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Why Pete Golding said new eligibility rules will help Ole Miss football - The NCAA has replaced the redshirt system with a new five-year, age-based eligibility rule.
- Ole Miss coach Pete Golding believes the change will allow talented freshmen to play more without restriction.
- The new rule also gives some veteran players an extra season of eligibility, potentially improving team retention.
CLEVELAND, MS The NCAA's recent change to college eligibility rules will impact every team, but some are in a position to take more advantage of it than others.
Count Ole Miss football coach Pete Golding as a fan of the new five-year age-based eligibility.
It will allow him to get his best freshmen on the field more in 2026.
"I think it does help the players," Golding said July 9 before speaking to fans as part of the Rebel Road Trip at Grammy Museum.
"You aren't picking and choosing when it's game five and all those type of things.
And it makes our job a little easier based on the injury component and all that." Redshirt seasons are gone, as are hardship waivers except for rare cases.
Players now get five years to play five athletic seasons, based on a clock that begins when they enroll or the year following their 19th birthday; whichever comes first The change will not be applied to athletes who have completed their fourth season of college eligibility.
Current players can choose to be governed under the new set of rules or the old set, so Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is not impacted.
Under the old rules, football players could play up to four games in a season and still redshirt.
It led to a situation where talented freshmen had to be used sparingly, because participating in a fifth game came at a cost.
Now Golding can play every player to his liking throughout the season.
It's a luxury with his talented incoming recruiting class.
Ole Miss has the No.
22 incoming recruiting class, per 247Sports Composite rankings.
Golding has particularly gushed about the impact four-star edge rusher Landon Barnes, the No.
1 recruit in the class, and four-star cornerback Dorian Barney, can have.
"Obviously our focus was on our entire team, but I think the biggest improvements come from those 18-, 19-year-old kids that haven't been in a real nutrition program," Golding said after spring practice.
"Haven't been in a real strength and conditioning program.
I think they take the biggest steps the fastest." The new rules also change Ole Miss' retention with veterans.
Players who were going into their senior season but did not redshirt are now afforded an extra season of eligibility.
Golding said he hopes that allows Ole Miss to bring back players in 2027 who would have otherwise been forced to declare for the NFL Draft.
Linebacker Suntarine Perkins is one possibility.
"I think the December and January conversations are real now based on where am I going to go in the draft, versus what's it going to look like when I come back," Golding said.
"I think we'll be able to retain some players that normally you would have lost based on eligibility to come back and increase the value of their first contract." What's going on with NCAA tampering investigation? Golding was asked about the NCAA's tampering investigation regarding claims by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney that Ole Miss broke rules in its recruitment of linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
"No (news), our compliance is handling all that," Golding said.
"Everything has been turned in, so we're just focused on our team." Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter echoed the sentiment.
"No, still just kind of working through the process," Carter said.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger.
Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_.