New Ole Miss HC Pete Golding: 'The focus was on everything that didn’t matter'

Pete Golding is Lane Kiffin's successor for the Ole Miss Rebels. He was Kiffin's defensive coordinator, and the Rebels believe he's the guy for the job after Kiffin bailed on Ole Miss right in the middle of a run to the College Football Playoff.

The Rebels finished the season 11-1, and they're ranked No. 6 in the CFP.

This is a team that could very well win it all, which is what made Kiffin's departure after the Egg Bowl a bit puzzling. He left to coach the LSU Tigers, presumably, because he felt they'd give him a better chance to win a championship. Meanwhile, he had coached the Rebels to the very doorstep of championship contention.

It was dramatic, all the back and forth with Kiffin, and that's ultimately why Golding decided to cancel his introductory press conference once he was officially named head coach.

Speaking to the media after Ole Miss's bid in the CFP was announced, Golding revealed that he felt there was too much attention on the coach at Ole Miss and not enough attention on the Rebels' historic team.

“We’ve been through about a month and a half, right, that all of the focus was on everything that didn’t matter. And the focus wasn’t on a team that went 11-1, that busted their a**, that did everything right to put themselves in an unbelievable position to have players, right, that had really elite years because of team success that should be able to get individual accolades and aren’t,” said Golding, according to Sam Gillenwater of On3. “We’re talking about the wrong s***.”

Pete Golding wants the focus to be on the Ole Miss Rebels

The Rebels went through multiple weeks of "will he, won't he" talk with Kiffin as he was courted for open positions at LSU and Florida. Despite those distractions, Ole Miss finished the season on a five-game winning streak, and that included a 34-26 win over No. 13 Oklahoma on the road in late October.

The Rebs will now host No. 11 Tulane in Oxford in the first round of the CFP. If they win, they'll face No. 3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Earlier this season, Ole Miss lost to Georgia in Athens, 43-35.

Still, it's hard to beat a team twice in college football, so the Rebels absolutely have a chance to make a run.

Golding certainly believes in his team, and he's got a great opportunity in front of him. Ultimately, though, he doesn't want this CFP run to be about him.

“Like, this has nothing to do with 2026. Like, this is 2025,” Golding said. “In a normal situation, I’d be the interim coach, and we’d be celebrating this team, this town, this university having the ability to host a playoff game. Why the hell would we make it about me, when it really doesn’t matter? They don’t give a s*** whether I run them out or not.”