Ole Miss coach Pete Golding is part of a new breed of football coaches that don’t have to adapt to a playoff environment because they come up in it.
Golding has been a part of five different playoff teams as a defensive coordinator and will get his sixth Saturday against Tulane.
It was 15 years ago that Golding got his first taste of a college football playoff experience at Delta State, his alma mater. That experience is helping Golding now as he prepares for his first playoff experience as a head coach.
“At that level you don’t care that the game’s at 10 a.m. on ESPN because that’s when it was,” Golding said Wednesday. “That whole spot the ball mentality, right? That mindset of it taught me a lot at a very early age that regardless whether it was there or ‘Bama or here, you got to spot the ball and you’re going to have to execute. You got to make the fewest amount of mistakes and you got to be more excited to play than the other team.
“If you do that, you’ll win the game. And if you don’t, just like that day, you’re going to get beat by a field goal at the very end.”
Personal experience
Yes, Golding’s first playoff experience was a gut-wrenching last-second loss to Minnesota-Duluth on a 32-yard field goal. Something like that is hard to forget.
I know because I was standing about 20 yards away from Delta State’s head coach (now Arkansas defensive coordinator) Ron Roberts when the field goal kick was made. I still have the photos from that game, too. (Golding’s not in any of them, I already checked.)
In 2010, I was in my senior year at Delta State working in dual roles at the student newspaper and a local newspaper, The Cleveland Current. I had covered every team at the university, knew some of the players. I even coached Roberts’ oldest son in little league baseball one season.
I don’t recall ever meeting or talking with Golding while at Delta State, but I did cover every game during that 2010 season and there were a lot of great games. Besides the national title game, my favorite game that season was the semifinal game.
It was in Cleveland against Shepherd University and it was cold, rainy and muddy. What I remember most is the post-game celebrations with players sliding in giant puddles of mud and water.
Similarities between 2010 and 2025 teams
That team was really good together on a relationship, friend-basis. They were a tight group of players who were a lot of fun to be around.
What I had forgotten was how similar that team was to Ole Miss in that there were a lot of first-year players.
“I took that job in December and coach Roberts had completely just gutted that team and that was D2 before the transfer rules,” Golding said. “So we had a lot of bounce backs, D1 to D2 and two year non-participation guys. It was similar from the standpoint that was a brand new team. So, you had the spring and the summer to try to get those guys to come together. And I think that’s what’s unique about this (Ole Miss) group.”
Another similarity is at quarterback. Delta State had Micah Davis playing his first season after a redshirt and two seasons at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Ole Miss, of course, has Trinidad Chambliss who won the Division II championship last season.
“It was a special bond in 2010 that came together really fast because of the right people,” Golding said. “You had an elite quarterback, talented on the perimeter receiver, just like we are here. We were gritty on defense. Weren’t always the most talented roster, but we were gritty and gave ourselves a chance to win the Gulf South and then play for national championship.
“So, I think there’s a lot of similar qualities in the team of how it was made, how fast it was made and how fast that had to come together. That was pretty unique.”
That experience has certainly helped Golding navigate what’s been an eventful first month as a head coach, which is pretty unique too.
