Day three of SEC Media Day was all about Pete Golding as the first-year head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels didn’t mince words and stayed true to who he was as a person commanding the podium while sending a resounding message that the success of last year was in the past and this year is a new season with the standing of winning the national championship. 

Since his hiring, Coach Pete Golding has easily won over the Ole Miss faithful with his relatability and near-Coach Nick Saban mannerisms; the Rebel nation has its first relatable coach since the days of Hugh Freeze, when they had one of their own leading the program. Coach Golding is from Louisiana, played his college ball in the Sip at Delta State, and decided to stay in Oxford to be closer to his family after finding his home in Oxford. Not only is Coach Golding one of the brightest minds in college football, but he comes across as an old-school football guy who relates to the everyday fan rather than a guy who flexes his money and does the yoga and other unrelated things most men do. Coach Golding is the guy who loves his family, plays golf, loves a good cold one, and is one of those football coaches who truly relates to the fans. 

Coming into his appearance at SEC Media Day, everyone knew some of the questions would be about Coach Kiffin, but what many people failed to realize was that Coach Golding really likes his team this year. The Rebels have Trinidad Chambliss returning, combined with Kewan Lacy, to give the Rebels one of the combos in college football. So yeah, Coach Golding handled the Kiffin stuff with class, but the real story coming out of Wednesday is the confidence Coach Golding has in this Ole Miss team to not miss a beat in the upcoming season and to play their way back into competing for a National Championship. 

As far as what to expect going forward from Coach Golding, expect a coach that doesn’t sugarcoat things to make it sound better than it is, expect for a coach that stands first on his values, who does things the right way, a football coach that most of the fan base can relate to, and lastly a coach that will do everything in his power to put a product on the field that Rebel Nation will be proud of each and every Saturday at Vaught Hemingway. 

There’s a lot of noise on the outside of the program about people’s doubts that Coach Golding won’t be able to compete and win the way Coach Kiffin did, but out of all the former Coach Saban coaches that spoke this week in Tampa, it was Coach Golding who sounded the most like Coach Saban while also staying true to his values and the culture of his program. In a world where being fake gets you through another day, Coach Golding delivered once more further validation that Athletics Director Keith Carter made the right decision to name him the next Head Coach of the Rebels. 

Photo credits- Ole Miss football on X