Grading the hire: Ole Miss promotes Pete Golding to replace Lane Kiffin

L ane Kiffin is off to LSU , and Ole Miss has handed the keys to Pete Golding .

Golding is in his third season as Rebels defensive coordinator and this will be his first head coaching job. Ole Miss announced it will promote Golding to head coach after Kiffin announced his decision to leave for LSU .

Golding's first game will be in the College Football Playoff .

Toppmeyer: Lane Kiffin torches Ole Miss legacy for renegade's exit to LSU

College football coaching carousel: Grades for each hire, how they fit

Blake Toppmeyer: B-

To grade this hire, first consider the situation. Lane Kiffin’s stay-or-go saga held the Ole Miss job hostage, even while the Rebels approached their first College Football Playoff bid.

By the time Kiffin officially pledged to LSU, many top coaching candidates who might have been willing to consider Ole Miss already had been hired elsewhere. Kiffin’s heel turn on the doorstep of the Rebels’ first playoff bid put pressure on athletic director Keith Carter to make a hire who could keep the roster and coaching staff intact for a postseason run. Players can rally around this hire.

In the short term, that makes this a strong move. In the long term, stay tuned.

Golding is a skilled defensive coordinator who trained under Nick Saban. Ole Miss’ best stretch under Kiffin came after he hired Golding to run his defense ahead of the 2023 season. He’s built a reputation for being a good recruiter, too.

This is the zig to the zag of new industry norms. Many Power Four athletic directors have shied away from turning to the coordinator ranks for their coaching hires in the past couple of seasons, as the job of being a head coach is bigger than ever.

And yet it’s worth noting the SEC’s best active coach had no head coaching experience, before Georgia hired Kirby Smart. In the Big Ten, Ohio State elevated Ryan Day from coordinator to coach to succeed Urban Meyer.

That’s not to compare this hire to those. It’s only to say hiring a good coordinator steeped with SEC experience feels like no more of a gamble than hiring a coach from the Group of Five.

Considering Ole Miss’ available moves, this is a fine choice. Re-evaluate in a year or two. For now, this hire provides stability in a moment the Rebels desperate need it.

Matt Hayes: C

This just screams panic hire. Or hire the guy who knows the team better than anyone, because we've got a group of players who can make a run in the CFP.

Golding is well thought of in the coaching fraternity, a skilled defensive mind who was turning heads at UTSA long before Nick Saban hired him as defensive coordinator at Alabama . But that doesn't mean Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter shouldn't have played it down the middle.

Make Golding the interim, and watch him coach the team in the CFP. See how the players react to him over the course of a few weeks, not a few, drama-filled days. At the same time, see what other coaches are interested in a job that is night and day better than when Carter and Kiffin hooked up to change the culture.

Ole Miss is a legitimate destination job now. The NIL financial support is elite, and the support structure is as good as any in the SEC.

It wouldn't have hurt to at least see who would be interested. That doesn't mean Golding won't or can't be the right fit, it just means you're performing due diligence.

The offensive coordinator hire will be critical for Golding. He has to build an offensive staff that will keep players from jumping into the transfer portal, including QB Trinidad Chambliss ― who was recruited and developed by Charlie Weis Jr. (now with Kiffin at LSU), and who is petitioning the NCAA for a fifth season of eligibility.

And just in case it isn't obvious: LSU needs a quarterback for 2026.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ole Miss promotes Pete Golding to replace Lane Kiffin. Expert grades for coaching hire