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LOOK: Player-led Ole Miss football is in the grind of preseason camp

By Ben Garrett,

15 hours ago

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Ole Miss football has plenty of reason to believe it can improve upon its program-record 11 wins from last season.

Not the least of which? The 2024-25 Rebels are player-led, according to second-year defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

“The biggest impact is them helping the new guys,” Golding said after practice this week. “Last year, if it didn’t come from a coach, nobody knew it.

“Now you’ve got a lot of players that are coaches (and) have been in the system. They can help these guys continue to develop when a coach isn’t around.”

Ole Miss signed the nation’s No. 3 transfer class and No. 20 high-school class.

The splashiest additions were arguably Walter Nolen (defensive tackle, Texas A&M) and Princely Umanmielen (EDGE, Florida). The Rebels signed a quartet of four-star in-state defensive linemen to balance out their depth, too: Kam Franklin (Mississippi top 2024 recruit), William Echoles, Kamron Beavers and Jeffery Rush.

Ole Miss last season finished as a top-half SEC defense for the first time in four years under head coach Lane Kiffin.

“There’s a fine line in this league,” Golding said. “If you’re not better than the opposing team, and they know what (defense) you’re in, you’re going to get your ass beat. There’s a fine line (in) trying to find ways to win football games.

“You’re not always the most talented team. In order to do that, sometimes you’ve got to have the chalk last and it’s not going to be perfect and you’re going to put some things on them. Every year you’re going to have a new defense to some degree. That’s helped us to simplify some things.

“When you’re getting guys for one season and one year, (simplifying things) can (help them) adapt, learn the system, play fast and contribute to winning football.”