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Ole Miss coach Pete Golding is preparing for Miami and the chance to coach the College Football Playoff semifinal is slim.
Golding said LSU will ultimately decide which, if any, of the assistants who have committed to join Lane Kiffin in Baton Rouge will be able to coach for Ole Miss in next week’s Fiesta Bowl.
Multiple key coordinators and assistants agreed to contracts with LSU shortly after Kiffin left the Rebels, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., tight ends coach/co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox and wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator George McDonald.
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Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding raises the Sugar Bowl trophy after the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff quarterfinals at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2026. (Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“They have every opportunity they’ve had up to this point to be able to make that decision,” Golding told reporters Saturday. “So week to week, I don’t dictate whether they do it or not, because they’re not my employees. Up to this point, that’s the way it’s been, and that’s my expectation.”
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Ole Miss can secure the program’s first national title if the Rebels can win two more games. ESPN reported that at least some of the assistant coaches who are in limbo would prefer to stay with Ole Miss as long as the team remains alive in the playoffs.
Golding emphasized that uncertainty will not disrupt Fiesta Bowl preparations.
“Our players know what to do,” he said. “It’s not going to have any impact on the game. Keep blowing it up and making a big deal out of it, that would be great.”
Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin (right) talks with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. during warmups before a game against the Georgia State Panthers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. (Petre Thomas/Imagn Images)
He also acknowledged not knowing when he will receive confirmation about the availability of the attendees.
“I don’t know. Do you know if you’re going to show up for work tomorrow? I mean, we don’t know. It’s grown people making the decisions, so I have no idea. We’re going to go out and spot the ball. We have enough people in this building that showed up this morning. We’ll be fine.”
Ole Miss will also eventually lose senior analyst/passing game specialist Dane Stevens and graduate assistant Sawyer Jordan to LSU. However, Golding remains confident in his staff, one he says is “full of elite coaches everywhere” who can handle their respective responsibilities.
Mississippi Rebels head coach Pete Golding is dunked with a Gatorade cooler by his players after their game against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2025 Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at Caesars Superdome. (Geoff Burke/Image Images)
“A lot of guys that you don’t know by name are actually the ones that instruct and teach the players,” he said. “And so we have an elite staff that has been together for a long time and knows the ins and outs. So it’s no different than during COVID when a coach didn’t show up to the game.
“These things obviously come up every year, and guys try to do both jobs, and they have new job responsibilities that take priority, especially in times like this. And then they can make both work. If they can’t, they can’t. That wouldn’t be any reason for success or lack of success in this game. The play-callers haven’t changed.”
Before the upset victory in the Sugar Bowl, Golding led Ole Miss to a first-round playoff victory over Tulane.
