Greg McElroy shares optimism for Pete Golding at Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin made several splashes in Oxford this offseason. Amongst plenty of major additions, though, the biggest may be Pete Golding as his hire to be Ole Miss’ next defensive coordinator after he spent the last five years at Alabama.

In Greg McElroy’s opinion, he also believes Golding’s addition will be one of the most impactful for the Rebels by the time it’s all said and done. On Always College Football last week, McElroy said the Crimson Tide’s loss is Ole Miss’ gain considering the inconsistency on their defense the last few seasons and Golding’s ability to still make a difference with the play sheet on that side of the football.

“If you look at Ole Miss defensively the last handful of years? They’ve kind of been a bit of a mixed bag. They’ve transitioned from one defense to another defense to being a mixed bag of several different defenses,” said McElroy. “Primarily, Lane Kiffin has tasked his coordinators with don’t give up big plays, keep the ball in front. And, hopefully, when you get to the red zone, you can hold them to a field goal. That’s been the defensive mentality he’s tried to employ.”

“Now, that changed a little bit at times last year. And I would expect it to change even more with Pete Golding at the helm,” McElroy said. “Pete Golding is a terrific recruiter. And, although at Alabama a lot of people ran out of patience with the inconsistencies of the defense, I still think the guy knows how to dial it up. I think he knows how to create advantages for his personnel against the opposing offense.”

In Kiffin’s three years with the Rebels, his defense has never cracked the Top-50 in the nation. It has steadily improved since his first year when they allowed over 38 points per game until last season when the Rebels gave up 25.5. Still, that phase of the game hasn’t necessarily been their strongest suit in his tenure.

That’s why Golding is now on Kiffin’s staff. In his half-decade in Tuscaloosa, he coached a Top-20 defense every season. Over those five seasons, Alabama’s opponents only scored an average of just 18.9 points per game. That includes 2022 where the Tide had their best defense of his tenure as they finished ninth in the nation.

With all that said, McElroy is worried about the prospects he’s going to have with his new team. While it’s still SEC-level talent, he thinks there’s a big difference between what he had at his disposal over the last five years and what he’ll have available to him now.

“Here’s the problem. His personnel is not elite. Not like it was at Alabama…There’s no denying that the personnel he’s dealing with in Oxford, Mississippi is not equal to what he dealt with the last handful of years in Tuscaloosa,” McElroy admitted. “So, Pete Golding, will he run the pattern match style defense? Will he be forced by Lane Kiffin to run some of the defense they’ve ran before? With three-deep zone, keep the ball in front. It’ll be very interesting to see how that all works out.”

Overall, though, McElroy sees this as a major plus for the Rebel’s coaching staff. From here, it’s up to him to prove it and post the best defense Ole Miss has had under Kiffin.

“I think it’s a huge opportunity for Ole Miss,” said McElroy. “I think it was a huge hire for Lane Kiffin. And it should be an important move for Pete Golding as he tries to put his own fingerprints on the defense at all three levels.