Even after Lane Kiffin ditched Ole Miss football in the middle of its first-ever College Football Playoff run, and still, they made it to the Semifinals that ended in a one play heartbreak against Miami. The Rebels made it so far even with the biggest, and most-dramatic coaching changes was because they had Pete Golding leading them with his unwavering commitment to the program.
His leadership was one of the x-factors making the Rebels a serious National Championship contender till the very end. QB Trinidad Chambliss has remained outspoken about coach Golding from the very beginning.
This time, he needed to assert it yet again with their former coach claiming that the Rebels would have made it to the National Championship game if it was him coaching them instead of Golding.
Chambliss took it as an opportunity to highlight the type of culture Golding built in Oxford within mere months of leading the team, and how his distinct leadership traits mark a sharp contrast to Kiffin, ultimately giving the program the edge it needs to finish the job.
“PG wants to be known as a team-first type of coach. He doesn’t really care about any of the outside noise, any of the social media stuff, what’s going on at another university or what’s being said in the news or whatever,” Chambliss told On3’s Chris Low.
Pete Golding Claps Back at Lane Kiffin
GettyOle Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss speaks about Pete Golding as head coach.
While Chambliss took the high road in praising his head coach, Golding had enough of Kiffin’s digs on his program.
The LSU Tigers head coach has been outspoken about his departure, saying things most head coaches would flat-out avoid. Instead of waiting for his next media appearance, Golding decided to clap back at Kiffin now.
“Don’t try to burn us down on the way out and then continue to try to burn us down behind the scenes. That was the most frustrating part and the most disappointing part of the way it all ended,” Golding told Low.
Golding Defends Miami Loss
As for Kiffin’s dig at potentially winning the semifinals against the Hurricanes’, Golding mentioned the lack of interior defensive line being their anchor, and that it would have affected them anyway, no matter who the head coach would have been.
“That’s not why I came here. This had been going on for two years, whether Lane was going to leave, even the Florida talk the year before. I was like, ‘Hey bro, I Iove you,
“We really got hurt toward the end of the year with a lack of depth in the interior defensive line.. That really got us late, especially in the last drive of the Miami game and just not having the ability to rotate guys and taking too many snaps,” Golding said.
It was a one-play loss, a failed Hail Mary attempt from Trinidad Chambliss in the end zone in the final seconds that ended up in a loss. It was truly a down-to-the-wire game that Miami pulled off in the final minutes.
Thrown directly into the fire with National Signing Day and a playoff schedule simultaneously, Golding still went 2-1 as a first-time head coach in the postseason. That’s enough hardware to prove his leadership.
“When it first occurred, his leaving LSU, there wasn’t any bad blood. Then some things occurred throughout the process and we didn’t talk for a little bit.”
Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss Gets Real About Pete Golding as Head Coach