The first scrimmage of camp is 'really big' in Pete Golding's assessment of the Ole Miss defense
The Ole Miss defense is stocked with new faces this year that at times less than 10 percent of the 11 players on the field at one time have been in Oxford for longer than this spring and summer. First-year defensive coordinator Pete Golding is still learning about his players.
Not only is the roster full of turnover and new players the coaching staff is as well, starting with Golding. None of this is news to Golding who was very aware of what he was getting into when he arrived at Ole Miss this winter after five seasons at Alabama.
Golding is also fully aware of how valuable these four weeks of fall camp are with a defense that includes players that were not even on his defense five months ago for spring drills.
Enter Saturday’s first scrimmage of preseason camp where Ole Miss will go through gameday-esque environments with the defense and offense squaring off.
There are only three more Saturdays until the season opener against Mercer on September 2. This weekend is critical for Golding in evaluating his roster and seeing where the defense stands two weeks into camp.
“Very similar to high school, every year you don’t know what you have,” Golding said when talking to the media after Friday’s practice. “Instead of trying to, ‘Hey, here’s the system,’ and try to fit a player to a system you really try, ‘Okay, who do we have and what can they do?’ Then lets put them in those situations that they can excel in.
“The hardest piece is when you bring in a lot of new guys, especially after spring ball. You don’t have them in the summer as far as going through everything 11 on 11. This fall camp’s really important to them. We got to take this first scrimmage Saturday really big. Not just from a personnel standpoint but more importantly from a, ‘Alright, what can they do?'”
Related: Ole Miss Training Camp Insider: Spencer Sanders (academics) misses practice
Plenty of boxes will be checked for Golding as the Ole Miss defense goes through the first scrimmage of August.
Not wanting to put his players in a spot they are not comfortable with or Golding feels they are not suited for, this weekend’s scrimmage is more of a stress test of sorts.
A defensive coordinator who has been at a program for a couple years knows what he as a foundation. Golding is months into his job at Ole Miss and with the revolving door that is roster turnover and the transfer portal there are plenty of unknowns set to be revealed this weekend.
“Lets make sure we’re asking them to do things that they can do and not put them in situations that they’re not ready for,” Golding added. “That’s a little tougher than normal because obviously guys that you even evaluate from a personnel standpoint last year on tape aren’t here. So number one is knowing their skill set and number two, their football intelligence of how much can they comprehend and how simple do we need to keep it based on their football intelligence. It’s tough but that’s what camp’s for.”
