University of Alabama football defensive coordinator Stephen Thomas Golding — known as Pete Golding — was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with driving under the influence. According to Tuscaloosa County Jail records, Golding was arrested by the Northport Police Department on February 3, and his bond was set at $500.
Alabama is aware of the arrest but has yet to comment publicly, per ESPN.
Golding has worked under Alabama head coach Nick Saban since 2018, spending the last three years as defensive coordinator and helping lead Alabama to the 2020 national championship. The Crimson Tide finished third in the SEC in team defense for the 2021 college football season before losing to Georgia in the national championship game. Golding’s defense allowed 304.1 yards per game, good for seventh in the country.
On Wednesday, Alabama landed the No. 2 recruiting class in the country, an accomplishment that Saban says had a lot to do with Golding’s ability to connect with players.
“I think Pete has a great personality,” Nick Saban said Wednesday per 247 Sports. “I think he spends a lot of time with players. And I think it’s all about relationships. I know that we have a good product here. Pete does a great job of selling that product. But I think in the end, the players know that he cares about them. Players really don’t know what you know until they know that you care. Pete’s got a great personality. I think he really works hard at it, he’s a really good coach and he has a good relationship with the players on our team.”
“And I think when players talk to the players on our team, they sort of get that feedback, and that’s all helpful in terms of players feeling comfortable here, knowing that they have a good relationship with the coach that recruited them but also with the coach that’s gonna coach them and a lot of the other people involved in the organization. So Pete does a good job of selling all those things in a positive way.”
Prior to his time at Alabama, Golding was the defensive coordinator at the University of Texas-San Antonio from 2016-2017, helping the Roadrunners get to the school’s first bowl game.
Golding’s defense had an up and down year but allowed just 24 points to Georgia’s offense in the SEC Championship Game, beating the Bulldogs 41-24 while intercepting quarterback Stetson Bennett two times. In the national championship game, Alabama’s defense didn’t allow a touchdown until the third quarter, giving up two Bennett touchdowns in a 33-18 loss.
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Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].