Ole Miss has one of the biggest recruiting wins of the Pete Golding era

Mississippi Rebels head coach Pete Golding. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Ole Miss has one of the biggest recruiting wins of the Pete Golding era

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Jun 23, 2026 10:59 PM ET

It will go down as one of the biggest recruiting wins of the Pete Golding era as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels.

To be fair, that era goes back to just late November 2025, but this recruiting win would still be monumental if Golding had held the head-coaching job in Oxford for 10 years.

On Tuesday, four-star defensive tackle Mitchell Turner from Louisville, Mississippi, committed to Ole Miss.

Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers, as well as Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns, were also involved in this recruiting battle, but this was a recruiting win that Golding and the Rebels largely beat out the Alabama Crimson Tide for.

Golding took an official visit to Ole Miss in early June, and that was the big moment in his recruitment.

“On the official visit is the point when they moved ahead of Alabama for sure,” Turner told Rivals. “Being on that visit, spending more time with the coaches and just being there changed things. It was a big visit for me, and that really put Ole Miss as the top.”

BREAKING: Elite 2027 DL Mitchell Turner has Committed to Ole Miss, he tells me for @Rivals

The 6’3 280 DL chose the Rebels over Texas, Alabama, and LSU

He’s ranked as the No. 3 DL in the 2027 Rivals300

“All glory to God…The work continues.”https://t.co/k5pRvUZLhz pic.twitter.com/ETUZvd0QW5
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 23, 2026

Four-star DL Mitchell Turner wants to create a legacy at Ole Miss

Turner is a 6-foot-3, 275-pound defensive tackle who is ranked as the top recruit from the state of Mississippi. For Golding and his staff to keep him with Ole Miss is a huge thing, and Golding deserves a ton of credit for that.

The four-star also credited defensive line coach Randall Joyner, though.

“Coach Joyner’s track record of developing defensive linemen made Ole Miss always stand out," Turner said. "The way he develops players was a very big thing for me. The way he gets guys from my area — my state — to the NFL… how can you turn it down?”

Nationally, Turner is ranked as the No. 5 defensive line recruit in the 2027 class and the No. 55 recruit regardless of position.

He's the 16th commitment to Ole Miss' 2027 class, and he's, without a doubt, the Rebels' most important commitment so far.

“I’ve been there five or six times, and it’s a great environment," Turner said of Ole Miss. "Staying in the state is big for me too. You see a lot of big-time guys leave Mississippi, but I want to leave my mark in my home state and create a legacy that can last for years.”

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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