No opening shot was fired by Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding during the Southeastern Conference Football Media Days on Wednesday afternoon at Tampa (Fla.).
Golding was asked about his relationship with his former boss and now LSU head coach Lanke Kiffin. Golding quickly responded that “he was good with Lane.”
Golding simply implied that what occurred at the end of the 2025 season was just a part of the business of college football. Kiffin decided what was best for him – leaving a Rebels team heading for the College Football Playoffs and accepting the LSU job.
According to Golding, the two men have exchanged messages through social media. Golding did acknowledge that some topics are not discussed.
Now, it’s time for both coaches to prepare their teams for the 2026 campaign. Both Ole Miss and LSU will have teams who are good enough to make the CFP. Obviously, the September 19 matchup between the teams in Oxford will impact both squads’ season.
Golding, who led the Rebels to two playoff victories before losing to Miami in the semifinals, inherited two of the top offensive playmakers in the SEC, if not the country – quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.
Those two players will make it easier for Golding to reach the College Football Playoffs for a second straight year. Of course, the Ole Miss fan base is expecting its team to beat LSU and advance to the CFP.
The four coaches who spoke in Tampa on Wednesday all have a difficult challenge at satisfying their fans. Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Florida’s Jon Sumrall and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko joined Golding in answering questions.
Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M are three schools who possess the resources to be contenders for both SEC and national championships. Highly passionate Ole Miss fans believe their program is at the same level.
On-the-field results indicate that winning football titles at these schools or at any SEC university is not a birthright. Sorry, Alabama.
There have been 34 football seasons since the SEC first expanded by adding Arkansas and South Carolina. Ole Miss has won no conference championship in that stretch. In fact, the Rebels have not won a SEC title since 1963 – a span of 62 seasons.
Johnny Vaught, who was the Rebels head coach in 1963, coached another eight seasons after that campaign. Twelve other coaches failed to deliver a conference championship since 1963 – Kiffin being the last of the group.
Should Golding be expected to end the title drought in his first season as Ole Miss coach? Kiffin and David Cutcliffe won no SEC crowns in their six seasons. Billy Brewer did not win a league championship in 11 years.
Let’s jump to Elko. The Aggies have played 14 seasons in the SEC. Texas A&M is still looking for its initial conference title. Like Ole Miss, A&M has never even been a participant in the SEC championship game. Like the Rebels, the Aggies were a CFP team in 2025.
Alabama and Florida are considered teams who should win multiple conference and national championships. Well, the Crimson Tide and the Gators have won their share of titles over the last 34 years.
However, that success may be more a case of the presence of three outstanding head coaches rather than the makeup of the programs.
Nick Saban was the Crimson Tide coach for 17 of these 34 seasons. Under Saban, Alabama won nine SEC titles and six national championships. During the other 17 seasons, the Tide won a mere two conference titles and one national championship.
Five individuals other than Saban have coached Alabama in a game since the initial SEC expansion in 1992. Gene Stallings and Mike DuBose are the only two coaches to win a league title. Stallings also won the 1992 national crown.
The situation is similar in Gainesville. In the past 34 years, Florida has won seven SEC championships and three national titles. None of those championships were won in the last 17 years. All the titles took place under the watch of Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer.
Spurrier won five league championships and one national title in a ten-year stretch from 1992-2001. Meyer won a pair of SEC and national championships during his six seasons – 2005-10.
Five Gators coaches since Spurrier left the program did not win a single conference title. All five coaches were fired with none lasting longer than four seasons.
The two current coaches at these schools – Kalen DeBoer at Alabama and Jon Sumrall at Florida – have won titles at their previous schools. DeBoer won the Pac-12 championship at Washington. Sumrall won league titles at Troy and Tulane.
However, winning in the SEC is different. Fan bases at these four schools need to realize that it takes a special individual to win multiple championships in the SEC.
Here is breakdown by head coaches of conference and national championships at Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and Texas A&M since the league expanded in 1992.
ALABAMA
Gene Stallings: 5 seasons (1992-96) – 1 SEC championship, 1 national championship
Mike DuBose: 4 seasons (1997-2000) – 1 SEC championship
Dennis Franchione: 2 seasons (2001-02)
Mike Shula: 4 seasons (2003-06)
Nick Saban: 17 seasons (2007-2023) – 9 SEC championships, 6 national championships
Kalen DeBoer: 2 seasons (2024-25)
FLORIDA
Steve Spurrier: 10 seasons (1992-2001) – 5 SEC championships, 1 national championship
Ron Zook: 3 seasons (2002-04)
Urban Meyer: 6 seasons (2005-10): 2 SEC championships, 2 national championships
Will Muschamp: 4 seasons (2011-14)
Jim McElwain: 3 seasons (2015-17)
Dan Mullen: 4 seasons (2018-21)
Billy Napier: 4 seasons (2022-25)
OLE MISS
Billy Brewer: 2 seasons (1992-93)
Joe Lee Dunn: 1 season (1994)
Tommy Tuberville: 4 seasons (1995-98)
David Cutcliffe: 6 seasons (1999-2004)
Ed Orgeron: 3 seasons (2005-07)
Houston Nutt: 4 seasons (2008-11)
Hugh Freeze: 5 seasons (2012-2016)
Matt Luke: 3 seasons (2017-19)
Lane Kiffin: 6 seasons (2020-25)
TEXAS A&M (did not join SEC until 2012)
Kevin Sumlin: 6 seasons (2012-17)
Jimbo Fisher: 6 seasons (2018-23)
Mike Elko: 2 seasons (2024-25)
