Pete Golding addresses status of LSU assistants at Ole Miss for remainder of College Football Playoff

Pete Golding gave an intriguing statement about the current Ole Miss staffers who are under contract at LSU. Essentially, the former Rebels’ coaches are on loan from former coach Lane Kiffin, who departed for the Tigers.

Ole Miss is now 2-0 in the College Football Playoff with wins over Tulane and Georgia. It’s been a great start to Golding’s head coaching tenure as they prepare for Miami in the CFP Semifinals.

But Golding was honest about guys like Charlie Weis Jr. and others who are finishing out the playoff run with Ole Miss. He’s simply not paying them but they’re free to keep doing what they’re doing.

“They’re doing two jobs,” Golding said, via OM Spirit’s Ben Garrett. “They’ll be at the practices and all those things. They have every opportunity to [keep coaching]. They’re not employed by me.”

AD Keith Carter told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger that he was unsure if those departed assistants would continue with Ole Miss in the semifinals and potentially national championship. Everyone’s status seems to be up in the air.

“I don’t know,” Carter said. “We’re going to celebrate tonight and get ready for Arizona in the morning.”

Those six assistants, currently ‘working’ under Golding include: Weis Jr., tight ends coach Joe Cox, receivers coach George McDonald, inside receivers coach Sawyer Jordan, quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens, and running backs coach Kevin Smith.

Amid the opening of the transfer portal, things could get crazy as Ole Miss players could be enticed to leave Golding’s watch and go play for Kiffin at LSU, at some point. Having former staffers who left for Baton Rouge in the building is certainly a unique situation, particularly for a final four team.

“There are going to be some fireworks,” an unnamed Ole Miss source said, via ESPN. “We always knew this might be a possibility.”

Golding and Ole Miss will keep eyes forward while Kiffin collects contract bonuses from the Rebels advancing. How the situation manifests itself after the CFP semifinals is anyone’s guess.

After Kiffin’s high-profile departure for LSU, Golding took over as Ole Miss’ full-time head coach. But the Tigers said they would include “ancillary benefits” in Kiffin’s deal with the Rebels, and that means a $500,000 payout because his former program is advancing in the CFP.