This past season, Ole Miss’ national title hopes ended when the Rebels lost to Miami in the CFP semifinal. However, new head coach Pete Golding is keeping that dream alive by building a title-caliber staff for the 2026 season. As part of that effort, Golding has hired a key piece whose tenure at Alabama was highlighted by the Tide’s 2020 national championship victory over Ohio State.

On Wednesday, OMSpiritOn3’s senior writer Zach Berry reported that Pete Golding’s Ole Miss has added Mike Stoops to its staff.

Stoops brings nearly 39 years of coaching experience to Ole Miss, starting in 1986 as a graduate assistant at Iowa. In two years, he was promoted to LB and DB coach there. Following that, the Iowa alum has made stops at Kansas State, Oklahoma, FAU, Arizona, and Alabama. He joined the Tide in 2019 under Nick Saban as a defensive analyst and spent two seasons there.

Following a Texas loss, after being fired from Oklahoma, Mike Stoops thought this off-field role was the best path for his career at that time. Perhaps that’s why in the early 2020 season, when his brother, Mark Stoops, offered him a position at Kentucky, he didn’t go and stayed in Tuscaloosa. That decision paid off, as he was part of Alabama’s national championship win in 2020. Considering the timeline, Stoops’ joining Ole Miss marks a reunion with Pete Golding.

In 2019 and 2020, the new Rebels head coach worked under Saban as a defensive coordinator. After that, Golding stayed there, but Stoops left the Tide to join FAU before joining Kentucky in 2022 as an inside linebackers coach.

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Mike Stoops’ three seasons at Kentucky saw the development of defensive players like Jamon Dumas-Johnson and D’Eryk Jackson. However, the Wildcats fired him following Mark’s firing and coaching overhauls under new head coach Will Stein. Still, aside from all the firing that came after certain circumstances, Mike Stoops’ coaching journey sparked a seven-and-a-half-season head coaching run.

Even though it was his first head coaching job, Stoops’ prowess made Arizona a legitimate contender. He transformed Arizona from a two-win team in 2003 to a team that won three consecutive bowl games.

“Coach Stoops did what he was hired to do,” ex-DE Ricky Elmore stated. “He came in and turned the program into a winning program again.”

Although his tenure at Arizona ended with a 1–5 record in the 2011 season, his proven ability to transform defenses makes his addition to Ole Miss’ staff as a defensive analyst a clear signal that Golding is leaving nothing to chance for the Rebels’ 2026 title run. That case becomes even stronger when examining the head coach’s broader hiring pattern.

Pete Golding’s unique pattern of hiring

Fresh off a major win with the Trinidad Chambliss injunction, Pete Golding doubled down, reinforcing his vision with two strategic hires. After Lane Kiffin’s departure, Golding faced the ripple effect. The new Ole Miss head coach has focused on homegrown talent. Among them, one name is Cody Woodiel.

The former Miami TEs coach steps in as the new co-offensive coordinator at Ole Miss. After helping the Hurricanes to their 2025 national title appearance, the Hernando, Mississippi, native returns to familiar soil. Along with this, a longtime Delta State head coach, Todd Cooley, comes in as well.

With an 82-49 record, three Gulf South Conference titles, and 4 NCAA Division II playoff appearances, Cooley joins the Rebels as assistant to the head coach and director of high school relations. That makes sense, as he already has nearly 13 years of experience in that field. With this kind of skill and local talent, Golding is building something special for the Rebels.