Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding says what needs to be said after CFP loss to Miami Hurricanes

The Rebels had a fantastic season.

Justin Churchill College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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Ole Miss Rebels head coach Pete Golding Miami Hurricanes
Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

You could see the look in the Ole Miss Rebels players’ eyes when Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck ran into the end zone with seconds remaining. It was worry—the worry of letting down fans and coaches. But that’s not the reality. The players and coaches fought hard, and no one who cares about the program blames them, given the circumstances.

Head coach Pete Golding made that clear after the game.

Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding said what needed to be said

“The effort piece of it has never been an issue all year…really proud of their effort. We could have done better as a coaching staff. It’s on all of us,” Golding said after the loss to Miami.

This program lost its head coach to the LSU Tigers, and went on to win two College Football Playoff games, and almost another one. They defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in one of the best CFP games ever, and almost did the same to Miami. No one wants to hear “almost” as much as Ole Miss fans are going to this offseason, but that’s important in this all.

In the midst of Ole Miss’s Cinderella run, coaches were being pulled in different directions. Coaches who had already been hired by Lane Kiffin’s staff at LSU were now still coaching playoff games. Not to mention, in this game against Miami, Ole Miss lost two coaches because of that whole dynamic and the ridiculous schedule the NCAA has.

These aren’t excuses; Miami was the better team on Thursday night. These are reasons to be proud of how far your team has come. Ole Miss won over much of the country. It makes sense why fans don’t want to hear that. You don’t get a pitty or participation trophy for doing what they did. But the fan base and the program should not hang their heads one bit.