Surprised to see this...
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding signed a 3-year contract extension back in February that will make him the highest-paid assistant in the SEC this season, according to documents obtained by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
Golding will earn $2.55 million for the 2025 campaign, a $300,000 raise from his 2024 salary. LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker previously held the mark of the SEC's highest-paid assistant after signing a 3-year deal with a flat $2.5 million salary in January 2024.
Golding's base salary will bump to $2.6 million in 2026 and $2.7 million in 2027 before the contract expires on Jan. 31, 2028. He'll still have a ways to go to catch Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who signed a 3-year contract this winter worth $3.1 million per year. In addition to Baker, Golding also leapfrogged Michigan's Wink Martindale and came in ahead of Ohio State's Matt Patricia for the second-highest paid assistant in college football. (Utah's Morgan Scalley will earn $2.6 million this year, $500,000 of which is a one-time retention bonus.)