In the span of a week, the Rebels’ sideline went from College Football Playoff contender to coaching circus.
Lane Kiffin abruptly accepted the LSU job following Ole Miss’s 38-19 Egg Bowl win, then tried to negotiate to coach the Rebels through the postseason; Ole Miss leadership declined and moved quickly to install defensive coordinator Pete Golding as head coach.
Kiffin’s exit set off a chaotic reshuffling among assistants and recruiting staff, with several offensive coaches joining him in Baton Rouge, while others remained or were eventually reinstated for CFP preparations.
Ole Miss has now responded by hiring East Carolina’s John David Baker as the Rebels new offensive coordinator, who previously worked under Kiffin from 2021 to 2023.
Read More: Florida AD Reveals What Went Wrong in Lane Kiffin Pursuit
Baker is a young offensive coach who began as a graduate assistant at Abilene Christian GA (2014-15) before moving on to quality-control work at North Texas (2016-18) and USC, USC tight ends coach (2020).
He then became the Ole Miss passing-game coordinator/tight ends coach (2021) and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator (2022-23) under Kiffin.
In December 2023, he left Ole Miss to take over as East Carolina’s offensive coordinator, where he has implemented a tempo-driven, high-volume scheme credited with boosting the Pirates offense.
Read More: Vanderbilt Drops 3-Word Reaction to Diego Pavia’s Heisman Announcement
East Carolina’s 2025 offense ranked among the best in college football — 465.7 total yards per game (13th nationally) and 32.5 points per game (24th), according to ESPN.
Most notably, Baker’s fast-paced offense helped transform ECU from a 2-10 squad in 2023 into an 8-5 team in 2024 and 8-4 in 2025, highlighted by a 6-2 run in American Conference play.
That turnaround explains why his name has continued to appear in Power Five coordinator searches.
By bringing Baker back to Ole Miss, the program is signaling its intent to maintain the offensive identity established under Kiffin as it moves beyond its most successful era.
