding to prove it could win at the highest levels without Kiffin. It's only one game, but Golding passed the test with flying colors.
The team did not miss a beat. It helped that offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. committed to calling the plays through the Rebels' playoff run before leaving for good to join Kiffin in Baton Rouge. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss led the way with 282 passing yards, one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.
Golding wasn't worried about how the offense would look under Weis Jr., just like he wasn't worried about his offensive coordinator reneging on a commitment to finish out the season.
"I had zero concern with Charlie Weis calling this thing for one reason: Charlie Weis cannot afford not to call a hell of a game," Golding said. "All he's heard is all Lane Kiffin's offense, Lane Kiffin's offense, Lane Kiffin's offense. This is his one opportunity for people to realize Charlie Weis calls the offense -- just like he's done all year -- and did a great job tonight. I had no concern because the last thing Charlie wants to do is come out and lay an egg."
There were both subtle and noticeable differences between this Ole Miss team under Golding than the one that finished the regular season 11-1.
After Golding took over, he talked to every player on the roster and had two important questions:
What is the No. 1 thing you love about Ole Miss football?
What is the biggest thing you would change if you could?
The answers to the second question and action items that stemmed from it were interesting. The gimmicky basketball hoop Ole Miss players would dunk on to celebrate touchdowns and turnovers was nowhere to be found Saturday (even as Ole Miss forced three turnovers). Another, more subtle change? Golding agreed to allow players to wear whatever color cleats they'd like as long as they were Nike. Kiffin had the players all wear the same color shoe.
It's the little things that distinguish Golding the head coach from Golding the defensive coordinator. He's still calling the defensive plays and he's still coming into his own as a head coach, but you can see the potential. There's an authenticity from Golding that is rare from the typical coachspeak and cliched answers you usually hear.
"He just has that head coach swag about himself," said Ole Miss co-defensive coordinator Bryan Brown. "He controls the moment, he controls the narrative, anything he wants to control. The guys believe in him, just like they do defensively, and you could see it turn over to our whole team. He's a great human being, he's a great coach, a great motivator and he knows football inside and out."
Said quarterbacks coach Joe Judge: "Pete's Pete. I think what makes him so special is he's not going to change no matter what title or label you put on. He's always been the same guy."
Golding is still rough around the edges. The 41-year old Louisiana native admitted he's trying to cuss less, but let's just say that's very much a work in progress. There were times Golding turned his postgame press conference into a mini-comedy hour with his deadpan answers, self-deprecating sense of humor and colorful language.
Consider his answer about helping his team navigate what has been a chaotic last few weeks.
"I don't think it was very hard at all, because, I mean, it'd be one thing, no disrespect, if this was the Pop-Tarts Bowl or something like that, that shit would be really hard," Golding said. "This is the playoffs. When people started talking about are they gonna play, are they not gonna play? What are you talking about?"
The next challenge figures to be a lot harder than what Golding faced Saturday. Ole Miss already played Georgia once this season, a 43-35 loss in Athens. Golding's defense gave up 34 first downs, 510 total yards and never forced the Bulldogs to punt in the game. A repeat of that performance won't be good enough down in New Orleans on New Year's Day in the Sugar Bowl.
That's a problem for Golding to worry about tomorrow.
On Saturday night in front of a school-record crowd inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Golding won his first game as a head coach and gave an Ole Miss fanbase a joy it had never experienced before. It was worth a celebratory visor toss and so much more.
