In the six months that he inherited a half-cooked program from an entirely different head coach, Pete Golding has shown he can lead. More than that, he has built a vision that players actually want to stay back for in the NIL-heavy transfer portal era.
Antonio Kite, like a good part of Ole Miss's returning player group, is a proof of that.
Antonio Kite gets real on Pete Golding
“Our loyalty runs deep. We’re really close. I just felt like I couldn’t betray him and go anywhere else,"
Kite said Thursday post-practice.
"He gave me a chance to come here and stuck his neck out for me, so I owe him that.”
"Can't betray" and "can't go anywhere else" are the rarest words, better yet, accolades any head coach hardly gets these days. Golding managed to snag them in without even leading the team to a whole season yet.
Kite further mentioned how the Rebels' head coach takes special time out to check in on his players, making them feel at home. And nobody goes looking for a new house when they’ve already found a home.
"First of all, he texts me outside of football. He calls me and we get on the phone and just talk. He’s just being himself, being childish sometimes. We have fun. He’s a good dude," Kite continued.
All this when Kite has just transferred from Auburn last offseason.
All that's left to do for Golding is to prove the system he has created in Oxford can sustain the trenches of a regular season, and still come out winning.
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