By: Michael Spiers

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

There may not be a more fascinating team in the SEC heading into the 2026 season than Ole Miss.

The Rebels are coming off the best season in program history, winning 13 games and advancing all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

They have now won at least 10 games in three consecutive seasons, something that had never happened before in Oxford.

Yet instead of entering 2026 with nothing but excitement and momentum, Ole Miss also enters with one very big question.

What does this program look like without Lane Kiffin?

Pete Golding takes over for his first full season as head coach after Kiffin left for LSU following the 2025 regular season. Golding helped guide the Rebels through their playoff run, but now this is officially his football team.

The challenge will be maintaining the expectations Kiffin helped create while establishing his own identity.

Fortunately for Golding, he inherited a roster with some serious firepower.

It starts with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. After transferring from Ferris State, Chambliss took over the starting job and became one of the biggest stories in college football.

He threw for 3,937 yards with 22 touchdowns and only three interceptions while finishing eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

He gives Ole Miss something every new head coach would love to have, an experienced quarterback capable of taking over a football game.

Then there is Kewan Lacy. Lacy rushed for a school record 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns last season and returns as one of the best running backs in America. Having Chambliss and Lacy together gives Ole Miss one of the best backfields in college football.

The biggest offensive concern is replacing production at receiver. Deuce Alexander returns after catching 44 passes for 684 yards, but Ole Miss lost Harrison Wallace III and De’Zhaun Stribling after the pair combined for more than 1,700 receiving yards.

Once again, the transfer portal became an important part of the solution, with Johntay Cook II and Darrell Gill Jr. among the new additions.

That portal success has become part of the culture at Ole Miss, and apparently it did not leave town with Kiffin. The Rebels assembled the number two ranked transfer class according to 247Sports while returning 49 letterwinners from last season.

Defense might be the bigger question. Ole Miss must replace seven defensive starters, including significant production at linebacker and safety. Golding’s defensive background should help, and there are some excellent pieces remaining.

Suntarine Perkins returns after recording 81 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss last season.

Will Echoles anchors the defensive front, while Kam Franklin returns after collecting five sacks and 15 quarterback hurries. The Rebels also added experienced transfers throughout the defense.

The problem for Ole Miss is that the schedule is brutal. The SEC opener against LSU on September 19 will receive enormous attention because it brings Kiffin back to Oxford.

Then there are road games at Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, along with matchups against Georgia and Missouri. Louisville also presents a difficult challenge to open the season.

That schedule is why I am not ready to predict another 13 win season.

I do, however, think Ole Miss is better than an eight win football team. Chambliss and Lacy give the Rebels enough offensive talent to win games when everything else is not perfect, and Golding has already shown he can lead this program on the biggest stage. My prediction is 9-3.

I think Ole Miss loses three games somewhere in that SEC gauntlet but remains in the College Football Playoff conversation deep into November. If the rebuilt defense comes together faster than expected, 10 wins is absolutely possible.

The Kiffin era may be over in Oxford, but that does not mean the winning has to end with it.

In 2026, we find out whether Ole Miss simply had a great run under one coach or whether the Rebels have truly become one of the programs that expects to compete nationally every single year.