Ole Miss DC Pete Golding Talks Navigating NIL and Recruiting: ‘There’s some people that love football, and there’s some people that love what football can do for them’

OXFORD, Miss. — Defensive coordinator Pete Golding met with media Thursday after practice. He has now been in Oxford for three seasons and continues to make his mark with a roster full of talent and versatility. However, he’s also dealing with a new challenge: NIL.

Recruiting has always been difficult; attempting to sell the school, the coaching staff, the roster, the potential, etc. It was one thing when NIL was introduced, allowing athletes to first get paid by NIL collectives, but after a recent House settlement, the schools will now be allowed to pay athletes directly, a fear for many traditional college football fans: pay-for-play.

As the Rebels are making their way through fall camp, Golding is now navigating preseason in preparation for the season, but also attempting to make a mark on the recruiting trail. Although it may be difficult to find success in recruiting through high school and the transfer portal, Golding definitely has his ways, knows what he’s looking for, and is very skilled at it.

“I think the biggest thing is when most guys aren’t playing where they’re at, there’s a reason,” Golding said.

Pete Golding

It’s a standard, a standard that is being established at Ole Miss, that these players have to be the best of the best if they want to come to Oxford to compete with and be the best. Golding is ensuring that his players have the passion and the talent to play for the Rebels, a program that has been consistently breaking program records.

“That first year is kind of a struggle… year two, we brought in a lot of new players, but now you’re looking at guys who have been in the system for two years… It’s a really exciting group for me.”

– Pete Golding on the development of the Ole Miss defense

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) August 14, 2025

The thing is, though, Golding is looking for more than just talent on the field or how much someone produced at their previous school, whether that previous school be high school or college. He is looking for the brains that produce the true results.

Pete Golding

Production on the field is easy to see, as Golding said, but there need to be the right people in place for the player to apply not only their abilities, but also demonstrate the staff’s ability to game plan effectively. To make that happen, there needs to be two established relationships: one with the people part of the program and one with the game of football.

There needs to be passion for a relationship to be successful. Firstly, Golding believes a relationship between the player and the program must exist. Once everyone has each other’s backs and grows to care for one another, a player’s passion for everyone around him makes him work harder — to make not only themselves, but everyone around them, successful.

Pete Golding

Relationships matter

Relationships matter, and the proof is in history. On Aug. 12, Oregon released a former 5-star wide receiver after there were continuous team rule violations. Then today, Florida State head coach Mike Norvell announced the team was releasing safety Conrad Hussey after there was reportedly an altercation between Norvell and Hussey.

The game of football is a war, a mental and physical one. But it is mostly a mental war that can be won when there is passion to fight for one another. Coaches, like Golding, are adept at picking through the weeds and digging in to find the diamonds in the rough.

But there is also a secondary relationship at play, a relationship between the player and their love for the game. It may seem like that has to be found within every player, especially when they’ve spent their lives playing the game. But in a world of NIL, it’s not all that common, and Golding may have made the best statement I’ve heard regarding the current state of NIL and recruiting.

Pete Golding

This is a major issue that has plagued the current state of college football, one that others may play into, giving players what they want and paying them what they want–but not at Ole Miss. Golding has been coaching football since 2006, and that includes a four-year stint with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, so he’s going to ensure that Ole Miss maintains values and a standard. There have been times where the coaching staff has indicated they get players sometimes — even if Ole Miss isn’t offering the most money. The culture also matters.

Golding has done that with the help of head coach Lane Kiffin, and as the DC enters his third year, he has done nothing but praise the state of the defense and where it’s at with the players that he has, players he wanted to be in Oxford.

Well, now that they have them, the Rebels inch closer to Aug. 30, when they face the Georgia State Panthers. The defense is making its case as one of the best, and the credit goes to Golding. This season will be another opportunity for him to make his sales pitch for defensive prospects and continue building one of the best defenses in the country.

If you haven’t, I advise you to sit and listen to every second of this 22:38 presser with Pete Golding today. Just trust me: https://t.co/kcaTZ95PU5

— Daylan Flowers (@TheDaylanShow) August 14, 2025