When Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss and continued sabotaging the program throughout the College Football Playoffs, Pete Golding just had one thing to say: "I don't have s**t to say to anyone."
You see, Golding has been a man of few words since taking over the Rebels.
His win column does the talking. And his latest win in the transfer portal is perhaps the loudest clapback Kiffin has heard.
Golding's 2026 transfer portal haul is his ultimate statement drive—a definitive response to the narrative that Ole Miss would crumble without the recruiting mastermind of Kiffin.
Ole Miss didn't just manage fine; they were competing with LSU to have the best portal class this cycle.
247 Sports ranked the Rebels transfer class as No. 2, right behind LSU's No. 1.
Pete Golding crushed 2026 portal class
Although ESPN ranked the Rebs much lower at No. 7, the shockwaves are still hitting.
"Fair or not, one of the major subplots to Pete Golding's first offseason in Oxford was how he would respond to the roster movement that followed Lane Kiffin's departure for LSU. Ole Miss's class lacks the same star power, but it's plenty deep," ESPN's Craig haubert says of Golding's class of 2026.
Golding would have also had that star power in his established players from 2025, were it not for the leaked term sheets driving them out.
It would definitely have been better to have his defensive cornerstone TJ Dottery and star players like Princewill Umanmielen and Cayden Lee on his roster. However, the focus now shifts to who would emerge as the star player among the 28 high-profile commits the Rebs secured.
"Golding landed multiple top-100 caliber portal prospects and reshaped his secondary, headlined by Florida State transfer Edwin Joseph, a long, rangy safety with impressive ball skills who is strong in run support, plus hard-hitting Georgia safety Joenel Aguero. Young, projectable offensive tackles are a premium in the portal, and Golding landed freshman Carius Curne from LSU no less."
And these are just few of the portal gems that are waiting to have their breakout moment this year.