Not many coaches in the entire history of college football can say they’ve had a harder start than Pete Golding at Ole Miss.
We all know about the drama and circumstances surrounding Golding getting the job in Oxford, but that’s not factored into this equation.
- No. 17 Tulane.
- No. 2 Georgia.
- No. 10 Miami.
- No. 24 Louisville.
Four games, all against ranked opponents.
Golding is the first major college football head coach in the AP poll era (first started in 1936) to face a ranked opponent in each of his first four career games as a head coach.
The fact he’s gone 3-1 in those games and came within one play turning that one loss into a win, that’s an impressive accomplishment. (H/t to Ben Garrett at OM Spirit originally pointing out this stat.)
There have been some instances that come close to matching this mark. But facing four ranked opponents in a row is rare enough on its own. Notre Dame has a few years in its history facing four ranked teams consecutively, most recently in 2000. So does Penn State in 2004. Miami started the 2009 season with four-straight ranked teams.
What separates Golding’s record from that is those were all with veteran head coaches. Golding had never been a head coach at any level before.
The closest historical example to that might just be Terry Brennan starting his collegiate head coaching career at Notre Dame in 1954 against two ranked teams. Before that, Brennan had only been a head coach at the high school level.
Another, more modern example that is closer to how Golding landed the Ole Miss head coach job was Sonny Cumbie at Texas Tech in 2021. The school fired Matt Wells midway through the season and promoted Cumbie to interim head coach.
Cumbie’s first games leading the Red Raiders was against No. 4 Oklahoma, unranked Iowa State, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Baylor.
However, as you may have noticed, the noticeable difference between Golding and Cumbie is that Golding never had an interim tag. He was given the full-time gig right away.
The man who was given the full-time job at Texas Tech, Joey McGuire, also nearly matched the start of Golding’s career.
The Red Raiders started the 2022 season against Murray State, No. 25 Houston, No. 16 NC State and No. 22 Texas. If not for the Murray State game, McGuire would’ve started his time in Lubbock with five-straight ranked opponents with No. 25 Kansas State and No. 7 Oklahoma State following the Longhorns.
McGuire also had an long, successful high school career as head coach at Cedar Hill high School in Texas. Again, Golding has never been a head coach before.
That’s what make this record unique.
It’s not a guarantee for success, though. Four games isn’t enough to establish a great coaching career.
But if Golding ends up doing that, he’ll have a great first chapter for his biography.
