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Ole Miss Rebels coach Pete Golding on the sidelines during College Football Playoff game against the Tulane Green Wave
Ole Miss Rebels coach Pete Golding on the sidelines during College Football Playoff game against the Tulane Green Wave at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. | Taylor Graham-HottyToddy Images

Ole Miss officially announces football staffing hires

BY Taylor Hodges

At some point we should ask Pete Golding if he hired a professional juggler after he was promoted to head coach.

While preparing for a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against No. 3 Georgia, the only team to defeat the Rebels this season, Golding is hiring assistant coaches and font office personnel and preparing for the opening of the NCAA transfer portal.

Those are all important tasks to handle and can lead to a lot of sleepless nights. Hopefully, Golding’s able to find some more time to sleep with the latest official hiring announcements.

Ole Miss officially announced the hiring of five assistant coaches/front office personnel Sunday evening. None of the announcements were a surprise considering all had been reported earlier this week, but now those reports are official.

Here are the newest Ole Miss coaches and personnel with their official titles, as announced Sunday:

  • Frank Wilson, Senior Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach
  • Austin Thomas, President of Football Operations/General Manager
  • Kelvin Bolden, Assistant General Manager
  • Jai Choudhary, Director of Player Personnel
  • Jacob Sugarman, Director of Scouting

Each of these hires are important for the future success of Ole Miss football in this new era of college football.

Austin Thomas

Thomas is one of the pioneers of the general manager role in college football, becoming the first GM in the SEC in 2016 when then–LSU coach Ed Orgeron appointed him to the position. He earned that distinction after playing a key role in LSU signing back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015, a run that led to him being named Personnel Director of the Year in 2015.

Most recently, Thomas helped LSU secure the No. 11 recruiting class in the country, highlighted by elite talent such as No. 1 overall prospect Lamar Brown, No. 1 defensive lineman Richard Anderson, top-15 defensive linemen Deuce Geralds and Trenton Henderson, blue-chip offensive tackle Brysten Martinez, standout cornerback Havon Finney, wide receiver Jabari Mack, and the late flip of wide receiver Corey Barber from Ole Miss.

Frank Wilson

Wilson, a recruiting mastermind in the fertile recruiting ground of Louisiana, may end up being the most important of these hires.

A native of New Orleans, Wilson has spent over a decade at LSU across two stints, most recently as associate head coach and running backs coach, and is widely respected for his ability to attract top talent and build elite recruiting classes that bolstered LSU’s national prominence. He previously coached running backs and special teams from 2005-2007 under head coach Ed Orgeron

Before returning to LSU in 2022, he served as head coach at UTSA and McNeese State, and his deep recruiting roots in Louisiana and experience throughout the SEC have made him one of the sport’s most influential talent evaluators, now bringing that expertise back to Oxford in a new chapter of his coaching journey.

 

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