'Brilliant' DC Pete Golding Was Rebels 'No. 1 Coach's Portal' Choice

Defensive coordinator Pete Golding's job is to raise the level of play to give the Ole Miss Rebels' offense a chance.

There are certainly questions on Ole Miss' offense, but they're a lot less concerning than those about the Rebels' defense.

Can they improve on their No. 75 defense from a year ago? Can they not allow 42 points to beatable opponents like Arkansas and Texas Tech? Is new defensive coordinator Pete Golding the guy? Head coach Lane Kiffin thinks so.

"That was like the No. 1 coach's portal guy," Kiffin said on "SEC Now" Thursday. "That was really neat to have a chance to get Pete. He's got a background in the SEC, in the area of recruiting also besides just being a brilliant mind in the game. And so it's been awesome to work with him already. Knew a lot of people that had worked with him and had talked so well about him, so to bring him in is really big."

Golding's Alabama defenses allowed fewer than 20 points per game in four of five seasons.

Ole Miss allowed 25.5 points and 387.8 yards per game last year, but those numbers jumped to 35.2 and 436.7, respectively, in the final six contests. The Rebels went 1-5 in that time.

Golding and Kiffin dipped into the transfer portal in hopes of bringing in players that can elevate the defense to an adequate enough level to take pressure off what is expected to be another explosive Ole Miss offense.

"We have a really big challenge of a new system and a lot of new players on that side of the ball to try to fix the issues we had down the stretch," Kiffin said.

---

You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter at @casey_smith2419

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Rebels? Click Here.

Follow The Grove Report On Facebook and Twitter.

Want even more Ole Miss Rebels News? Check out the SI.com team page here