Ole Miss is back after its bye week and gearing up to travel to Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Pete Golding kicked off game week with his regularly scheduled Monday press conference. Here’s everything he said:
On Kewan Lacy’s status coming out of the bye week…
Golding: Obviously, last week he rested all week and did rehab. It was good for that first solid week to not try to practice and just focus on that. He practiced last night, came back, did individual and did some team sessions. Obviously, a lot of that was non-contact last night, but I fully anticipate having him this week.
On what he took away from watching college football during the bye week…
Golding: I got to watch a lot. We worked last week, and then I took Saturday with my boys, so I sat around and watched some games. I think it just goes to show you, as we all know, every week is independent of its own. Regardless of what you did the previous week, good or bad, that’s one thing when you go through a bye week and do your self-scout. Every Sunday, you’re sitting in there and there are things you don’t do well every week that get masked. The quarterback drops the ball or throws it to the wrong guy and it gets tipped. Maybe you didn’t have the pattern matched, but the outcome was a pick and everybody is talking about how good the defense was when it had nothing to do with the defense. That’s what Saturday reminded me of, just watching the games and hearing the commentary. They’re talking about how great a defense is playing while a dude is wide open on a double move. It’s little things like that. It reminded me that we have issues every week, and it’s our responsibility as coaches to identify them, put our players in the best position and make sure we’re using the right people. Week in and week out, regardless of the league, you better be ready to go. You have to show up. I think it was another week that showed how hard it is to play on the road in this league. There’s a real piece to that. I know there’s a new metric they’re talking about with the playoff committee and all that, but in this league, you better be ready to go when you play on the road. If you don’t pack your own game and pack your defense, it’s hard to win. I thought that was pretty consistent Saturday in almost every game you watched.
On potential defensive changes coming out of the bye week…
Golding: We try to change based on who we’re playing and who is playing well every week. I think that has been evident with where some guys are right now. We’ve got safeties who started the year at safety and are starting at corner. Every week, we’re trying to figure out a better way to do it to give us our best shot. Last week was no different. It went back more to the fundamental concepts because you’re not scheming against an opponent. Last Tuesday, we didn’t make a defensive call. It was about getting your cleats in the turf, striking blocks, running and hitting, hitting and running, trying to do it the right way and trying to find a better way to coach it and hold them accountable to doing it. I thought that created some opportunities for some other guys because when I’m not thinking about anything, what does it look like to strike a guy and tackle the guy with the ball? Ultimately, that has to be done on defense. I think that opened some eyes for some other guys and created some other opportunities. Last night was really the first practice of this week, and every practice is independent of its own. That changes daily. The guys who go out there and consistently perform the right way and do it the way we’re asking them to do it, they run out there first for the next practice. But they have to do it again. By Friday, we figure out who has earned the right to run out there first based on the body of work Monday through Friday. I don’t know a better way to do it. There are guys who can play winning football who don’t run out there first, and when their opportunity comes and they have the responsibility to go in and do their job, they have to make their layups as well. There are moving parts every day. This thing isn’t set. I told them it isn’t going to be set until Friday. You have to come work your ass off every day and prove consistency and execution to us, which we haven’t been able to do on that side of the ball consistently for four quarters in any game. That has been the emphasis for us. We have to start stacking things. Too many times, it’s a good quarter, a good half or a good game sometimes, but then it’s about the ability to do it the next quarter, the next play and the next game. The consistency and execution have to improve, and that starts with us from a coaching standpoint.
On preparing for Vanderbilt’s two quarterbacks…
Golding: It’s almost like two different offenses, to be honest with you. Obviously, Curtis is super talented. He has a big body and a really live arm. I think he does a good job at his age of taking what people give him and taking away free access. He has a really good quick release. From a scramble standpoint, once he gets those feet moving a little bit, it’s kind of scary as well. He moves the pocket and throws really well on the run. When the other one is in the game, you can feel the New Mexico influence and the reason why he came with the coordinator. It feels much more option-generated, numbers and grass. They do a really good job formationally, very similar to Florida with multiple personnel groupings, shifts and motions to be able to run the football. Their bread and butter is the G-lead on offense, and they’re not hiding it. They’re going to find multiple different ways to get to it. I think Clark has always done a really good job. I have a lot of respect for him being a defensive guy in the past. Their identity is running the football and creating issues for defenses, being a defensive guy. Tim Beck has done that for a long time and has always had a really good track record. But it’s two completely different offenses based on the quarterback position. They’ll still have their wrinkles where they run some read-option, Q-power and do some of those things in the run game regardless of who is at quarterback, but you can tell the offense changes when Curtis is in the game. Coming off Georgia, where he doesn’t play, now you have all this volume of option football, direct runs and alternative formations that you have to have a plan for. Then he was playing well before that, so you have to have your plan for him, too. We have to work on both of them all week. I think we’ll see both of them in the game, no doubt. We’ll probably see them both in the game at the same time, too, so we have to do a good job and have plans for all three possibilities.
On the team’s response during the bye week after the Florida loss…
Golding: I think they came back and responded the right way. Accountability and ownership come from everyone, and it started with me first. You can’t watch the tape, see certain things and be OK with it. You just can’t. We came in Sunday, gave them Monday off, came back Tuesday and watched every series as a team — offense, defense and special teams — and aired everything out. Then we went out and practiced Tuesday and Wednesday, went light Thursday and came back Sunday. I think the response has been good. A lot of people have looked in the mirror and asked whether we’re doing everything we can control. That’s all my concern is. Are we going to work our butt off and control the things we can control? If we do that, put our best foot forward and don’t win the game, I’m OK with that because I know if we do it the right way throughout the week and they go all-in and do things right, we’ll win most of them. We have good enough players to do that. But if we don’t, we don’t deserve to. It’s about consistently doing that. That’s what I told y’all after the game. To me, this isn’t about washing it and moving on. You have to remember that feeling because you have to wake up every morning with the same mentality: I have to get better today. I have to be more focused today. I have to practice harder today. That sounded good last week when they were on their ass and hearing all the negativity from everybody else, but it’s no different now. We had a good practice last night, but that was last night. We have to have good meetings tomorrow and another really good practice. Hopefully, they can consistently do that day in and day out. I think the response was right as far as understanding it isn’t over, but we have to go to work. We have a lot of work to do, and we all have to do better. I felt that last week.
On whether fines are used as a corrective tool…
Golding: Obviously, you can’t make them performance-based from that standpoint. But there’s a cycle coming in December and January when everybody wants to renegotiate their contract, and it’s very black and white based on, “This is good enough. This isn’t good enough.” It’s like all of our jobs. You’re going to have that meeting where it’s, “Here’s your raise,” or, “You’re fired. Go get another job.” I think it’s my responsibility before you fire somebody to make sure you call them in and say, “Hey, man, this is not OK. This is the expectation. This is how we want it done,” and clearly define it for them. I think that’s the big thing coming out of it. Nobody who is 18 to 23 years old wants to go out there and not have success. Nobody is trying to miss the tackle. Nobody wants to get beat deep over the top. But are you doing the things Monday through Friday that give you your best chance not to? Those are the things. And as coaches, are we putting them in the right position Monday through Friday, setting up the right drills, the right concepts and all those things to allow them to have success? Clarity is in communication. Obviously, in a lot of things you want to have the chalk last, do certain things and call certain things to stop certain things. But there’s a point with some guys or some groups where it’s, “Hey, man, we have to get our cleats in the turf. We have to see our key. We have to be really sound, and we have to play really, really hard.” There’s a fine line in all of that, like we’ve always talked about. I can do a better job in a lot of that as well. There was a lot throughout the bye week about making sure we’re all doing everything necessary to give ourselves our best shot. But yeah, we fine for a lot. It’s not based on missed tackles. I can assure you, I wish you could. I’d be really rich right now.
On the defense’s missed-tackle numbers and practicing full-contact during the bye week…
Golding: We went through all the stats. We have 62 missed tackles for 482 yards right now, which is 70% of the rushing yards we’ve given up for the year. Seventy percent. We didn’t hide that. That was in the team meeting Sunday night. Normally coming off a bye, you’re not in full pads and you’re not live. We were in full pads and live because, to me, you’re going to fight like you train, so you have to train like you fight. Offense can complain all they want. If you want to see that shit again, then we can go out there in spiders and tap off on hips. We have to put them in the right position, we have to train them, and they have to get some confidence doing it as well. I thought the energy was great last night. I thought the effort was really good. I thought it was a physical practice. Was it perfect? No, and that’s what I told them afterward. But the good thing is it doesn’t have to be perfect. You can cover up a lot in this game by being physical and playing really fast and really hard. That’s another thing you saw some Saturday. There are a lot of things where it wasn’t a good blitz, wasn’t a good front, wasn’t a good coverage, but the dude worked his butt off and made the play. There’s some of that as well. It was good to see them and good to get back out on the grass with them last night, but we have to do it again tomorrow.
On players stepping up as leaders after the loss…
Golding: I think you saw several guys respond emotionally afterward. It makes sense when you get hit in the face and it’s, “All right, man, come on,” and all that type of stuff. But that has to be consistent. The emotional response to anything, I get it, but what does Tuesday look like? Are you in here early? When your buddy is falling asleep in the meeting, are you getting on his ass then? When a dude doesn’t touch the line, are you getting on his ass then? There’s so much to that. As a player, you have to make sure you’re doing everything correctly and the right way in order to get on anybody else or they’re not going to listen. I think after meetings last week, the message was, “No, let’s set the right example. Set the right example consistently so I can hold other people accountable.” There have been several guys who don’t want to feel that again. But until you change your behavior and change what you do leading up to that point, you’re not going to get a different result. I think we’re still a work in progress on that. But we do have guys who have identified it and are trying to change and work harder to get a different result. I definitely see that some.
On the specific corrections emphasized after the Florida game…
Golding: A lot. Leverage, obviously, was No. 1. When you talk about defense, it’s numbers-based. It’s leverage, angles, eye control, balance and body control. But the base thing is striking a block, leveraging the ball and understanding where my help is. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the run game or pass game. You have 11 guys, and things are designed to take away certain things. Everything isn’t designed to take away everything. You have to understand where to miss. If I’m an outside-in piece, I have to miss outside. If I miss the tackle, he has to cut back. If I’m an inside-out player and miss the tackle, it’s missing inside-out. Make the ball bounce because I have a fence outside. There are so many examples of us not using all 11 guys and a lack of understanding. You’re not going to be perfect. You’re not going to make every play. But where do I miss? Those are things you’ve drilled and set up that have been ingrained since spring, summer and fall. These aren’t new concepts or new drills, but obviously it wasn’t taken. We didn’t go out and do it consistently. I think it was about reaffirming that and the whys. I’m really big on when you don’t have success, you have to go back and tell them why. Why do we call it this way? Why do we drill it that way? You have to be able to show an example. Here’s Game 3: same call, same play. You get your head on the outside, you don’t stop your feet on contact and you run right through it. It’s a TFL. Same player, same opportunity, same call, but now I put my head on the inside, he jump-cuts and now it’s a 15-yard gain. There’s nothing we’re asking them to do that they haven’t done. That’s what I told them. It’s no different than my kids. You tell your kid, “Hey, don’t do that.” You train them the right way. They don’t do it, and you feel good. Then they do it and you’re like, “Hold on, man.” You’re pissed off because they already showed you they know how to act. They already showed you they have good manners and know how to treat people. So when they don’t, it’s obvious. That’s what I’m talking about with consistency. All these guys have shown the ability to do it. Now we’re talking about games later, series later, the next play, the next drive, and suddenly we’re not. Why? Those are the things to me. We’re not perfect, and we’re going to make some mistakes. But for us, the layups — leveraging the football, being physical, the want-to, the energy, the effort and the body language — those are non-negotiable. Those are the things coming out of it that made me sick to my stomach. I understand you’re going to miss tackles week in and week out. They’re on scholarship, too. It makes sense. But we want to miss them the right way. I want to make guys cut back, and that’s why we have pursuit. I think the overall understanding of it was a really good thing to do as a team.
On reviewing the defensive mistakes with the entire team instead of only the defense…
Golding: Normally, you do that in a defensive unit meeting room. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that when you’re in this room, what you do affects everybody in this room. That’s on special teams and offense, too. I had a lot of guys on offense come up to me after the meeting and say, “Coach, I appreciate that. I’ve got a better understanding. I’ve got a better feel.” They get in their little circles off the field, and because they’re buddies with them, they think they’re a lot better than they are. They don’t get to watch the other side of the tape and really see it. I think it helps them hold each other accountable. Little Johnny at the house might think he’s really damn good, but we just watched it on tape and it ain’t worth shit. So now it’s, “Hey, bro, that ain’t good enough for us.” I think it was good in all three phases because there was nothing about that game where we came out of it and could say we excelled in all three phases consistently for four quarters, which you’re going to have to do against a Top 10 team on the road. You have to. We’re going to play a bunch more of them, too. I think it was a good learning tool as long as we take it and apply it Monday through Friday, don’t become complacent and stop reading all the positive clippings and all the other things that go with it. You have to outwork people here. It’s a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. We have to coach it better and hold them accountable to do it, but they have to want to do it. I saw that last week and saw it last night, but it doesn’t matter what I say. What matters is what product is on the field at 2:30 on Saturday. We can talk about it all we want. We can set up whatever drills we want. We can talk about what changes we made. It isn’t going to matter until you put it on tape and do it consistently. And guess what? If you do it Saturday, you have to come back Sunday and do it the next week, too, because you have an awesome Missouri team coming in here. It’s week in and week out.
On handling the outside noise after LSU and Florida…
Golding: We talk about noise. We talked about the noise after the LSU game, and we talked about the noise after the Florida game. You can Google the same guy and one week you’re an All-American, and now you ain’t worth a shit. That’s going to be week in and week out. You chose this. We all did. We have to go to work, identify our issues, find a way to improve them and get better. The things we’re doing well, we still have to continue doing well. There’s room for improvement in all three phases, no doubt, starting with me.
On the rotation at right tackle…
Golding: Getting Tommy back healthier is a big piece. Obviously, he has been banged up. Having Connor get meaningful snaps and play really well at times has been important. The consistency is improving and has to continue to improve. Regardless of the position, if guys are playing winning football, they deserve the opportunity to go play. There are certain guys who do certain things well, and we have to do a better job from a coaching staff standpoint in all three phases of making sure we have guys doing what they do well and packaging it better. At the tackle position, we have multiple guys who can play winning football. A lot of it is based on who is healthy. A lot of it is within the game and who has the hot hand and is playing well. But you have to have depth at every position in this league if you’re going to make the run you need to make. A lot of that rotation has been injury-based, with guys not being 100% healthy, and trying to keep those guys as fresh as possible has been a big piece of it.
On the flashes of good defensive play he has seen this season…
Golding: I don’t know the exact stats, but I think there are six or seven quarters throughout the year where we haven’t given up any points, or at least no touchdowns. There are multiple halves where we’ve strung communication together. We’ve put violence on tape. We’re setting edges and making the ball cut back. We’re taking profile shots and not stopping our feet. There’s toughness on tape. There’s violence on tape. There are guys taking shots at the football and guys playing the football. The other thing in the Florida game was a couple of second-and-longs where we were in phase and didn’t look back, so we got a P.I. Some of those issues turn what should be third-and-10 into first-and-10. We’re not good enough to consistently continue doing that. It’s one thing when that happens for the first time, and that has been my frustration with them. If we come in here, don’t identify it and don’t drill it, that’s on us. But if we identify it, say, “Here’s the issue. Here’s the drill for it. This is how it transfers. This is what it looks like,” then when it comes up in the game, we have to be able to execute it. That’s what the bye week is for. Who has consistently not been able to do that? Then it’s our responsibility to find somebody who can. We have to coach it better and we need you to get better. But if it has been the same guy who has been the issue, then that’s on us. We have to find somebody else or create a different package where that guy isn’t in. But there are enough guys who have flashed the ability to play winning football in some role. The same guy who got a P.I. might have looked and leaned the week before, got his eyes back and made the play. Those are the things. As a coach, you’re evaluating how to get them to do it more, set it up more in practice, identify it and train it better throughout the week so it becomes second nature on Saturday.
On offenses taking the green dot out of the game and the need to simplify defensively…
Golding: The big piece now is that the game has changed a little bit because offenses are taking the green dot away by how they play. The huddle operation and getting everything under 15 seconds is going to be the same thing with Vandy this week. They’re not going to snap the ball with more than 15 seconds left on the play clock. That takes the game off the sideline. Now you make 18- to 23-year-old kids communicate after a shift, a motion and everything else. There’s a real piece to that where you have to simplify some things. It might not always be the best call based on what they’re in, but everybody is on the same page. Let’s strike our block, play really fast, play to our help, leverage the football and see what happens. There was a lot of that throughout the week as well. The game has changed since the green dot has evolved. Now it’s about how offenses take it out of the game on defense. A lot of these teams are slowing the game down now with bigger personnel, shifts, motions and all those things. They’re snapping the ball at eight or nine seconds. Everything you used to be able to communicate, get set and get into the right thing, you’re not able to do. I think that’s a big piece as well. We have to take ownership of that as a staff. Defense is about getting over, under and bare. How do you create it? It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 4-2, 4-3 or 3-4. The concepts are still exactly the same. It’s about getting our guys’ cleats in the turf, seeing the key, block destruction, tackling really well and playing really hard. Hopefully, we’ve identified some of that and can put a better product on tape.
On the running backs after evaluating the Florida game without Kewan Lacy…
Golding: Especially at the start of the game, I think it looks a little different if we keep our footing. That was pretty consistent across multiple positions. A lot of it was cutting off the inside foot, and some of that was on us, but there was slipping, too. I felt like J.T. got started early. There were a couple where he slipped on that first drive where, if you move the chains, you feel a little differently about it. The flow is a little different and all those things. But I think J.T. continues to go to work. He’s a very explosive player. I think Makhi runs the football extremely hard. Obviously, that game wasn’t everything we wanted it to be, but I think they came to work last week as well. Same thing with Josh. That’s going to be a constant rotation based on how No. 5 is and how healthy he is. Even coming back, he isn’t going to take the toll of 40 to 50 snaps and all those things. Those guys have to come in, execute and play efficiently, which I think they will. That’s week in and week out. But I don’t think anybody is going to come out of that Florida game saying, “We really loved the performance,” at any position. There’s a lot that we all can get better from.
