Pete Golding takes over for Lane Kiffin, as permanent Mississippi coach

Ole Miss didn’t have to search very long, or very far, for the replacement to former head coach Lane Kiffin.

Defensive coordinator/inside linebacker coach Pete Golding is taking over. And not on an interim basis. He’s the new, permanent head coach.

The move ensures a certain amount of continuity for the Rebels’ run in the upcoming College Football Playoff.

Golding, 41, arrived in 2023. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach at Alabama, from 2018 through 2022.

The Mississippi job is Golding’s first head-coaching stint. And his first big challenge will be to persuade some of the Ole Miss players to not follow Kiffin to LSU.

Which is one of the main reasons why Mississippi wanted Kiffin out, once he decided to go. And while the outcome is a symptom and not the disease when it comes to one specific form of college football chaos, Kiffin could have just accepted it and left — without whining about not being able to stick around.