Defensive Coordinator Pete Golding is Leaving Alabama

Golding has served on Nick Saban's coaching staff since 2018.

There will be a new face in charge of Alabama football's defense next season, as ESPN senior writer Chris Low reported defensive coordinator Pete Golding will leave Tuscaloosa to take the same position at Ole Miss.

BamaCentral has confirmed the report, and that Golding is expected to receive a three-year deal worth more than $2 million annually on Lane Kiffin's coaching staff. 

Pete Golding is leaving @AlabamaFTBL to replace Chris Partridge as defensive coordinator at @OleMissFB, sources tell ESPN. Golding has been with Nick Saban at Alabama since 2018, the last four seasons as defensive coordinator.

— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) January 13, 2023

Golding joined Nick Saban's staff in 2018 as the co-defensive coordinator. After that season, Golding became the primary defensive coordinator for the next four seasons.

Fans and media alike felt like the defense didn't perform to expectations in the 2022 season. The two main examples of this were the games against Tennessee and LSU.

Against the Volunteers, the defense gave up 385 passing yards and five touchdowns en route to a 52-49 loss in Knoxville. In Baton Rouge, the Crimson Tide defense gave up 182 passing yards, 185 rushing yards and four total touchdowns in a 32-31 loss to the Tigers.

Many began to question whether or not the 2022 Alabama defense was up to the standard of its predecessors, and some of the criticism came from former Alabama players. 

Still, when Golding was asked if he planned on coming back during Sugar Bowl media availability, he said "I'm still under contract, so absolutely."

With Charles Kelly departing earlier to join Deion Sanders in Colorado, Saban and the Alabama program will have some positions to fill ahead of the 2023 season. Whomever is hired will have a chance to coach one of the strongest recruiting classes in recent program history, along with key returners in Kool-Aid McKinstry, Chris Braswell, Malachi Moore and Jaheim Oatis.

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