It's been one chaotic season for No. 6 Ole Miss football, beginning with the abrupt departure of Lane Kiffin to LSU. However, they have proven themselves a resilient bunch, as on Thursday.
They pulled off a remarkable second-half comeback to defeat No.3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl 39-34—a comeback made possible, in part, by the inspiration of new head coach Pate Golding.
At halftime, Ole Miss was trailing 21-12, after Georgia scored 21 points in the second quarter. Obviously, things weren't looking up. That was until Golding opened his mouth and provided some simple advice, per Trey Wallace of OutKick/Fox.
“Told them all, take a deep breath, we got good enough players to beat anybody.”
In the end, that is what happened. A massive turnaround from the 43-35 defeat to Georgia on Nov. 1.
Now the 13-1 Rebels will take on the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl on January 8.
Before coming to Ole Miss, Golding had been a defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2018-2022. He was then the defensive coordinator for Ole Miss from 2023-2025.
Pete Golding tapped into the wisdom of coaches whose words inspired their teams to victory.
Throughout sports history, coaches have offered hope and inspiration to their players when their backs were against the wall. Oftentimes, their words take on a mythological aura.
The late great Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne inspired his team to “win one for the gipper” when playing rival Army in 1928. It was said in tribute to former player George Gipp. who was later portrayed by eventual President Ronald Reagan in the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American.
Another gem was Herb Brooks, the late coach of the 1980 U.S. hockey team that pulled off the “Miracle on Ice”. Before the game, he told his players, “This moment is ours,” as they faced off against the mighty Soviet team.
It was a pregame speech immortalized in the 2004 classic film Miracle, in which Kurt Russell portrayed Brooks.
