Ole Miss brought its Rebel Road Trip to a close on Thursday at the Memphis Botanic Garden, and coach Pete Golding didn’t come alone.
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and offensive lineman Patrick Kutas joined him, and a big crowd of Rebels fans showed up to meet the group.
Fans lined up for photos and autographs all afternoon.
One request stood out from the rest whe a fan asked Golding to sign a Zyn pouch, and he didn’t hesitate, according to Said Bravo on Yahoo Sports from the Memphis Commercial Appeal..
He signed it just like he signed everything else that day. As somebody that remembers Pete’s days in Cleveland as a player, then coach at Delta State that didn’t particularly surprise me.
Golding said the turnout meant a lot to him.
“It’s just awesome to see our fan base and see how energetic they are to see our guys,” he said. “This area has always been good to Ole Miss and really good to me wherever I’ve been. Always glad to be back in Memphis.”
The Memphis stop carries extra meaning for Golding. His grandparents lived in nearby Southaven, and he started his coaching career at Delta State, just two hours from the city.
“I’ve been about everywhere you can be in Memphis,” he said. “I have really close friends around here, and there’s really good coaches here.”
Golding also opened up about a big personal purchase this offseason getting one of Lane Kiffin’s old houses in Oxford. Kiffin left Ole Miss for the LSU job on Nov. 30.
Golding, who spent three seasons as his defensive coordinator, got promoted to head coach. Ole Miss won two College Football Playoff games before falling to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl and finished 13-2.
“I’m always into a good investment deal,” Golding said. “When I went down, he had multiple ones. He had one I liked, so we definitely worked it out so I could buy it.”
Golding weighs in on college football’s calendar
Golding didn’t stop at Kiffin’s old house. Speaking at the same Memphis stop, he laid out how he’d redesign the sport’s calendar if he ran the show.
His background helps explain the take — he’s coached at Division II Delta State and FCS Southeastern Louisiana before reaching the SEC.
“If you asked me what’s best for our players and from a coaching standpoint, it is 100 percent playing in week zero,” Golding said in a story by Chase Parham at Rebels247.. “You have to eliminate the conference championship game and the national championship game should be on Jan. 1, with the portal open Jan. 2. And you only need seven days of portal. Everybody already knows where they’re going anyway.”
He’d also scrap the December signing period entirely. “There’s no December signing period,” he said. “Enjoy your senior year of high school, and you’re gonna sign in February.”
Golding said early signing hurts recruits because rosters shift so much once the portal opens.
“I’m told I’m the only quarterback in that class, and then before I ever enroll, they sign two transfers, which is even worse than taking another guy in my class,” he said. “This is simply bad ball. It’s a bad system.”
He pointed to the money side too, noting some January signees start collecting NIL or revenue-sharing pay before they ever play a snap.
“You’ve got 17-year-old kids enrolling in January because agents want them getting paid,” Golding said. “You’re paying guys six months before a freshman fall when a lot of the time they aren’t going to play for you.”
Golding predicts bigger changes ahead
Golding admits his full plan probably won’t happen, since television money still drives the calendar.
Even so, he expects real change coming, including a 24-team playoff by 2028 and conference championship games eventually going away.
Without those title games, Golding believes the Rebs and other SEC programs would swap Group of Five matchups for marquee nonconference games against the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12, paired with a nine-game SEC slate.
He knows the SEC title game brings in up to $120 million, so that revenue would need a new source.
“That’s your 12-game schedule with no conference championship, and that’ll allow us to finish a little quicker,” he said.
For now, Ole Miss and its coach are focused on the season ahead. He’s staying focused on the opener against Louisville in Nashville on Sept. 6.
It may be a really important one.
Key takeaways
- Golding bought one of Lane Kiffin’s former Oxford homes after taking over as Ole Miss head coach.
- He’d scrap conference title games, move the national championship to Jan. 1 and push signing day to February.
- Golding expects a 24-team playoff by 2028 and predicts SEC schools will add power conference nonconference games.
