Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding dropped some strong words on LSU head coach Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Pete Golding left no doubt on how he feels about LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin.
There are plenty of college football fans who think that Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding has beef with LSU head coach Lane Kiffin.
That’s of course because of Kiffin’s decision to leave Ole Miss for LSU last winter before the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Golding, who served as Kiffin’s defensive coordinator in Oxford, was thrown into a tough spot as the Rebels’ interim head coach after Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter refused to let Kiffin coach in the playoff.
Ole Miss beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl (quarterfinals) before losing to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl (semifinals).
Golding made it clear on Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa, though, that he and Kiffin are “good.”
“Lane and I are good,” said Golding. “I did not know Coach Kiffin prior to taking the Ole Miss job. Everybody assumes [we knew each other at] Alabama. 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 to raise three kids.
“So our relationship really grew in those three and a half years and he did a lot for me and I was very, very appreciative how he treated me and my family. I learned a lot from him. I have no ill will towards Coach Kiffin. He texts me on a regular basis and there are certain things we’ll talk about and certain things we don’t talk about. He’s very competitive just like I’m very competitive.”
“I tell a lot of these people — I probably shouldn’t say this, but I don’t care,” continued Golding. “I told an Ole Miss group the other day, in 2021 if you said you could look in 2025 and you’re about to be 11-1 and go to the playoff, would you take it if your coach was leaving? Hell yeah. You would. Everybody won from it. It’s okay. Keith (Carter) made a great hire. He did a great job. Every place isn’t for everybody.
“Throughout the process, I’ll be the first one to tell you I told him I would think he was dumb if he was to leave. I wanted him to stay. It was a selfish decision because I loved being the DC where I was at. He decided what was better for him and his family and that’s for him to decide. No ill will towards him at all. Wish him the best of luck. We play him like every other SEC team, and we are going to both show up and spot the ball and play. I talk to him on a regular basis. No ill will at all and I’m really appreciative of how he treated me and my family, and then this created an unbelievable opportunity for me as well.”
Golding clearly still has plenty of love for Kiffin, despite the narratives from certain fan bases…