The Pete Golding hire nobody saw coming

By Chris Marler

Culture fit is a phrase thrown around a lot nowadays in college football. You hear it all the time. “Brian Kelly isn’t a good culture fit.” Or, “Whoever they hire next needs to fit in with the culture.”

I’ve always thought that was a very misguided and hollow take on things. The culture of most bigtime college football programs, especially the ones in the Southeastern Conference, is winning. Period. 

LSU fans did not care about Brian Kelly’s fake southern accent or cringey tik tok dances when they beat Alabama in his first year. Texas A&M fans didn’t care about how ugly Jimbo Fisher’s exit from Florida State was when they gave him a guaranteed contract for $75 million. In fact, they cared so little about the money that they gave him an extension for even more after he beat Alabama and signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. 

Somehow neither one of those guys was a bad culture fit until after they were fired for losing too many games. That’s because the culture in big time college football is winning.

The most unexpected hire 

Pete Golding is the most unexpected hire of this coaching carousel and the most fascinating one to watch going forward. Prior to Lane Kiffin going to Ole Miss, the Rebels were an afterthought of a program that no one in the league really feared and whose sole relevance in this world was tailgating. That changed quickly. Lane Kiffin made Ole Miss fun and cool. They scored a ton of points, trolled on social media, and buddy, just wait until you see these powder blue uniforms. 

Ole Miss was fun and easy to root for because for most teams they never felt like a real legitimate threat. Then Pete Golding was hired. Two former Nick Saban coordinators, one on each side of the ball. That felt like where the similarities may have ended though. Lane Kiffin loved the spotlight, making waves on social media, and of course hot yoga. Lane always loved the circus. He especially loved creating it. But Golding never wanted to be in that circus, and he never asked to be in the one that Kiffin created when he began flirting with the idea of leaving Ole Miss for LSU. 

That didn’t matter though because here we are. At the end of October, Pete Golding was just concerned on how to stop the remaining offenses on the schedule and recruiting his you know what off the final month before signing day. Now, he’s not just the interim coach at Oxford. He’s not just the substitute teacher praying for the end of the school year to hurry up. He is the head coach of the No. 6 team in America and hosting a playoff game. 

And, thanks to the way Lane Kiffin’s exit was handled, he’s become the most rootable coach in the sport. 

Picking up the pieces in Oxford

What makes the Golding hire so interesting is the chaos and drama that it was conceived in and how he’ll handle the Rebels College Football Playoff game(s). It’s what happens next. It was easily the biggest surprise hire of any Power opening this Fall. Even leading up to Kiffin’s presumed exit the general consensus was that Joe Judge would be the interim head coach and they’d figure out the rest later. How ready is Golding? How prepared is he to run an entire program and not just a defense especially now that this program is relevant, a threat in the SEC, and a place where the expectations went to the moon over the last five years?

Who knows. But personally, I’m sure he is ready considering he’s the biggest reason outside of Kiffin for their success. People are talking about this hire like Golding failed upwards like Andy from the Office getting the new manager position. But the foundation for all the bragging rights, newfound national relevance, NFL draft picks, and overall success of this program was laid by Golding.

That’s why of the record 11 draft picks in the last two years, eight have come from his defense. He’s also why a lot of the talent on that roster went to Oxford in the first place. 

To win in the NIL and transfer portal era, you need money, talent, and then the ability to figure out how to get 18-22 year old millionaires to buy in. He clearly was able to do that with this year’s team, and it’s one of many reasons he got the job. And the chip he has on his shoulder is probably small to the one on the boosters of Ole Miss who want to keep winning after Kiffin more than they want to breathe. 

You know who can go get the players to keep this thing going? The guy who was Alabama’s best recruiter under Nick Saban and one of the best in the country for nearly a decade. And you know who can even go into your old coach’s new backyard to get those players in Louisiana? The guy from Hammond, Louisiana who’s been plucking four and five stars from LSU’s backyard for years.

Winning the Breakup 

I don’t know what Golding’s tenure will look like or how long it will last. I do know that to get it started in the right direction, it will need buy-in and alignment from everyone around Ole Miss’ program. And sometimes going through a messy divorce and very public breakup can motivate you more than Egg Bowl wins and ten-win seasons ever did. Sometimes the shocking and unfair end of one chapter leads to an even better next chapter.

Maybe the frat boy looking 41 year old who would rather recruit some dawgs instead of being in downward dog can win in Oxford. Either way, he’ll have the entire country outside of Baton Rouge cheering him on.