Paul Finebaum assesses Pete Golding's shortcomings as a DC

Pete Golding leaving Alabama and taking the same defensive coordinator job at Ole Miss made quite the shift in the SEC West last week. This comes after a season where those in Tuscaloosa weren’t completely pleased with how Nick Saban’s staff handled this year’s team. With his move official, Paul Finebaum says there may be something to that as everyone thought.

Finebaum shared his thoughts on some of Golding’s blemishes during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning. He says that, even though he believes Bill O’Brien was the more problematic coordinator, he had heard Golding wasn’t always great about holding his Crimson Tide defenders accountable.

“I just heard various things about practices being maybe a little undisciplined. (Just) in terms of when players make mistakes to be sure to correct (them). And these are technical things. But I think some things had just been allowed to let go on,” said Finebaum. “I don’t know if that directly resulted in the lack of discipline that we’ve seen overall on the team. (But) that doesn’t matter. We’re seeing a pretty big shift here on this staff.

“Frankly, I’ve always felt that the O’Brien card was even more problematic than Pete Golding. Just because he’s not the complete college coach. Pete Golding was a good recruiter and I think that can’t be overlooked,” Finebaum said.

Golding joined Saban’s staff in 2018 and has served as DC and inside linebackers coach in that time. While his defense never finished outside the Top-20, though, some undisciplined behavior was very notable on this season’s Alabama team and it cost them at several key points.

Still, Lane Kiffin believes in Golding enough to consider this a top-notch addition. The Rebels will just be hoping for the best of Golding’s resume when he coaches in Oxford next season.