Ole Miss' Pete Golding Cancels Press Conference to Focus on CFP After Lane Kiffin Exit

Pete Golding's first press conference since being named Mississippi's head coach has been put on hold.

Ahead of Wednesday's scheduled media event, Golding announced he was canceling the press conference to focus on getting Ole Miss ready for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.

Golding does say in the statement he looks forward to "discussing the next step" in Mississippi's journey when the playoff matchups are announced on Sunday.

After Lane Kiffin decided to leave Ole Miss for LSU, the Rebels announced Golding as his successor. The 41-year-old has been the defensive coordinator on Kiffin's staff since January 2023.

Mississippi is firmly in the mix for a spot in the College Football Playoff rankings when the final top 25 is unveiled on Sunday.

Despite the loss of Kiffin in a chaotic sequence of events over the weekend, the selection committee didn't punish the Rebels. They moved up a spot to No. 6 overall in the new rankings that came out on Tuesday.

Since their regular season is over and they won't play in the SEC Championship Game this weekend, it would take a lot of things going wrong to keep the Rebels out of the playoff.

Based on the current rankings, Mississippi is the third at-large team in the field after No. 2 Indiana and No. 5 Oregon. There are seven total at-large bids after the automatic bids for the power four conference champions and highest-ranked group of four conference champion.

Mississippi would host Miami in the first round of the College Football Playoff as things stand today.

The program under Kiffin has won at least 10 games in four of the last five seasons, including an 11-1 record in 2025. Their 11 wins this season are tied for the most in the history of the program.