Sam Hutchens, Mississippi Clarion LedgerMon, December 1, 2025 at 11:04 AM UTC·4 min readOXFORD — Like Lane Kiffin, new Ole Miss football coach Pete Golding is known for his social media posts.
The reason why is polar opposite.
The social media disparity is one of many reasons that the Golding era at Ole Miss — which will start for the Rebels (11-1) in the College Football Playoff — could be conducted differently than the Kiffin era.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOle Miss athletic director Keith Carter announced Golding as the new coach to the team on Nov. 30. His words were met with raucous cheers, according to a video posted by Ole Miss football.
The Rebels lost one of college football's best coaches in Kiffin, but they could be getting a break from the accompanying drama.
Kiffin, whose offer from LSU is for a reported seven years, is known for his persistent online posting. Posts, pictures and trolling are constants.
Fifty-two of Golding's past 53 posts on X have been one character: a shark emoji for when Ole Miss gets a commitment.
The lone exception? An unusually long three-character post on Dec. 19, 2024, that consisted of two sharks and a sleeping emoji. It was sent in the middle of the transfer portal.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGolding hasn't even posted a letter on X since July 8, 2021. It was when he was the defensive coordinator at Alabama when he posted "RTR," short for Roll Tide Roll. An emoji after landing a recruit is the peak of his online engagement.
"Ole Miss football is special," Golding said in a statement after his promotion was announced. "Since the day I arrived, I've felt the passion, pride and unwavering support of Rebel Nation. This is a place where expectations are high, and football is woven into the fabric of the community.
"Our mission moving forward is clear: We will play with toughness, discipline and relentless effort in everything we do. We will recruit at the highest level, develop our players on and off the field, and compete every single day to bring championships to Oxford. Most importantly, we will represent this university with class and integrity."
What is Pete Golding's background, personality?
Golding has an exuberant personality and a muted online presence. He's been open in-person and quiet behind the scenes.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHis latest press conference as defensive coordinator on Aug. 14 lasted 22 minutes, which would be long for a Kiffin midweek press conference. Golding showed up in a T-shirt and a RealTree baseball cap and kicked it off himself with a greeting to the reporters.
Golding used call-and-response verbiage like he was leading a meeting. He used profanities others would probably censor and shared stories others would probably exclude.
How did he land transfer defensive back Trey Amos from Alabama for the 2024 season? Golding brought up the topic on a tangent and shared the story. Golding said he built Amos' trust by saying Amos would be a backup at Alabama, regardless of what that coaching staff was telling him.
"I told (Amos), this is what's going to happen," Golding said. "(Alabama) is not moving (defensive back) Kool-Aid (McKinstry). They are not moving (defensive back) Terrion (Arnold). It's not going to happen. So then a year later, they didn't. So he's calling me, 'Dude, coach, you were right.'"
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGolding is from Hammond, Louisiana. He graduated from Delta State after a four-year playing career as a defensive back.
It's been a winding road to getting his first head coaching job. His first job after being a graduate assistant was at Division II Tusculum in 2007. Golding said in an interview with Ole Miss in 2023 that he made $27,000 and felt rich.
In his press conference on Aug. 8, Golding explained why he signed an offseason extension to stay in Oxford. It was the opposite of Kiffin's statement to ESPN's Marty Smith in a final interview before flying from Oxford to Baton Rouge, when Kiffin said he made a family decision to move.
“We came here from a family decision standpoint," Golding said. "It’s one thing when you make the decision. You never know what they may think about it. Obviously, from the Chancellor (Glenn Boyce) to Keith (Carter) to coach Kiffin, we appreciate that. This is where we want to be. This is why we came here.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Pete Golding replaces Lane Kiffin. How Ole Miss football will change
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