Armed with coach’s trust, Kitt-Denton delivers on promise

The path Myles Kitt-Denton took to his 75-yard touchdown catch at South Alabama this past Thursday was a straight line.

The same cannot be said for the road Kitt-Denton traversed to become Northwestern State's leading receiver and the player who leads the Football Championship Subdivision in yards per catch.

Kitt-Denton's speed never was a question and the flashes of talent were there in the junior's first season at Northwestern following a transfer from Central Arkansas. For instance, Kitt-Denton's lone catch of the 2023 season went for 54 yards against Eastern Illinois.

That talent caught first-year coach Blaine McCorkle's eye when he hit campus in December, but it was Kitt-Denton's work ethic that allowed the coach to dream about what could happen on the Demons' first offensive snap of McCorkle's first home game as head coach. In his mind's eye, McCorkle saw Kitt-Denton running free on a deep route for a touchdown.

When that first home game arrived, the crowd of 9,132 gathered in Turpin Stadium witnessed McCorkle's dream come to life as quarterback JT Fayard's play-action deep ball found Kitt-Denton for a 71-yard touchdown. What they did not see were the twists and turns it took for Kitt-Denton to reach the Turpin Stadium end zone for the first time.

"I went through a lot of trials and tribulations throughout my college career," said Kitt-Denton, a junior from Pearland, Texas. "I just try to really evolve as a player. I just put in work."

Kitt-Denton's talent was evident to anyone who watched film, but it was what is under the surface that convinced McCorkle he could trust Kitt-Denton to carry out his vision.

"There are a lot of people who can catch a 70-yard bomb – that part is easy to recognize in a hurry," McCorkle said. "There are a lot of players in a lot of locker rooms who can make plays, but that doesn't always mean they'll get that opportunity because they have to earn the right to do that. It's not that hard of a recipe to figure out. The two have to go together. Myles has done that."

Through three games, Kitt-Denton has done it again and again.

Starting with his 12-yard, fourth-quarter scoring grab at Tulsa, Kitt-Denton has snagged a touchdown pass in each of Northwestern's first three games. He is the first Demon receiver to do that since Javon Antonio did so in the final three games of the spring 2021 season.

Overall, Kitt-Denton is the first Demon to score in three straight games since Zachary Clement did so in five straight games in the fall of 2021.

Kitt-Denton has done so while shaking off one label and trading it for another.

"I think I'm a football guy with track speed now," he said. "For a minute, I was a track guy playing football, but I've evolved a little bit."

Dedication to a craft has helped the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Kitt-Denton round out his football resume. Don't be surprised if you see a tennis ball in Kitt-Denton's hands while walking on campus, helping reinforce his focus.

It was not a tennis ball but plenty of footballs McCorkle saw Kitt-Denton catch this summer that helped reinforce the first-year Demon head coach's belief in his game-changing receiver who enters Saturday's 6 p.m. matchup against Weber State as the FCS' leader in yards per reception at 27.86.

"One of the most impressive things I've seen Myles do is this summer, every time the lights were on, him and JT were out here working," McCorkle said. "They've got a really good chemistry, a lot of time invested together. That gives me a lot of confidence as a coach to know those two guys can go out there together and make a play. Myles is a good football player who can break the game open at any time. The biggest thing is I trust him. I know his work ethic and his commitment to the team. I know where his heart is."

McCorkle's belief in Kitt-Denton stands in opposition to what Kitt-Denton often heard about his hopes of playing receiver.

"It was motivation," said Kitt-Denton, whose seven catches and 195 receiving yards are both team highs. "I wanted to prove them wrong, but I felt that goal didn't serve me right. At this point, I don't even listen to that stuff. I just do what I do."

What Kitt-Denton has done through three weeks is record his first career 100-yard receiving game – 103 vs. Prairie View A&M on Sept. 7 – and emerge as a team leader.

While crediting offensive coordinator Norman Joseph's scheme, the production has been based in the work Kitt-Denton has put in both in the Donald G. Kelly Athletic Complex as well as away from it.

"If you hear coaches say they don't play favorites, they're lying," McCorkle said. "I play favorites. Myles Kitt-Denton is one of my favorites, because I trust him. I know where he stands with the team. I know if I need him to make a play, he'll make a play. I know he's doing all the things right off the field as well to give himself a chance to be a good football player on Saturdays.

"The follow-up to the part about favorites is you hear parents and fans say, 'That coach plays his favorites.' Well, why aren't you one of his favorites? It's your job to please the boss. Myles does that by coming to work every day with a great attitude. That allows us to put him in position to make the plays he has the ability to do."