Ole Miss coach Pete Golding lays into tampering rules, has ‘no ill will’ toward Lane Kiffin

TAMPA, Fla. — Pete Golding talked about Lane Kiffin. And somehow it wasn’t the most interesting part of his appearance at SEC media days.

Golding, accused of tampering this offseason, went on a nearly two-minute rant, essentially defending the act of tampering, and calling out what he sees as hypocrisy in a “broken” system.

“Let’s not act like recruiting in college football for the last 100 years is the most moral thing that’s ever existed,” Golding said Wednesday. “What are we talking about here?”

Golding, entering his first full season as Ole Miss coach after replacing Lane Kiffin during the College Football Playoff, was accused by Clemson’s Dabo Swinney of tampering to get linebacker Luke Ferrelli. The case is under NCAA investigation.

Golding at first shrugged off a question about the tampering allegation and his feelings on the matter. Then he got a follow-up — how do you fix tampering in this environment? — and Golding went off.

“Would you quit your job before interviewing for another job or being offered another job?” Golding said. “No, no. Nobody would, right? But we have a portal that you can go in with a ‘do not contact’ (designation). I’m going to quit my job where I’m getting paid, and I’m going to go in saying, ‘I need a new job, but nobody can call me to interview.’ What have we created? …

“It’s their (players and their agents) responsibility to make sure they get paid really well and they also have opportunities. So by design, it’s put a lot of people in bad positions.”

Golding also pointed to how coaching changes happen, with the similar back-channel contact that is called tampering when it happens with players.

“Like coaches, we’re under contract,” he said. “You don’t think other ADs are calling us during the year? Same ones that are bitching about all this stuff are the same ones calling coaches to come to other schools.”

The Rebels have been among the most high-profile examples of the current system, for better or worse. Ole Miss has been one of the SEC’s most successful programs thanks in part to the program’s willingness to embrace NIL and the portal under Kiffin. But the NCAA and College Sports Commission opened separate investigations into the program in January, according to documents previously obtained by The Athletic. The NCAA inquiry sought phone records from Golding and others in December and January during transfer season, while the CSC looked into the NIL and revenue-sharing deals related to a transfer.

Ole Miss is also considering suing to recover buyout money from two former players who transferred to LSU.

As for the other question, Golding said he and Kiffin are good, even after Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU before the first round of the Playoff; Golding can separate any competitive aspects from any personal aspects.

Golding said he didn’t know Kiffin well before he came to Ole Miss, but their relationship grew over his three seasons as defensive coordinator. Golding appreciated how Kiffin treated him — and the unexpected head coaching opportunity Kiffin’s departure created — and that they remain in touch.

“I have no ill will toward coach Kiffin,” Golding said. “He texts me on a regular basis. There’s certain things that we’ll talk about, and there’s certain things that we don’t talk about.”

Obviously, not everyone in Oxford, Miss. agrees with Golding. Golding has heard from those upset fans during speaking stops around Mississippi. Golding’s response was a question: Would an Ole Miss fan in 2021 have taken an 11-1 season and CFP run in 2025 if it meant losing their coach?

“Hell, yeah, you would,” Golding said. “Everybody won from it. It’s OK.”

Kiffin will make his return to face Golding and Ole Miss with LSU on Sept. 19.