Ole Miss has selected its new HC with Lane Kiffin leaving for LSU

Ole Miss has made a decision regarding the school’s next head coach for the 2026 season and beyond. The move was rushed to quell the drama surrounding Lane Kiffin and his exit to LSU.

Pete Thamel first reported it, then Ole Miss confirmed that defensive coordinator Pete Golding is the Rebels’ new head coach. “He is fully prepared to guide this program into its next era of success,” Ole Miss Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter said in a statement.

According to a report by Marty Smith, one of the Rebels players was already excited about the change: “One of the Ole Miss players, I’m not sure who, working to find out, just exited the meeting and yelled, ‘It’s the Pete Golding era!‘”

How well does Pete Golding know Ole Miss?

Golding is currently in his third season with Ole Miss, but he is a coaching veteran who has been working since 2006, starting at Delta State as a graduate assistant. Before joining the Rebels, he spent the years 2018 through 2022 at Alabama in a similar role as defensive coordinator.

This marks his first time serving as a head coach, mirroring the path of Lane Kiffin, who also held various coaching positions before becoming the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the NFL in 2007 and then taking the helm at Tennessee in 2009.

Would Golding warn the same salary as Kiffin?

While his specific salary is not yet known, Kiffin earned a salary of $9 million as the Rebels’ head coach. Golding’s pay as a defensive coordinator typically falls around $1–2 million annually, based on the average compensation for coaches in his position.