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The Ole Miss football team is expecting a lot out of its coaching staff in 2025. With Lane Kiffin already the 11th-highest-paid head coach in college football, the Rebels added defensive coordinator Pete Golding to their growing list of high-priced assets.
Coming off a successful 2024 season, Ole Miss extended Golding in the 2025 offseason to make him the highest-paid assistant coach in the SEC, On3 Sports reported. The 41-year-old signed his new three-year deal in February, with the specific details becoming public recently.
Golding's new deal will earn him $2.55 million in 2025, $2.6 million in 2026 and $2.7 million in 2027. His contract includes incentives that could potentially increase that number, with Golding set to earn an additional $50,000 if Ole Miss wins the SEC Championship Game and $150,000 if the Rebels win the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, per On3 Sports.
Ole Miss gave Golding a raise after he coached the team to an elite 2024 defensive season. The Jaxson Dart-led offense stole the headlines, but it was Golding's defense that led the Rebels to their 10-3 finish to the season.
They allowed just 14.4 points per game, the fewest in the SEC. Golding's defense also ceded the third-fewest total yards per game, including the fewest rushing yards in the conference. Ole Miss allowed just 80.5 yards per game on the year.
Lane Kiffin, Pete Golding look to repeat Ole Miss' success in 2025
While Ole Miss expects its recent success to continue in the 2025 college football season, it will have its challenges. The Rebels had eight players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, returning just five starters.
The turnover will challenge Kiffin's coaching staff more than it has ever been before. Regardless, Kiffin has led the team to consecutive 10-win seasons, barely missing the College Football Playoffs the last two years.
Kiffin and Golding have only worked together for two years, but share similar coaching roots. Both are a part of Nick Saban's vast coaching tree, although they never crossed paths in Tuscaloosa. Kiffin served as Saban's offensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016, while Golding was Alabama's defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022. Both won national titles while working with the Crimson Tide.
Ole Miss, which earned a No. 21 ranking in the Associated Press' preseason poll, will begin the 2025 season against Georgia State in Week 1.
