The FBI answer, parsed. Golding said he’s not sure there was a hiring process. That they probably have a current player whose dad just so happens to work for the FBI and lives in town. That there was no measure of “oh my gosh, come in,” from that standpoint — a phrase he used three separate times. Count the hedges. Then look at what he actually denied: a hiring process. Nobody said Ole Miss hired the FBI. Walker Jones said the FBI came through and walked the building. He denied the claim nobody made — and then handed over the mechanism himself.
Where I land, labeled as a read every time: I think a sweep happened. I don’t think an official sweep happened. Probably closer to a dad who works for the Bureau walking a building than a formal engagement with a field office — and that distinction is exactly what Golding was standing on. He’s not lying. He’s being precise, and he wants the story smaller than it sounded. That’s a coach doing his job, and I’d do the same thing 13 days out. And nothing was ever reported found — just because they searched doesn’t mean it was there.
“Everybody doesn’t get a my bad.” Golding on where this team actually is. The scrimmages have been flashy — enough on tape where you go, that’s winning football. And then: same unit, same dudes, same calls, and that’s not it. Drive by drive, every drive was extended or stopped by a non-aggressive penalty or a bust. Not by getting beat. That’s the most encouraging bad news you’ll hear all camp.
Plus: Edwin Joseph bumped outside to corner — “really, really impressive” — and the position names nobody outside that building has heard: Lion, Free and Ram, all interchangeable. Right tackle still open. Caleb Cunningham finally healthy. Jarkobi Hobson locking down the fourth linebacker spot. And Samari Reed won most improved — two independent sources in three days.