After five seasons leading the Golden Gate football program, Nick Bigica told the Naples Daily News Friday afternoon that he resigned as the Titans’ head coach.
Bigica’s final season leading Golden Gate was the best in program history as the Titans won their first district title, its first playoff game, and set the program record for wins in a season with nine. But it was also the most controversial, as a recruiting scandal put a damper on the season in which Bigica was suspended from coaching for six weeks and assistant coach PJ Gibbs was suspended for two weeks.
Golden Gate football head coach Nick Bigica speaks during practice, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, at Golden Gate High School in Naples, Fla.
Bigica made sure to notify his players before they left for winter break last Friday, describing the last few weeks as tough, especially a private meeting with the seniors from this year’s group after he notified the team last week.
“It’s been one of the greatest honors of my life coaching at Golden Gate, being the head coach and doing what we’ve done there,” Bigica said. “All I’ve ever cared about is helping kids become great young men and I think we’ve done that there in our time.”
Despite their coach’s suspension midway through the season, his players never wavered, and Bigica described the senior leadership from players John Lee Honorat, Makendy Jean, Claude Bastien, and Johnny Charles as “incredible”.
Golden Gate coach Nick Bigica, rallies his team before their game against Lely High School, Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, at Titan Stadium.
“This class, I’ve said it all year long even before this all went down, was special,” Bigica said. “They were the first class that really spent four hard years with me. They were able to handle anything I threw at them for four years whether it was weight room-wise or football-wise, I’m so proud…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/historic-tumultuous-golden-gate-coach-224410325.html
Author : Naples Daily News
Publish date : 2023-12-22 22:44:10
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