OXFORD — Ole Miss is set to hire Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding to the same position, ESPN’s Chris Low reported Friday. He will replace Chris Partridge, who served as the co-defensive coordinator for each of the past three seasons.
The Daily Journal has confirmed with a source that the move is expected to happen.
Golding has been the defensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide for the last four seasons; Alabama has ranked in the top-20 in scoring defense each of those seasons, allowing 18.2 points per game in 2022. He helped Alabama win the national championship in 2020, a season where the team went 13-0.
Partridge has been co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss since head coach Lane Kiffin arrived for the 2020 season, sharing the role with D.J. Durkin in the first two years. The Rebels gave up 38.3 points per game in their first season but improved significantly in 2021, giving up 24.7 en route to a berth in the Sugar Bowl and the program’s first 10-win regular season.
Durkin took the defensive coordinator job at Texas A&M in the offseason, elevating Partridge to defensive play-caller with Maurice Crum as his co-coordinator. The Rebels gave up 25.5 points per game in 2022, but surrendered 35 points per game over the final seven games of the season, including 42 in the Texas Bowl against Texas Tech.
Prior to his time with Alabama, Golding served as defensive coordinator at UTSA and has also coached at Southern Miss, Southeastern Louisiana, Tusculum and Delta State — where he also attended and played collegiately.
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