The Ole Miss Football coaching staff looks different than it did in November 2025. Head coach Pete Golding, offensive coordinator John David Baker and defensive coordinator Bryan Brown are all beginning their first full seasons in their respective roles.
At the end of last season, Golding, the former defensive coordinator, was promoted to head coach; offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. departed for LSU, paving the way for Baker’s hiring from East Carolina; and Brown, the current defensive coordinator, was elevated to co-defensive coordinator for the playoffs.
While Brown is the defensive coordinator, Golding will still call the defensive plays.
Golding came to Ole Miss in 2023 as the defensive coordinator. In 2024, under Golding, the Rebels led the SEC in sacks with 52 and tackles for loss with 120.
Prior to coaching at Ole Miss, Golding was the defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2018 to 2022. He won three SEC titles and a national championship with the Crimson Tide.
Golding often talks about his time under former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. He draws on that experience to shape Ole Miss’ structure.
“Being around coach Saban really helped me because there wasn’t a defensive meeting he wasn’t in. There wasn’t a special teams meeting he wasn’t in. He didn’t even call the defense,” Golding said in a press conference on April 7. “He had it set up in the right way and trusted the people to do their job in other areas of the program. That was really important to me for this offseason to be able to make sure we have everything structured really well.”
Under former head coach Lane Kiffin, who left dramatically last season for LSU, Ole Miss was an offense-first team. After Golding served as the head coach throughout the team’s run in the College Football Playoffs last season, he is familiar with the offense, but he hired Baker intentionally.
“Obviously, we hired JDB (John David Baker) for a reason, and that’s to run the offense,” Golding said. “When you’re a coordinator over there, depending upon where you work, you don’t love when the head coach walks in and is like, ‘Hey man, we’re gonna do this, this and this.’”
Golding will let the coordinators do their jobs, but he wants to ensure that players’ skill sets are being used appropriately.
“The game has changed, too. If you’re gonna invest in players, you better have a role for them,” Golding said. “It is my responsibility to make sure (that) within the package that they (the coordinators) create, here are the tools that we need to make sure we have plans for and that we’re using effectively — because we recruited them (the players) based on this skill set.”
Baker was the Ole Miss tight ends coach from 2021-23 and the co-offensive coordinator in 2022-23. He left Ole Miss in 2023 to take the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach job at East Carolina.
Baker spoke about the people who have influenced his coaching career the most in a press conference on April 10. He got his start coaching at North Texas before coming to Ole Miss as part of Kiffin’s coaching staff.
Through Baker’s time at North Texas, USC, East Carolina and Ole Miss, he has found his offensive identity.
“A large part of it is what we did (at Ole Miss) for three years … and then continued to do that at East Carolina. … It (the offense) derives from a lot of different places, but all really good coaches,” Baker said.
East Carolina was No. 19 in yards per game (449) under Baker in 2025. Pirate quarterback Katin Houser threw for 3,300 yards, completed 65.9% of passes and had 19 touchdown passes last year.
Baker’s prior experience at Ole Miss will make for a smooth transition to the offensive coordinator role. When Baker was last at Ole Miss, he served under an offensive head coach. Now, he will be under a defensive head coach, but Baker has experience in this situation.
“(Being at ECU) was my first time in my career working for a defensive head coach, which was awesome,” Baker said. “I worked for a great head coach … (who was) first there, but the other part of that was (neither of them was) an offensive guy that had years and years of experience in this system. As I’m game planning … finding the answers or finding things that are wrong in what we’re doing, that was all on me.”
Brown was the defensive backs coach before December 2025, when Golding promoted him to co-defensive coordinator. Now, he is the defensive coordinator. He spoke to the media before the playoffs on Dec. 16 about his new role.
“With PG (Pete Golding) getting elevated to the head coach, the model has changed a little bit getting into the defense, so I’m taking over the role of scripting for practice, meeting with the defensive staff and getting all those things ironed out,” Brown said. “I make life a little easier so Pete (Golding) can drive the bus on his game day.”
Brown was a defensive back for Ole Miss Football from 2003-06 and point guard for the men’s basketball team in 2002. On the football team, Brown totaled 70 career tackles. He graduated from the university in 2006.
His coaching career began in 2008 at Rutgers. Brown spent time at Delta State, Cincinnati, Louisville and Appalachian State. In 2010-11, Brown was a graduate assistant and defensive administrative assistant for the Rebels.
Brown was nominated for the Broyles Award in 2018 and 2023, which is given to college football’s top assistant coach.
He coached defensive back Trey Amos, who was selected by the Washington Commanders in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The former Rebel led Ole Miss in pass breakups (13) in 2024.
Brown returned to Ole Miss in 2024 as co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach. He spoke about how things have changed around the program since his days as a player.
“The first thing is the winning culture, a winning mindset. It’s not, ‘We hope we can win.’ It’s, ‘We’re gonna win every single football game,’” Brown said in a press conference on April 7. “That’s the mindset now (compared) to what it’s been in years past. The program has done a heck of a job continuing to build the resources (that) we have.”
