Football

Pete Golding Is Winning Before Ole Miss Plays a Snap

Ole Miss lost 22 players and came out of the portal better than it went in. The reason why starts with the coaches who stayed.

Published

5 months ago

April 20, 2026

Andy Hodges

Lane Kiffin left Oxford, tried to take some of Ole Miss’s best players with him on the way out and it did not work.

Not only did the Rebels hold their core together, they upgraded in multiple spots.

The man now running the show, Pete Golding, inherited what looked from the outside like a messy situation and through spring practice the picture coming into focus is quietly encouraging.

This is not a program in retreat. This is a program that just found out what it is made of.

According to Ben Garrett at OM Spirit, who has been tracking the roster situation closely through spring practice, the 22 players who transferred out following Ole Miss’s historic 13-win season were, in most cases, not players the program was desperate to keep.

Being generous, only four of those departures were genuine losses. Sack leader Princewill Umanmielen was the most significant. Wide receiver

Cayden Lee was another name, though the staff did not fight particularly hard to retain him — which tells you something about how they assessed the situation going forward.

The door swung open. Most of what walked out was replaceable. Some of it was already being replaced before it left.

Golding Walked into Stronger Hand Than Advertised

The framing of this offseason has been tilted toward chaos with 22 transfers, coaching transition, a program in flux.

That framing does not hold up when you look at the details.

The linebacker room, for example, is arguably better than it was. Leading tackler TJ Dottery is gone, but Cal transfer Luke Ferrelli (after a Clemson detour) and Baylor’s Keaton Thomas have come in to fill that void and by most evaluations those two represent an upgrade over what the Rebels had.

That is not a program treading water. That is a program adding real talent to a position group that was already producing at a high level.

Golding inherited a roster with genuine depth, a staff that retained key voices players already trusted and a program culture strong enough to resist a coordinated effort by rival programs to pull it apart.

LSU came after Ole Miss players.

Kiffin reportedly pursued Deuce Alexander, Lucas Carneiro, Oscar Bird, Caleb Cunningham and others, including targets in the high school recruiting class.

None of it worked.

Spring practice interviews have made clear that tampering was happening on a wide scale this offseason.

The players said so themselves. Phones were ringing. Pitches were being made.

The pressure on these young men to follow the money or follow the familiar faces was real. And yet here they are, still in Oxford, still practicing in red and blue.

That does not happen without trust in the people running the building now.

Baker Is Name Players Keep Bringing Up

One of the quieter stories of this Ole Miss offseason is just how much continuity the program maintained on the coaching staff under Golding.

That continuity is paying dividends in ways that show up in player decisions, not just depth charts.

Offensive coordinator John David Baker has made a visible impression on the players who stayed.

When Deuce Alexander talked about why he chose to remain in Oxford, Baker’s name came up without prompting. That is meaningful.

When a player who had every reason and every financial opportunity to leave starts talking about how much he loves the way his position coach talks and coaches, something real is happening in that program.

“Coach Golding is a great guy. I mess with him. I mess with his energy and everything he does,” Alexander said. “Playing with John David Baker, the way he talks and the way he coaches, I just love it. So there was no point in leaving.”

Read that again. A player being pursued by other programs — programs with resources, with NIL money, with coaching familiarity — said there was no point in leaving because of the relationships he has built with Golding and Baker.

That is the kind of staff retention that doesn’t show up on a depth chart but absolutely shows up on the scoreboard in October.

The Players Who Chose Ole Miss When They Did Not Have To

Kewan Lacy turned down more money elsewhere. In the current NIL climate, that sentence carries real weight.

Nobody turns down guaranteed money without a reason. Lacy had a reason — multiple reasons, apparently — and they were all in Oxford.

Trinidad Chambliss could have gone anywhere. He re-signed with the Rebels.

And then there is Alexander himself, the team’s new number one wide receiver, who was one of the most aggressively recruited players in this entire offseason.

He had options. Programs were calling.

The tampering players have acknowledged openly during spring interviews was real and targeted. And after all of it, Alexander’s answer was clear.

“At the end of the day, I just wanted to leave my mark and leave my legacy at Ole Miss,” Alexander said. “When it came down to making my decision, it was like, there was no point in leaving.

“Why leave here? I’ve got everything I need here, everything I want. The coaches love me. The new coaches came in, even during the playoffs and they were still showing me love. They were trying to stay out of the way, but they still showed me how much they valued me.”

That is a player who feels seen. That is a player who feels valued. Those guys play hard.

What Golding Has Built in Year One Before It Even Starts

Pete Golding did not walk into a clean situation.

Kiffin’s departure left loose ends, roster questions and a program that needed someone to step in and immediately establish that Ole Miss was not going anywhere.

The outside noise suggested instability. The actual roster suggests something different entirely.

The Rebels came out of the transfer portal better than they went in. The players who had the most to offer stayed.

The staff retained the coaches those players already trusted. The linebacker corps upgraded. The wide receiver room kept its most important piece and handed him the number one role.

The early returns on Golding’s ability to hold this thing together and build on it are better than the narrative around this offseason would suggest.

Kiffin tried to leave a crater. Golding walked in, looked around and got to work.

The players noticed.

Don’t be really shocked if spring practice is showing the ones being recruited to come here next are, too.

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Football

Trinidad Chambliss Is Back — And Ole Miss Got Lucky

Rebels quarterback survived an NCAA eligibility fight, weighed a move to LSU and came back to Oxford anyway. Ole Miss fans couldn’t be more relieved.

Published

4 months ago

May 7, 2026

Andy Hodges

Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss after win over Tulane Green Wave

Nobody wanted the drama. Not the fans. Not the coaching staff. And certainly not Trinidad Chambliss.

But the drama came anyway, stuck around longer than anyone liked and then — mercifully — resolved itself in the best possible way.

Chambliss is back in Oxford. The Rebels have their quarterback.

And a fan base that fell completely in love with a backup-turned-record-setter gets to watch him play another season.

Go ahead and exhale.

The NCAA spent the offseason trying to block Chambliss from suiting up again, pursuing an interlocutory appeal of a February injunction handed down by Judge Robert Whitwell in Mississippi state court.

The goal was to fast-track a ruling before Ole Miss’ season opener and cut the whole thing short before it started.

The court declined in March. The Rebs never missed a step.

Chambliss walked into spring practice, took his snaps and kept building on what’s already one of the most remarkable single-season stories in program history.

Nobody threw a parade. They just got back to work. Which is exactly what everyone in Oxford wanted from the beginning.

Backup Who Became Record-Setter

It’s worth remembering that Chambliss wasn’t even the starter when last season began. He was the backup. Then he became something else entirely.

He threw for 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns. He accounted for 4,464 total yards — third-most in a single Ole Miss season ever. The offense he ran became the first in school history to crack 7,000 total yards, finishing at 7,345. The Rebels won a program-record 13 games.

Fans didn’t just cheer for him. They adopted him. That’s the only word for it.

The backup who stepped in and delivered one of the greatest quarterback seasons in school history has a way of doing that to a fan base.

So when the NCAA eligibility fight started grinding through the courts this winter, the anxiety in Oxford was real.

Losing Chambliss wasn’t just losing a quarterback. It was losing the guy.

‘I’m Just Glad It All Worked Out’

Chambliss didn’t hide how hard the winter was. In a sit-down interview with WOOD TV8, a local affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich. — where he’s originally from — he was straightforward about what those months felt like.

“Just very stressful because I didn’t really know what was going to happen,” he said. “I didn’t know where I was going to be next year, whether it would be the NFL or be in college football.

“Just trusting my family, my attorney and also trusting the Lord, too. Praying a lot and not really worrying too much. It’s out of my control. Let the chips fall where they may at the end.”

The chips fell right.

When the March ruling came down, Chambliss described something every Ole Miss fan felt right along with him.

“Man, it was a weight lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “I could finally relax and focus on Ole Miss spring ball, focus on where our team needs to go in the right direction for next year.

“Not have to deal with all that news and seeing articles with my name pop up with the NCAA. So, it was definitely great to see. I’m just glad that it all worked out.”

So is every single person in Oxford.

He Could’ve Left But Didn’t Want To

Here’s what makes the reunion feel even better. Chambliss had options.

The Transfer Portal was open. He told On3’s Chris Low this week that following Lane Kiffin to LSU was a genuine consideration.

He didn’t go. And listening to him explain why he chose Ole Miss in the first place makes it pretty clear this was always where he wanted to be.

“The communication up front when I first got there on my visit,” Chambliss said. “Them telling me that they think that I could be an impact player there. The opportunities that they would allow me to have.

“Just the people in Oxford, in the facility at Ole Miss. It just felt like home and it felt like a comfort zone for me.”

Navigating the Stardom

The eligibility fight wasn’t the only adjustment.

Chambliss had to figure out what it meant to suddenly be one of the most talked-about quarterbacks in the country.

The commercials came. The notoriety came. The Heisman chatter came.

He’s one of two way-too-early Heisman Trophy candidates and All-Americans for the Rebs heading into 2026.

Running back Kewan Lacy is the other, and Lacy said he turned down more money to stay in Oxford. Two building blocks who could’ve left — and didn’t.

Chambliss handled the spotlight the way you’d hope.

“It’s definitely a lot to digest,” he said. “A lot to take on. It was moving pretty fast. But it was really cool, though. With my parents’ help, it was smooth sailing and I think we did the best that we could given the circumstances.”

He didn’t let it change his approach.

“You just got to stay me and focus on the main goal,” he said. “That was being a good person and being good at football.”

That’s the guy Ole Miss fans fell for. Same guy. Still here.

The Season Ahead

The Rebels open the 2026-27 season against Louisville. The two programs meet in Nashville on September 6 at 6:30 p.m. and Ole Miss heads into that game with its most important pieces intact.

Nobody wanted the winter they got. The legal fight was stressful for Chambliss, exhausting for the program and nerve-wracking for a fan base that spent months wondering if the guy they loved was going to be wearing a different jersey.

He’s not. He’s back in Oxford, exactly where he wants to be, running an offense that rewrote the school record book and chasing something even bigger in 2026.

The drama’s over. The season’s coming.

For once, everybody’s happy about the same thing.

Football

Ole Miss Still in Mix as Alvin Mosley Sets June Commitment

Published

4 months ago

May 7, 2026

Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, left, with Crawford wide receiver Alvin Mosley. | Alvin Mosley/X

Ole Miss has had its name attached to several five- and four-star wide receivers in this recruiting cycle.

Talented wideouts like Miguel Whitley, Elias Pearl, Cade Cooper, Sheldon Isaac and even the class’s top-rated receiver, Easton Royal.

Pete Golding and the Rebels, like a basketball shooter, are taking a lot of shots with the hopes of making a few baskets. However, the recruiting process moves a lot slower in real life than it does in EA CFB 26, so the Rebels not having any wide receivers currently committed isn’t a cause for concern.

A lot of official visits are still to come, including this upcoming weekend. After that will come the commitments. When that happens sometimes gets announced ahead of time, and we just got an announcement date scheduled.

Four-star wide receiver Alvin Mosley, according to Rivals’ Sam Spiegelman, announced he is down to four schools and will make his commitment on June 27. The four schools still in contention are Texas, Arkansas, Houston and, of course, Ole Miss.

The Almeta Crawford (Texas) receiver is set to take his official visit to Ole Miss June 5-7 and spoke to Spiegelman about his relationship with Rebels wide receivers coach L’Damian Washington.

“Me and Coach Washington have a great relationship and he has been to Houston a few times to visit my family,” Mosley said. “Also, I’m excited about the opportunity to play early and the right fit for big wide receivers like me.”

Mosley has already taken visits to Austin and Houston, which has been a mainstay in the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder’s recruitment.

“They’re making me feel good and that I’m their No. 1 priority,” he said of Houston. “They’re doing a lot of things right, keeping up with me and with basketball … and with everything I do, they’re keeping up with.”

Mosley also spoke highly of Arkansas.

“Me and Coach (Larry) Smith been in talks for a while,” Mosley said. “I like the direction they are trying to go … to get back in the running. It’s been a strong push throughout my recruitment, and the coach has been out a few times for my spring practice. Also, they are looking for a big-time guy to come in and have the opportunity to play early. I like the underdog story that Arkansas is living in. With the way this recruitment is going, they have their eyes on changing the program around.”

The Rebels have cast a wide net at wideout, and Mosley is one of the names that has stayed near the top from the start. His June 27 announcement won’t define the class, but it will give Ole Miss an early read on how its summer strategy is working.

Football

Ole Miss Adds Quarterback Who Grew Up Dreaming of Oxford

Published

4 months ago

May 7, 2026

Taylor Hodges

Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy quarterback Crews Jenkins with Ole Miss offensive coordinator John David Baker. | Crews Jenkins/X

Ole Miss didn’t exactly shock the recruiting world on Wednesday, but it did lock down a quarterback who has been circling Oxford his entire life.

Brentwood Academy’s Crews Jenkins made it official, announcing his commitment to the Rebels and giving Pete Golding

another in‑state‑adjacent win in the 2027 class.

🦈🦈 https://t.co/odvOcrcYem

— Crews Jenkins 2027 QB (@CrewsJenkins3) May 6, 2026

This one always felt like it was headed here. Jenkins grew up in an Ole Miss family, spent his childhood in Vaught‑Hemingway, and made it clear early in his recruitment that the Rebels were the program he connected with the most. Other schools tried to make it interesting, but they were fighting uphill the whole way.

“This was a childhood dream. I have been going to games since I was as young as I can remember. I grew up a fan,” Jenkins told 247Sports’ Tom Loy. “They recruited me the hardest. They are a big school that chose to actually give me an opportunity for the next level. I think Coach Judge and Coach ‘JDB’ do a really good job of developing quarterbacks and turning them into really good players.”

Jenkins has the résumé to back up the attention. He stepped into the Brentwood Academy job last fall and completed 70 percent of his passes for 1,800 yards and 22 touchdowns while leading his team to the state title game. At 5-11 and 180 pounds, he’s not the prototype, but he’s accurate, competitive, and has been on a steady rise since the spring of 2025.

Golding treated him like a priority from the start. He didn’t assume Jenkins’ childhood fandom would do the work for him, and Jenkins noticed.

“He’s a players’ coach. He’s there for you,” Jenkins said. “Whether it has anything to do with football or not, he is still going to be there by your side and in your corner.”

Jenkins picked Ole Miss over FAU, Memphis, South Florida, Charlotte, Southern Miss, Toledo, and others. Vanderbilt and Kentucky kicked the tires, but the Rebels were always the team to beat.

Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy class of 2027 QB @CrewsJenkins3 had a really good two days in New Orleans at the @Elite11 and @TheOpening.

Just ask @devingardnerXCI 👀 @jtheaps9 and @QBCoachMcEvoy. They'll tell you the same.

🔗 https://t.co/PJkQsMuEBE @247Sports pic.twitter.com/FgDJAsnSQw

— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) March 26, 2026

And no, Keegan Croucher’s presence in the class didn’t change anything. Jenkins knew Ole Miss was taking two quarterbacks, and he still wanted in. He’ll join a room that includes Deuce Knight and Walker Howard, and he’ll enroll early after his senior season. The fun twist is that Jenkins and Croucher will face each other to open the 2026 season, a matchup that now doubles as a future‑teammates game.

For Ole Miss, this is the kind of commitment that feels less like a surprise and more like a box checked. For Jenkins, it’s the end of a long wait. He’s headed to the place he always wanted to be.