Everything They Said: Ole Miss coaches Golding, Malloy join Paul Finebaum Show

Ole Miss coaches Pete Golding and Chris Malloy played in the Regions Traditional Pro-Am golf tournament at Greyston Golf & Country Club in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday. 

The annual event features a handful of current and former SEC coaches. Among this year’s participants were former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, current Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer, Auburn basketball coach Steven Pearl, Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats, Golding and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.

Golding’s Rebels are in their final week of spring practice. Malloy’s Rebels are coming off their first SEC title since 1984.

The pair joined the Paul Finebaum Show afterwards. Here’s everything they had to say.

ON THE EVENT AND REPRESENTING OLE MISS

PETE GOLDING: It’s awesome. Obviously, being over here with Coach Malloy and having seen it being in Tuscaloosa all those years, it’s really neat. Didn’t hit the golf ball very well, but it was a great fan experience — seeing the kids out there, signing autographs. Really enjoyed it.

ON COACHING GOLDING ON THE COURSE

CHRIS MALLOY: We were back to the basics by about the fourth hole. I was not a very good coach out there. We had some aiming problems, but we made some putts and did a pretty good job. I think we brought it in the house and had a pretty good team.

ON TAKING OVER AS OLE MISS HEAD COACH MIDSEASON

PETE GOLDING: I wouldn’t call it a trial run, but having the experience of building into a game and all that, you never really got to sit back and think about it because of the timing.

It was signing day, then Tulane, then Georgia, then the Fiesta Bowl, then the portal. When we had that ice storm, it gave me about two weeks to sit back and reevaluate everything.

We appreciate all the support. I think that was the best thing about that team last year — their grit and determination. They loved competing for each other. I think this is a similar group, so I’m excited about what’s to come.

ON QUARTERBACK Trinidad Chambliss

PETE GOLDING: You’re talking about a kid who came from Division II into the SEC knowing we already had our guy with one year left. He bets on himself and does everything the right way.

He earned the trust of the team without being the guy. People naturally gravitate to him. He’s competitive, he’s got great character. You see it on TV, but we see it every day.

He doesn’t ask anything of his teammates that he doesn’t do. He’s in the building all the time. He loves football, he’s tough, and his teammates want to play for him.

ON GOLDING’S TRANSITION TO HEAD COACH

CHRIS MALLOY: It’s been really cool to see. Pete’s one of my best friends. To watch him thrown into that role and go through that process, anyone who knows him knows he’s not going to do anything halfway. He’s going to dive into it and not be afraid of it. I couldn’t think of a better person for that situation.

ON HOW HE HANDLED THE TRANSITION

PETE GOLDING: We already had a really good staff. Not a lot of turnover. Guys I trusted. From a player standpoint, I had relationships with most of them.

I leaned on former coaches, too — texting, asking what a weekly plan should look like. But really, it was just unique timing. You didn’t have time to overthink it. You had to get to work.

The kids wanted someone they could trust, someone who would tell them the truth. They just wanted good plans in place and to be held accountable.

ON THE SUGAR BOWL WIN OVER GEORGIA

PETE GOLDING: I was really proud of halftime. The last three minutes of the second quarter went as bad as it possibly could — fumble, scoop-and-score, then we don’t get out of bounds.

They could’ve folded at halftime. But we told them we’d been on the other side of it at Georgia. It was time to return the favor one play at a time.

That showed the grit of that team.

ON HIS PERSONALITY AND COACHING STYLE

PETE GOLDING: I just try to tell people the truth. My whole career, if your best isn’t good enough, I’m good with that.

I’ve been fortunate. It’s worked out so far. You hire good people, recruit good players, work your butt off, and the rest takes care of itself.

ON OLE MISS GOLF AND POSTSEASON APPROACH

CHRIS MALLOY: We’re coming off an SEC championship, which should give our guys confidence going into the NCAA Tournament. Our sport’s a little different. We get a couple weeks off between the SECs and nationals. So we’ll regroup, rest a little and be ready to go.

ON WHAT’S NEXT FOR OLE MISS FOOTBALL

PETE GOLDING: We finish spring ball tomorrow. I wanted to extend it all the way to finals because we’ve got 50 new guys and wanted to use every day.

After that, we start evaluations. Finals are next week, then the kids get about a 23-day break. We bring them back Memorial Day weekend and start our OTA phases: four-day split in June, three-day split in July.

The next week and a half is really big for our coaches — going back, combing through everything, figuring out what we have and how to use it.

We game-planned each other this spring, so now it’s about studying tendencies and what we need to change for the summer.

It’s good for the kids to get a break, good for us to reset and focus on our packages and still get to do things like this. And hopefully watch Malloy win a national championship.