Ole Miss down two assistants for Fiesta Bowl vs. Miami. Blame the system, Golding says
Pete Golding will be without a pair of offensive assistant coaches when his No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels face the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes on Thursday in their College Football Playoff semifinal game in the Fiesta Bowl.
Golding on Wednesday said the Rebels will be without wide receivers coach George McDonald and tight ends coach Joe Cox for the game. Both coaches went to LSU with former Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin, who was hired away from Ole Miss on Nov. 30 — just before the start of the College Football Playoff. Golding, who was Ole Miss’ defensive coordinator, took over as head coach after Kiffin’s departure and has led the Rebels to the semifinals after wins over Tulane and Georgia in the first two rounds of the playoff.
“That’s been something that was coming the whole time,” Golding said of the two assistant coaches not being present.
Nevertheless, the Rebels have had to deal with a slew of extra outside noise and hoopla as they navigate through the playoffs because of the timing of Kiffin’s departure and the moves he subsequently made to hire coaches from Ole Miss’ staff.
But Golding doesn’t blame Kiffin for that. Or the assistant coaches who aren’t here for the game.
He blames the current college football calendar, one that necessitates those moving on to have to balance the present and the future at two different programs simultaneously during the playoffs.
The early signing period for high school football recruits was Dec. 3-5. The transfer portal window opened Jan. 2. Those going with Kiffin at LSU have to act to build their roster even while Ole Miss is still chasing a national championship.
It’s a no-win situation for those in the middle.
“They have another job that is paying them, and they have a responsibility,” Golding said. “And at this time, the way the calendar is now — and I wasn’t gonna get into this — they have 35 guys that are in the portal, and they have to build a team. So obviously, do they want to be here? You’re damn right they do. But again, the situation that it is, they’ve got a job to do, and they’ve got to build a team where they’re at and where their window is.”
Both Golding and Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal were asked about the overall issues that come with the current calendar for teams that are still in the playoff. Both teams have staffs working virtually non-stop to make sure all needs are accounted for, but the issues persist.
“We created the system,” Cristobal said. “We’re supposed to be setting the example, right? We’re supposed to be setting the standard as it relates to everything. So when you create a system that has as many goals as it does, well then shame on you if you’re surprised by some of the results that come with it. But these circumstances aren’t unique to just one program. We all have our face with it.”
Cristobal then went on to praise Golding for the work he has done.
“I knew he was going to be a head coach,” Cristobal said, “but to be able to navigate all this during this time, and to have the type of success that he is having, man, it’s off the charts. It’s awesome. So we’re all responsible to handle it and navigate and manage it as best we can.”
Golding, when asked about what his message would be to Kiffin and anyone who doubted the Rebels to get to this point despite all the extra distractions surrounding the program during the playoff run, said the message is in the response of his team since everything unfolded.
“They had a message about how they prepared and how they play and that they weren’t tired of playing,” Golding said. “And I do think the message is, ‘I’m replaceable, you’re replaceable. Our players are replaceable.’ I think you want to build a program to where it’s heading in the right direction, and one person, one player, or anything like that’s not going to derail that. There’s been too much invested in that, and it’s been aligned correctly that one person is not going to impact something so drastically. If you did, if it is, it’s probably not built right. If one coach in any sport can determine the outcome of it, he probably doesn’t have a very good staff, right? I mean, if one player can determine the outcome of it, we probably didn’t recruit and create the right depth, or we didn’t prepare to be ready for this opportunity.
“It’s a team game,” Golding continued. “There’s so many people that go into it, so the timing of when it happened, in my opinion, it couldn’t happen at a better time for the players because everything was already in place. Everything was on the track. It’s headed the right direction. We’ve got really good players. There was already a culture created. They knew the expectation. The only thing that was different is who’s running out of the tunnel, and to be honest with you, I don’t think the players give a damn who runs by the tunnel. They care about their plan. They care about getting held accountable and how they’re going to prepare. They care about people that care about them, all right? And I think that’s been the message our players have created. But I don’t have shit to say to anybody else.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 12:21 PM.
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