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Ole Miss football announces Pete Golding as its next defensive coordinator

11by: Jake Thompson01/14/23JakeThompsonOn3
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Ole Miss football announced the officially hiring of Pete Golding as its new defensive coordinator on Saturday.

Lane Kiffin’s first major shake up to his coaching staff has been made official. The fourth-year Ole Miss football head coach announced on Saturday the hiring of Pete Golding as defensive coordinator.

Golding comes in from Alabama where he coached under head coach Nick Saban from 2018 to 2022 as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

The hire replaces former co-defensive coordinators Chris Partridge and Maurice Crum, who neither have been officially dismissed by Kiffin from the coaching staff.

Partridge was on Kiffin’s staff since the 2020 season in Kiffin’s first season at Ole Miss. Crum was hired ahead of the of the 2022 season, replacing Chris Kiffin who returned to Ole Miss for two weeks last January.

“We are excited to add a championship caliber coach like Pete Golding to our staff,” Kiffin said in a statement. “At multiple stops in his career, Coach Golding has directed some of college football’s top defenses. He is also an outstanding recruiter and understands the level of talent necessary to compete at the highest level.

“I think this continues to show our commitment to taking Ole Miss Football to the next level.”

Under Golding Alabama was ranked fourth in rushing defense (86.0 ypg) and seventh in total defense (304.1 ypg) in 2021, while allowing just 20.1 points per game and holding opponents for a 31.1 percent conversion rate on third down, which was seventh nationally. Middle linebacker Henry To’oTo’o led the team with 112 tackles, while Anderson set the NCAA record (since 2000) for tackles for loss in a season with 34.5.

This is the third stint in Mississippi for Golding’s career after two previous tenures at Delta State. In 2006 he was a graduate assistant after finishing up his playing career for the Statesmen and then he returned after a stop at Tusculum to take the defensive coordinator and defensive backs job.

Golding is already on the recruiting trail for Ole Miss as Kiffin and his staff is working on transfer portal prospects.

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