Alabama Football: What really happened with Pete Golding?

Former Alabama Football Defensive Coordinator, Pete Golding has landed in Oxford, MS. That is literally landed per a tweeted video from the University of Mississippi.

As Golding hits the ground running on Lane Kiffin’s staff, lots of claims are being made about what happened in the transition.

Georgia fans eager to get a dig in against the Alabama Crimson Tide are claiming Golding bolted away from Nick Saban. Their reasoning is that Golding knew the Alabama Football Dynasty is dead and wanted a fresher opportunity.

Ole Miss fans are excited Lane Kiffin attracted Golding. How could they not be? Not even a Lane Kiffin offense could produce enough Ole Miss points to win tough games because the Ole Miss defense was embarrassingly bad.

Pete Golding might be as happy as Ole Miss fans. He will no longer be in the shadow of Nick Saban. Whatever his defensive system is, he will run it in Oxford, rather than Nick Saban’s defensive system.

On top of the plusses for Golding is the cash. According to Red Cup Rebellion, Golding will be paid around $2M and that is some serious jack from a program that is not one of the SEC’s elite.

Alabama Football Fans

It is possible that no group is happier than Alabama football fans. Crimson Tide fans have clamored for Golding to be fired, going back to the 2019 season.

As many in the college football world know, Nick Saban rarely fires an assistant coach. He informs them to pursue other opportunities and often helps them find a new job. Many Alabama fans believe that is what happened with Pete Golding.

Contrary to that belief is a claim, no doubt fueled by Ole Miss, that Lane Kiffin actually won a bidding war with Nick Saban to land Golding. Football Scoop published that Saban offered Golding a raise to remain on the Alabama Football staff.

If that questionable claim is correct, it would mean Saban wanted to retain Golding, but not enough to outbid Lane Kiffin for him. Alabama only gets outbid for coaches when Nick Saban says ‘enough’ and chooses to move on.

It is possible, Saban might have wanted Golding to continue for another season, while Jeremy Pruitt’s NCAA problems are sorted out. That could take months, with the NCAA controlling the actual timeline. Keep in mind, this possibility is pure conjecture. A guess is no more than a couple of dozen people actually know what took place and none of them are talking.

There are also other rumors that did not merit being repeated.

Whatever happened, Alabama is happy, Ole Miss is happy and there is no reason to believe Nick Saban is not happy.