Coaches Corner: The Tom Knotts File

Related Articles

Gray’s Creek looking for assistant football coaches

March 19, 2024

Harnett Central has DC opening

January 4, 2024

Coaches Corner: The Steve Davis File

January 2, 2024

Nowadays the term goat gets thrown around quite a bit in sports and pop culture.  From music stars to professional athletes and so on, the term gets used a lot.

And just to clear things up, we’re not talking about the four-legged farm animals that will seemingly eat anything, we’re talking about the Greatest of All Time, or ‘G.O.A.T.’ for short.

Tom Knotts, or simply TK as he’s more affectionately known, was born and raised in Albemarle and was seemingly destined to be a coach from an early age.  Knotts grew up the son of a coach and came from a family of coaches and very successful collegiate athletes, so it’s safe to say that he knew sports and competition from a very early age.

He starred as a three-sport athlete for the Albemarle Bulldogs before suiting up as a scholarship football player for the Duke Blue Devils, and then earning a degree from one of the most prestigious academic institutions on the planet.

So far in the story, he’s already showing you the makings of a G.O.A.T.

Upon graduation, Knotts stayed on at Duke University as a graduate assistant before taking an assistant coaching job at Independence High School.

In 1983 he would accept the head coaching role at Harding and the rest is pretty much history.

Throughout his career, Knotts has been one of, if not the most successful head football coach in the history of prep football in the United States.  The coaching record, championships, accolades, and sheer number of both professional and collegiate players that he’s produced is about second to none.

He’s put together this resume while coaching at schools all competing in the highest classification possible in his respective states and has never shied away from playing elite competition from major prep powerhouses across the country.

But what is it that makes Tom Knotts the G.O.A.T.?

Is the coaching record?  I don’t think so.

Is it the championships?  Partly, but that doesn’t paint the picture either.

I think that it is something innate in him that we’ll never quite understand or know.  I feel confident that his father (Don Knotts, a Duke football standout from 1949-50) and uncles (James Knotts (1947-49); Ernest ‘Bear’ Knotts (1943-46 All-American) and Doug Knotts (1953-55 All-American) instilled something in him as a boy that he’s carried throughout his career.

But ultimately, I think it is a combination of his sheer will to prepare, practice, and ability to be organized, paired with his off-the-charts intellect, and an amazing capacity to teach and translate that vast knowledge to the players, that makes him truly special.

Of course, we all know that he’s darn near a football genius, but it is his ability to connect with kids, and also his leadership ability to lead the men on his coaching staff that makes him the total package.

When you think about it, it’s all of those attributes paired with his ultra-competitive, ultra-aggressive Type-A mentality, that has made his teams so lethal over the years.  Any one of these qualities will make an exceptional football coach, but when you possess them all, it’s like a chess prodigy squaring off against a checkers player.

I’ve seen him go into deep-round playoff games as underdogs, yet watch his teams deliver a lethal death blow in the early moments of a game to ensure a dominant win.  (The 2008 third-round game against Butler where Independence won 49-7 comes to mind)

Knotts has also learned the art of using the media as a way to get his message across not only to his players, but also to opposing coaches and even opposing fan bases. (We all remember the Butler Puppy Dogs, right?)

This is just my opinion, but this adds up to him being the greatest of all time, so I think the G.O.A.T. moniker is 100 percent accurate and deserving.

Tom Knotts Clinic Notes from 2002

I took these notes from Knotts as he spoke to a group of coaches at the Elon College Football Coaches Clinic on March 3, 2002.

Keys to a Successful Program:

1. Hire Good People (Coaches)
2. Devise a good plan (Develop JV’s)
3. Motivate players to buy into your plan (Be Relentless)

TK Plan:

1. Let Coaches Coach
2. Plan 2-3 Years Ahead
3. Lift Year Round (Lifting is CORE OF PROGRAM)
4. Be organized in practice (Plan down to the second, stick to plan) (Heavy or light, attention to detail, always detail 5 plays you have to stop.)
5. Work the hardest in June & July
6. No two-way players
7. Change is good (Schedule-Job-Routine)
8. Implement a scheme on O&D that you’re comfortable with.
9. Offense and Defense is more about attitude than X’s and O’s

TK Goals:

1. Score 50
2. Shut out opponent
3. Be true to your philosophy

Passing Game: 

1. Philosophy: Throw, Throw, Throw
2. Sound & Consistent Pass Pro is a must

What he does in his spare time: 

Break down college & pro films

TOMMY KNOTTS FILE

Hometown: Albemarle, NC
High School: Albemarle
College: Duke ’78

Professional Resume:
Duke University: Graduate Assistant 1980, Assistant Coach 2004
Independence HS: Assistant Coach 1981-82
Harding HS: Head Coach 1983-88
West Charlotte HS: Head Coach 1989-99
Independence HS: Head Coach 2000-03, 05-09
Dutch Fork HS: Head Coach 2010-Present

Championships:
West Charlotte 1995
Independence 2000, 01, 02, 03, 05, 06
Dutch Fork 2013, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23

Runner-Up:
Harding 1987
West Charlotte 1991, 93
Independence 2007
Dutch Fork 2012, 14, 2021

Coaching Record: 477-73-1 (462-87-1)*
Playoff Record: 121-23

Harding (52-22)
1983: 3-7
1984: 3-7
1985: 11-1
1986: 11-3
1987: 14-1
1988: 10-3

West Charlotte 129-16 (113-32)*
1989: 8-3
1990: 5-6* (10-1)
1991: 14-1
1992: 11-1
1993: 14-1
1994: 9-2
1995: 15-1
1996: 13-1
1997: 0-13* (11-2)
1998: 12-2
1999: 12-1

Independence (132-7)
2000: 15-1
2001: 16-0
2002: 15-0
2003: 16-0
2005: 15-0
2006: 16-0
2007: 13-3
2008: 13-1
2009: 13-2

Dutch Fork (165-27-1)
2010: 10-3
2011: 10-3
2012: 11-3
2013: 12-2
2014: 12-3
2015: 9-4
2016: 15-0
2017: 13-1
2018: 13-0
2019: 14-0-1
2020: 10-0
2021: 12-1
2022: 14-1
2023: 10-5

*includes forfeits 

 

Please feel free to leave your comments below. You can reach me at guru@carolinapreps.com or on X at @GuruChrisHughes.