Contrary to popular belief, Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding remain friends and have no ill will against each other despite last December’s well-documented coaching change that saw Kiffin leave for LSU and Golding take over full-time at Ole Miss. If Golding is to be believed, at least.
“Lane and I are good. I didn’t know him before taking the job (at Ole Miss). I have no ill will toward Coach Kiffin,” Kiffin said on Wednesday in Tampa. “… He texts me on a regular basis, and there’s certain things we’ll talk about, certain things we don’t talk about. He’s very competitive, just like I’m very competitive.”
In Golding’s three seasons as Kiffin’s defensive coordinator, Ole Miss had one of the top defensive units in the country, highlighted by the Rebels’ 2024 unit that led the nation with 52 sacks and 120 tackles for loss.
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“I didn’t come to Ole Miss because of Coach Kiffin. I came to Ole Miss to be at Ole Miss and to raise three kids,” said Golding, who coached and won a playoff game with Ole Miss last season. “Our relationship really grew in those 3.5 years, and he did a lot for me, and I was very, very appreciative of how he treated me and my family. Learned a lot from him.”
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For that, Golding said he can “separate the two” when the two speak with each other.
Golding, who will continue to call defensive plays at Ole Miss, said he believes everyone has “won” from last December’s events.
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“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I don’t care. Like I told an Ole Miss group the other day, in 2021, if you said you could look in 2025 and you’re about to be 11-1 and go to the playoff, would you take it if your coach was leaving? Hell yeah,” Golding said. “Everybody won from it. It’s okay. [Ole Miss AD Keith Carter], you made a great hire. He did a great job. Every place isn’t for everybody.
“Throughout the whole process, I’ll be the first one to tell you, I told him I was thinking he was dumb if he was to leave. I wanted him to stay. That was a selfish decision because I love being the DC where I was at. But he decided what was better for him and his family. And that’s for him to decide.”
Does Golding think fielding questions about Kiffin and LSU will die after both teams meet in Week 3 in Oxford at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium? He provided a candid response to that as well.
“I think that is up to y’all (reporters),” Golding said in a later interview. “There is always going to be history. … If you get married and you have an ex that your wife knows about, she’s never dead. She’s always going to get brought up. That’s kind of where it is right now.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Lane and I are good’: Pete Golding talks relationship with Lane Kiffin
