Ole Miss’ Pete Golding among the highest-paid SEC defensive coordinators

The Ole Miss football coaching staff was well compensated for their efforts after the historic 2023 season capped with the Peach Bowl victory and both coordinators received financial boosts.

Charlie Weis, Jr. is the highest-paid among Southeastern Conference offensive coordinators and in the top five in all of college football. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin did not stop with offense as second-year defensive coordinator Pete Golding also received a new contract.

In fact, all seven returning assistant coaches earned new contracts after last season but Golding’s joins Weis as one of the best salaries in the SEC.

According to a list of the highest-paid defensive coordinators released by Pro Football Focus, Golding is third with a 2024 salary of $2.1 million. He is behind only LSU’s Blake Baker’s salary of $2.5 million and Michigan’s Wink Martindale ($2.3 million).

Baker and Golding top the list of SEC defensive coordinator salaries. Georgia’s Glenn Schumann is tied for the fourth-highest with a $2 million salary and Texas’s Pete Kwiatkowski is 10th on the list with a $1.8 million salary.

Golding’s new three-year contract will see him get incremental raises the final two years. In 2025 he will make $2.25 million and in 2026 it will go up to $2.35 million, according to a report by the Clarion Ledger last month.

If this were the 2023 season Golding would have been the highest-paid assistant coach in college football with this year’s salary but Michigan bumped Martindale’s salary up to bump Golding down to third.

The Ole Miss defensive coordinator has become a cult hero on social media with his use of a single emoji.

During the transfer window this past winter Rebel fans were glued to their phones and computer hitting refresh on X (formerly Twitter) to see if Golding posted a new shark emoji.

The single character post has become the Ole Miss bat signal, indicating a new commitment was incoming. Usually when Golding tweets it means the defense just got a new addition to the locker room.

Grown adults react like Taylor Swift has released a new song when Golding puts up a new shark. Something that the second-year coordinator has grown to embrace but also understands what it means from the big picture.

“Once you’ve been at (Alabama) nothing’s surprising,” Golding said laughing when speaking with the media at the Peach Bowl. “They’re called fans for a reason. They’re fanatic. I think it’s awesome. They’re excited and continue to build on that. But with that comes expectation.”

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