By Billy Watkins
He called him “Kiff.”
In my mind, that was the official first surprise of the 2026 Ole Miss football season — Rebel head coach Pete Golding calling LSU coach Lane Kiffin by his nickname at SEC Media Days in Tampa on Wednesday
There were other word choices available, but Golding took the high road. He usually has since becoming the Rebels’ head coach Nov. 30 of last year.
But just in case you didn’t hear it, here is what he said straight from the podium
“Lane and I are good.,” Golding said. “I think everybody thought ‘Alabama, Alabama.’ I did not know Coach Kiffin prior to taking the job at Ole Miss (as defensive coordinator under Kiffin in 2023). I wasn’t at Alabama when Coach Kiffin was. I didn’t come to Ole Miss because of Coach Kiffin. I came to Ole Miss to be at Ole Miss and raise three kids.
“Our relationship really grew in those three-and-a-half years. He really did a lot for me., I’m appreciative with how he treated me and my family, and I learned a lot from him.
“I have no ill will toward Coach Kiffin. He texts me on a regular basis. There are certain things we talk about and certain things we don’t talk about. He’s every competitive just like I’m very competitive. …. he has a new job with new responsibilities at that job … I can separate the two. I know some people can’t.”
He’s darn right about that last statement , which will make the Sept. 19 game in Oxford between the two coaches and teams a must-see event.
Ole Miss has plenty to take care of before that, especially an opener Sept 6 against Louisville in Nashville. Louisville will be no pushover. Sept. 19 will be here soon enough.
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After Golding’s time at the podium — where he received a round of applause as he left, which is unheard of in the media world — he joined the SEC broadcast crew for further questions. I found the conversation intriguing.
Lead anchor Dari Nowkhah complimented Golding on being so at ease during his first time at the podium at SEC Media Days.
Golding: “Number one, this is my ninth year in this league. So I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of great guys who do things the right way. I also think things become easy based on your intentions. So seeing guys do it and being around Coach Saban,, and how professional he is and all that,. He did it his way, but it was still him.
“ It was a benefit for me going to Oxford with (Lane Kiffin). What I appreciated about Kiff was that it wasn’t the same blueprint as Tuscaloosa because Kiff ain’t Saban and Oxford is not Tuscaloosa and there are different ways to do things.
“We still had the ‘because’ things’ — because you win because of certain things that you do. We still had discipline in the program and all that. But if you didn’t wear a suit (to work) it would be OK. You could have music at practice and it be OK.”
Analyst Cole Cubilec asked Golding this: “Before the opener last year, when our TV crew met with you guys, Coach Kiffin basically laid it out there. He said, ‘Look, Pete has done more for me as a head coach than I ever thought possible.’ Essentially, he was saying you were the guy who could come to him and change his mind whether it was in game with analytics, whether to run the ball, run clock, or recruit defensive backs, not just try to go find wide receivers. You had the ability to just be honest.
Who will be that guy for you?
Golding: “There are a couple already there and a couple others that I specifically brought in … One of the biggest hires for me was Todd Cooley ( former head coach at Delta State). a guy who I’ve known a long time in that state who could take so much off my desk and just let me focus on football.
But it’s guys like Joe Judge on the offensive side, who I fully trust, being able to run that room and manage the personalities in that room and make decisions on personnel and packages. Doesn’t have to call plays He doesn’t want to call plays.
“That was so important to me in bringing in John David Baker (as offensive coordinator). That relationship was going to matter. Joe is going to coach the quarterbacks and does a really good job of that, and trusting him to run the room and take that off JDB and allow him to design plays and coach the room.
The defensive side has stayed the same. I’ve been with those guys for three years.”
Golding mentioned two people he brought in on the defensive staff — Mike Stoops and Marcus Woodson.
Golding: “They knew coming in that this is not a ‘yessir’ job. I told them ‘I am bringing you in to poke holes in things and be able to walk in and say, ‘Coach, I don’t know if you agree or not but that is stupid.’ And I love that.”
Former Georgia Bulldog and New England Patriot tight end Ben Watson asked: What’s your biggest concern and what are you most excited about?
Golding: “Bringing in 50 new guys … I know what kind of players people are from a size and speed standpoint from watching tape. But how are they going to react to adversity when they get hit in the face? Because it’s coming. So my concern is you’ve got a lot of new guys that you’re counting on to have critical roles at certain positions, and how will they respond when you have adversity?
“But I’m most excited about those same things. We’ve had so many guys invest so much into this offseason, really bought in and doing it the right way. I want them to have success and reap the rewards of their hard work. I think our guys know we’re not where we need to be and we still have a lot of work to get done. But that’s probably my biggest joy as a coach, when you see a guy develop and get out what he put into it.That doesn’t always happen, so it’s a cool thing to me when it does.
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The Allstate Playoff Predictor was released and it has Ole Miss with a 23 percent chance of reaching the College Football Playoffs. Six SEC teams are listed with better chances, even though Ole Miss went 13-2 a year ago and was one win away from playing in the national championship game.
On the night before Golding’s turn at the podium, the SEC crew posed this question to one another: Is there a team that we’re not talking about enough?.
Watson chimed in immediately:
“I think this team is going to be really good. I think this team is prepared and they have a lot of pieces and a lot of experience. But we’re not giving them enough credit as to where they’re going to go. And that team would be the University of Mississippi Rebels.
“I’m looking at this team with Kewan Lacy in the backfield. You look at their running back-quarterback combo. Name me one team that has a better combination than Lacy and Trinidad Chambliss. And you couple that with the experience they had last year of going to the playoffs, beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. They have a coach in Pete Golding who I guess is technically a new coach, but he knows his football team. There is a trust factor there. They’ve got John David Baker as offensive coordinator. Bryan Brown as defensive coordinator, along with Pete Golding, obviously.
“But you look at this team and its roster. I mentioned Chambliss and Lacy … But look on the defensive side You’ve got Suntarine Perkins with 81 tackles. Look, they’ve got a lot of really, really solid players on multiple levels. And looking at their schedule, they could be right back where they were last year.”
Added Cubilec: ““Haven’t talked about Ole Miss nearly enough. Outside of Oklahoma, this is the best defensive line in the Southeastern Conference. (Defensive tackle) Will Echoles is a problem. (Defensive end) Kam Franklin is a problem. And Suntarine Perkins is actually going to rush the passer this year. They didn’t need him to do that last year.”
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