From the moment Pete Golding was named the new Ole Miss coach, September 19 became one of the biggest measuring sticks of his early tenure leading the Rebels.
For more reasons than one, Golding passed with flying colors.
No. 8 Ole Miss beat No. 7 LSU 32-24 in Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford behind a stellar performance from quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and a gutsy coaching decision that’ll be remembered for a long time.
Afterwards, Golding met with reporters to talk about the game and everything that surrounded it. Here’s everything he said.
Pete Golding, Ole Miss head coach
On his overall thoughts after the win over LSU…
What an awesome weekend and environment in Oxford. The community did an unbelievable job. We had the concert Thursday night, GameDay and so many things going on, and I’m just really proud of this building. From Keith to Glenn, they allowed us to keep our focus on what was important. I thought our staff and coaches did an outstanding job, but more importantly, I thought our players stayed focused, worked their butts off and handled it the right way and did it with class. That’s what I just told them. When you work your butt off, you’re talented and you keep the good Lord first, good things happen to you. It took a lot. It took all of us tonight. A lot of guys stepped up and played really well, so I’m just really proud of them.
On whether beating LSU means a little more…
I just told our team, “Look, I don’t think anybody came here just to beat LSU.” That wasn’t our goal coming in and working so hard in the offseason and summer. It wasn’t just to win one football game. I told them, “Yes, is it sweet? Absolutely. Go enjoy tonight for sure.” But we have to come back to work tomorrow. We have a really, really good Florida team next week. It wasn’t the Super Bowl, and we didn’t make it the Super Bowl. The goals and expectations that Glenn and Keith have set for this place aren’t about winning one football game in September. Am I super proud of them? Absolutely. But that’s three years since we’ve been here that we’ve come home with that trophy. That’s an expectation here, as it should be. I’m really proud of our guys and coaches and really happy for our fans. I couldn’t be happier for Glenn and Keith. I’m really grateful for the opportunity they presented to me, which they didn’t have to do. I think it was a full-circle moment for a lot of people that no player and no person is bigger than anybody else. This place has been built the right way with really good people. The trajectory is up, and that’s where it’s going to continue to go.
On putting the LSU week in the rearview mirror…
I think it’s great to have another game where it’s a four-quarter fight. The disappointing thing for me was something we talked about at halftime. I said it felt like seven days ago we were sitting in the same locker room and had a decent first half. We talked about coming out in the third quarter, really sticking the dagger in them and finishing this thing the right way, and yet we didn’t do it again. If you continue to let good football teams hang around, bad things happen. I’m really proud of the fight in the fourth quarter. The offense did a really good job at the end. There was really good execution of a plan we had in place for the two-point situation that I think changed the momentum a little bit. Then the defense made a stop when it had to. But when we go back and watch the tape, there are going to be a lot of opportunities where we could have ended that game way before that. If you keep playing with fire, you’re going to get burned. We have to continue to learn from these mistakes and correct them so we don’t do it again. But I’m just so happy for our guys. They worked their butts off. I want them to enjoy it tonight. I’m really excited for our fans. They created an unbelievable atmosphere, which is the norm here. It doesn’t matter if it’s Tulane, Kiffin or LSU. They’re going to show up and they’re going to be loud. Our guys are so grateful for that. There were a lot of false starts today that got them behind the chains because of the crowd noise. I’m really thankful for the student section, the fans and the alumni. I’m happy for them.
On Trinidad Chambliss’ composure in big moments…
He’s a fierce competitor. Y’all have known that and seen him for a long time. We talk about competitive greatness, being at your best when your best is needed. That’s him. Our guys believe in him. He probably wants a couple of throws back, but he made the ones he had to make. He doesn’t get too high and doesn’t get too low. He’s Steady Eddie. I said it this morning on GameDay: I don’t care what level you coach, if you don’t have a quarterback, good luck. We’ve got a good one, and he’s a good dude. I’m just super happy for him.
On the decision to go for two in the fourth quarter…
The plan always was, in certain situations, when you get scored on in a situation where you’re not supposed to be going for two, you send the field-goal block unit out there and try to catch them with 12 men or make them burn a timeout or anything like that. If they jump, then it’s half the distance and you have a real decision to make. Are you going to get closer at some point and try it from a yard and a half? Well, then we did it again and they did it again. At that point, if we can’t get half a yard to get it to eight and make sure you don’t lose the game — worst-case scenario, you’re going to overtime — then we shouldn’t win the game. It was something we worked on throughout the week, and our guys executed it at a high level.
On the secondary’s performance against LSU…
I thought at times they did a really nice job. Charlie does an unbelievable job on the other side of the ball and presents a lot of problems for defenses, so they saw a lot of different things. For the most part, I thought they did a really good job. I put a lot on them. There were a lot of checks and things like that. It wasn’t always perfect, and it wasn’t going to be perfect going in. But they’ve taken a beating lately and they’ve been really, really coachable. They made some plays when they had to. It wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t perfect either. We’ll look at the tape, but I’m really excited for them tonight to get that win. That’s a big one for us.
On whether the win makes a statement about Kiffin’s decision to leave Ole Miss…
I’m not getting into that, to be honest with you. People make decisions for their own reasons and for themselves and their families. That’s a question for him. I’m not getting into that.
On Sharif Denson’s return to the secondary…
He came out of spring and summer as our guy. He’s kind of our bell cow back there. He has a ton of experience in this league. He’s a really good football player and he’s super smart. He was going into Louisville as a starter, and that’s when he had the high ankle sprain. Pat and the training room have done a really, really good job with him to get him back healthy, and he has fought through it. On Fast Friday, he actually kind of rolled it again and limped off, but he fought through that, too. I’m just happy for him for being resilient and working his butt off. He played really well tonight. We needed him.
On what the win says about the trajectory of the program…
I think that has been in place since I’ve come here, at least it feels that way, and I’m not saying that because of me. Since 2023, it feels like it’s a failure if you aren’t winning 10 games. I remember when I was first making the move over here, it was the year after they had lost five games. I was like, “Man, if we can go over there and average 10 wins a year, they’ll build statues of everybody.” Then after Year 2, it’s like, “Man, if we don’t go to the natty, it’s a bust.” It feels like Tuscaloosa again. That’s how it should be because that’s what they’ve invested into this place. When you have elite leadership from the top and it’s vertically aligned, that’s what it should be. That’s the expectation here, and we aren’t running from that. You have to have really good players to do it. You have to have really good coaches to do it. You have to have funds to do it. Our leadership is the best in the country, and we have everything we need.
On whether he was able to take in the atmosphere, light show and fireworks…
If you watched us on third down, you wouldn’t have seen me soaking in anything with that iPad. So, no, I did not enjoy the light show and fireworks. Maybe I’ll go back and watch it tonight. I’m sure Bentley did on the sideline.
On Kewan Lacy’s injury…
He banged up his shoulder. They went and X-rayed it, and the X-ray was negative. They padded him up, and he was going to try to fight through it. But at that point, J.T. was playing really well, and that’s kind of why we went out and got some of those guys. I know we’ll get some more information tomorrow, but that’s all I have for you right now.
On the defensive line’s performance…
We have some really good players up there with a lot of experience. It wasn’t going to be a super fun night for them because we were trying to make him a pocket passer for a lot of the night. We were really big on that this week, and Coach Joyner did a good job of getting them to be unselfish. We weren’t going to win this game based on sacks. We were going to win this game based on scramble yards. For the most part, I thought they did a good job containing and pressing the pocket. I also thought they did a really good job in the run game up front. We didn’t always fit it right at linebacker, and they busted a couple of explosives. But I think we have a really good front. They’re coached really well and they’re really good dudes. I thought they played well.
On the defensive call that produced the game-sealing interception…
It was designed as a six-up look to collapse the pocket. The four outside guys were going to collapse the pocket, and we read the center. One of the backers goes to create a one-on-one in the back, and the guy the center blocks pops out and becomes the spy rat. I think Luke actually tipped the ball, and he was the guy who popped off the center. You occupy all five, but you still have a spy player for him scrambling because you know he’s going to keep the play alive on fourth down. But you have to put your DBs in blitz coverage. They were five-for-five in the back end and did a really nice job matching the pattern.
On Traylon Ray’s breakout performance…
It’s an interesting story. We’ve kind of talked about it in here. He was a receiver last year, then we struggled at corner and had some injuries, so I made him a corner and tried to work with him. Going into the offseason, he said, “Coach, look, man, I would love to come back. I love this place. But I hate corner. I want to play receiver. I’m a receiver. Y’all signed me from West Virginia to play receiver.” Coming into the spring, JDB loved him. He had a really good spring and is a really good athlete. He had a good summer. He was a little inconsistent throughout camp with some drops and things like that, but he’s a dude who keeps his head down and works extremely hard. He’s a good dude and knows the offense. I was happy for him to get in there and take advantage of his opportunities. He made some big plays tonight and got hit doing it, so good for him.
On checking on LSU’s injured player…
I said, “Dude, man, you’re a hell of a player, and I’m praying for you. I hope you can get back.” He’s a super talented player, and you hate to see that at any level. Hopefully, he’ll be OK.
On John David Baker’s impact as offensive coordinator…
The best thing about JDB is that he’s very selfless. He doesn’t have a big ego. That’s a hard job when you come into a place on one side of the ball that has had a lot of success and you’re taking it over because a lot of guys are going to start questioning things if it’s done differently or called differently and it doesn’t work early and often. He has a really good feel for the guys. The guys respect him. He’s a really good teacher, but he cares about them as well. He does a really good job empowering the people around him. With Joe and the other guys in that room, Cody, Frank and all those guys, they do a really good job. He takes ideas in and uses them. I think that’s really helpful in a room because you get buy-in from the coaches, and that bleeds down to the players. Nobody questions JDB’s intentions, and they know why he’s here. He wants to be here. He’s here for the players and to design the best plays for us to win football games. That’s what he does.
On moving Edwin Joseph to corner and Jaylon Braxton to safety…
Man, we just throw them in a little hamster wheel and say, “Come on, man, what does it look like?” We’re still rolling with it. Edwin, like we talked about last week, is probably, in my opinion, the most talented player back there. He’s new to the system, so corner is a position, especially on our sideline, where we can help him and minimize some of the teaching, checks and adjustments on him. Jaylon Braxton was a guy who played safety in this system last year. I knew the game was going to be won or lost in the slot on base downs. That’s where they look for their matchups, especially in that system. I wanted a corner body inside, but one who could communicate at a high level because we were trying to get in and out of so many different things because of the signaling operation. I thought it was a good flip. Then Kite got banged up, so we had to bump Braxton back out to corner because he’s the next-best corner. I thought Squirrel came in, Core came in, and it was kind of by committee after that to make sure they came in and executed at a high level.
