MIRAMAR BEACH, FL – I think the friendship between Ole Miss coach Pete Golding and Lane Kiffin will survive a few hiccups in the media, even if one of them continues spouting off about the other.
The ongoing circus around the former Rebels head coach seemed to hit a tipping point for Ole Miss fans in recent weeks, thanks to an article written by Vanity Fair that quoted Kiffin tying in past racial issues to why some recruits did not want to live in Oxford.
Clearly, as you’ve seen, Lane has taken heat for the comments, even if he’s tried his hardest to clear the air that came in the weeks that followed.
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And while it would be easy for Pete Golding to brush Kiffin off to the side for his antics, sometimes friendship goes just deep enough that some comments can be shown grace.
Ole Miss has made it known that they have receipts on others tampering
If Clemson feels as though they have the Rebels by the throat in terms of tampering with one of their former players, Pete Golding might just have more, according to multiple sources.
And, I’m not referring to the case Dabo Swinney made against Ole Miss over two months ago about tampering with LB Luke Fornelli, who at first transferred to Clemson from Cal. He would ultimately wind up at Ole Miss, after Dabo Swinney accused Ole Miss of tampering to land him.
In reality, Pete Golding has enough proof of tampering from the transition of Kiffin to himself that it would make the NCAA feel as though they were taking crazy pills.
So, the problem for the NCAA is that if they want to come after Pete Golding, they also understand that Ole Miss is ready to start naming others who have also dabbled in some of that good ole tampering.
Which Lane are you getting? Well, that’s tricky
But in the eyes of Pete Golding, there’s a difference between the professional Kiffin and the personal one, though that doesn’t mean the Rebels head coach won’t get on Lane’s rear end for what he may perceive to be stupid comments.
“I really don’t have a response to it. Obviously there’s a Lane side for us where we’re buddies and friends, then there’s a professional side that I have to get on his ass a little sometimes,” Golding said on Wednesday. “I think every time he gets in front of a camera, theyre bringing up Ole Miss. The break up wasn’t perfect and never will be.
“But for some of the last comments he made, anybody that’s been in Oxford knows that’s where were not at right now. I’ve lived all over the southeast, we all got our own issues, you know. I think the biggest thing is people come to Oxford, and see it for themselves”
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As for Lane mentioning that Ole Miss might have had a chance to win a national championship if the Rebels administration would’ve allowed him to stay with the team after accepting the LSU job, even Pete Golding thinks that is a bit far-fetched.
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“I don’t think you’ll find any coach who will say they were better off with me not being there, you won’t hear any football coach saying that,” Golding said with a laugh. “No, i don’t think that had any impact on not winning the game against Miami.”
Did Golding receive an apology from Steve Sarkisian and Kiffin?
In what felt like back-to-back pieces attacking the Ole Miss program, the Rebels found themselves on the back end of multiple stories that did not exactly provide them the best type of public relations.
First, it was the Vanity Fair piece involving Lane Kiffin. Then, though it was done weeks prior, an interview with Steve Sarkisian was released in which the Texas head coach tried to use Ole Miss as a punching bag while discussing the Longhorns academic standards.
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You remember, right? Does basket-weaving. ring a bell?
Well, Pete Golding was once again not taking things too seriously, this time while discussing the comments from Steve Sarkisian.
“It’s a hard thing to do. You ever tried it? I haven’t,” Golding said of basketweaving. “Obviously from an academic standpoint, I don’t have to sit up here and talk about what Ole Miss does. I think that was a little out of context. Sarkisian hit me up right after that happened. It was a month prior, then the timing of it kinda piggybacked the other. But, no, I’m not worried about anything.”
But, the question is whether Sarkisian called to apologize. Turns out, it didn’t take very long.
“He hit me as soon as it went public like ‘Look, this was a month ago, no point intended’.,” Golding said of Sarkisian. “We all heard the basketweaving deal growing up and all that type of stuff. Said he was just trying to talk about Texas and how hard it was. I told him I appreciated it. I know if I’m gonna transfer, I’d much rather take basketweaving than marine-biology.”
Now, whether Kiffin reached out to Golding in regards to his interview with Vanity Fair is a whole different topic.
The problem for Pete Golding is that Lane might actually reach out to him too much.
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“Lane hits me up everyday, so I get twelve text messages a day from Lane. It’s what I decide to look at, so. I was not looking at that one. But no, we’re good.”
Ever seen that movie “Step Brothers”? The relationship between Golding and Kiffin might actually be the appropriate way to summarize these two coaches.
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