TAMPA — In a college football coaching fraternity increasingly populated by serious men making serious money who are as glib as a Buckingham Palace guard, Pete Golding delivered a blast of rough-hewn swagger at his first SEC media days. The 42-year-old Southern bro with an unruly mop of graying hair has a mouth on him, and he’s not afraid to use it. This was a podium debut that conjured memories of the league’s patron saint of sass, Steve Spurrier.
The Mississippi coach was flippant when asked about NCAA tampering rules regarding transfers. He has been publicly accused of violating those rules by Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, who alleged that Golding personally contacted one of his players to talk money after he enrolled at Clemson, in an effort to flip him to Ole Miss. (It worked; linebacker Luke Ferrelli left the Tigers for the Rebels in January.)
