Pete Golding brings back a couple familiar faces to Ole Miss, including John David Baker
The staff of the Pete Golding era at Ole Miss is becoming clearer with a pair of key hires announced on Tuesday and neither are strangers to Oxford.
Kelvin Bolden and John David Baker are reportedly set to return to the Rebels as part of Golding inaugural coaching staff for the 2026 season.
Ole Miss made Bolden’s return official on Tuesday with a tweet and Baker has been reported to be the next offensive coordinator, replacing Charlie Weis, Jr. who is LSU-bound after the Rebels playoff run concludes. Golding even made a pair of his famous shark emoji tweets around the same time news of Bolden and Baker’s hiring to help add more confirmation.
During Baker’s first stint he served as the Rebels co-offensive coordinator from 2022 to 2023 and tight ends coach from 2021-23. He then left for East Carolina to become the offensive coordinator of the Pirates the last two seasons, taking the job after the 2023 season.
During Baker’s two years the Pirates had one of the top offenses in the American Conference. They are averaging 464.7 yards per game this season, making them the league’s third best offense behind North Texas (504.3) and South Florida (501.7). They finished the regular season with 52 touchdowns (20 pass, 31 rush), placing fourth in the conference.
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He will now take over an Ole Miss offense that finished third, nationally, just behind the Mean Green and Bulls with 498.1 yards of total offense, currently.
In Bolden’s case it is a second stint in Oxford for him, too. He left in July of this year to take a similar recruiting job at LSU. But in the wake of Lane Kiffin’s arrival this past week Bolden made the decision to return to Ole Miss and join Golding’s staff.
His official title is not known yet but he will have a key role in the program’s recruiting department along with former Rebel standout receiver Donte Moncrief.
