Tony Knap

For the British footballer, see Tony Knapp.
Tony Knap

circa 1980
Sport(s) Football
Biographical details
Born (1914-12-08)December 8, 1914
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died September 24, 2011(2011-09-24) (aged 96)
Pullman, Washington
Alma mater University of Idaho,
B.S. 1939,[1] M.Ed. 1953[2]
Playing career
1935–1938[3] Idaho
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1939–1941 Bonners Ferry HS (ID)
1942[2][4] Lewiston HS (ID)
1946–1948 Potlatch HS (ID)
1949–1958 Pittsburg HS (CA)
1959–1962 Utah State (assistant)
1963–1966 Utah State
1967 BC Lions (assistant)
1968–1975 Boise State
1976–1981 UNLV
Head coaching record
Overall 143–53–4 (.725, college)
Bowls 1–0
Tournaments 1–3 (D-II playoffs)

Statistics

Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 Big Sky (1973–1975)

Anthony Joseph "Tony" Knap (December 8, 1914 – September 24, 2011) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at Utah State University (1963–1966), Boise State University (1968–1975), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1976–1981). He compiled a career college football record of 143–53–4 (.725). Knap also worked as a high school teacher and coach, and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Early years and college

The oldest son of Polish immigrants, Knap was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from Riverside High School (a.k.a. East), where he was an All-City selection in football in 1934.[5] Along with three other Milwaukee freshman, he accepted a football scholarship to the University of Idaho in Moscow and played on the Vandals freshman team in the fall of 1935,[6][7] then lettered for three seasons (1936–38) on the varsity under head coach Ted Bank.[8][9][10] Among his UI teammates were future head coaches and administrators Lyle Smith[11] and Steve Belko.[12] Other teammates included future Idaho athletic director Leon Green,[13] and NFL pros George "Iron Man" Thiessen (Rams),[14][15] Stonko Pavkov (Steelers),[16] Dean Green (Eagles),[17] Richard "Truck" Trzuskowski (Lions),[18] and Hal Roise (Bears).

As a senior in 1938,[10][19] Knap was a second-team All-Coast selection at end,[18] the only Vandal to make any of the three teams.[20] The Vandals broke to an early 3-0-1 start in 1938 and there was early talk of the Rose Bowl in the national press.[21] Three conference losses later, the Vandals finished the season at 6-3-1 (.650), Idaho's last winning season for a quarter century;[22] not improved upon until 1971.

Knap was also a pitcher and utility player for three seasons on the varsity baseball team,[23][24][25] and a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.[1][26]

High school coach

After earning a bachelor's degree in education in 1939,[1] Knap became a high school teacher and coach for three years in Bonners Ferry,[2][27][28] just south of Canada. While waiting for his military commission following the outbreak of World War II, he spent a fall at Lewiston High School in 1942 as an assistant under former Vandal teammate Steve Belko.[4][29] Knap served in the U.S. Navy, then returned to coaching after the war back in Idaho at Potlatch, near Moscow, and stayed with the Loggers until the summer of 1949.[30] He attended a summer coaching clinic in 1949 in the Bay Area and was offered a head coaching position at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, California. Knap accepted and moved his family south to northern California. He stayed at the East Bay school for ten years, through the 1958 season. His overall record as a high school coach was 109-22-6 (.818).[5]

College coach

Utah State

Knap left Pittsburg to become an assistant coach at Utah State in 1959 under new coach John Ralston.[31][32] He was credited with developing the big, agile lines which contributed to the Aggies' rise to national prominence.[5] One of those lineman was Merlin Olsen, a future hall of famer in the NFL. (Olsen selected Knap for his presenter at the enshrinement ceremonies in 1982.)[33]

After posting a 26-3-1 (.883) regular season record in his final three years at USU, Ralston left Logan for Stanford after the 1962 season and Knap was quickly promoted to head coach,[28] where he compiled a 25-14-1 (.638) record in four seasons, from 1963 to 1966. His 1965 team was 8-2, but the Aggies slipped to 4-6 in 1966. With mixed support from his administrators, Knap resigned in January 1967 to accept a position with the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League.[34]

In rivalry games, his Utah State teams were 3-1 against BYU for The Old Wagon Wheel and 2-2 against Utah in the Battle of the Brothers.

Boise State

The Lions had a woeful year in 1967, going 3-12-1 and finishing in last in the CFL's Western Division.[35] Knap did not return for another season. Instead, he succeeded Lyle Smith as head coach at Boise College in 1968, soon to become "Boise State College" (and BSU in 1974). Smith had just stepped down as head coach and as the athletic director, hired his former Vandal teammate. It was Boise's first year as an NAIA independent; it had previously competed in the junior college ranks. Two years later in 1970 the Broncos began play in the NCAA in Division II (then the "College Division") and the Big Sky Conference. Knap led the Broncos to a 71–19–1 (.786) record in eight years, including three ten-win seasons and three consecutive Big Sky titles (1973–75).[36] His salary was $16,800 in 1971 and $18,800 in 1972.[37]

Knap led the Broncos to a 3-1-1 record against his alma mater in the first five games of the Boise State–Idaho rivalry.

UNLV

His success in Boise led him south to Las Vegas in 1976, where he coached UNLV for six seasons and compiled a 47–20–2 record (.695), stepping down at age 67 after the 1981 season. UNLV made the Division II playoffs in his first season and moved up to Division I-A in 1978, his third season at the school. While Knap was head coach, the Rebels played as an independent; UNLV joined the PCAA the following season in 1982. He was inducted into UNLV's hall of fame in 1989.[38]

He led the Rebels to a 3-1 record over Nevada in the rivalry game for the Fremont Cannon. The game was not played in 1980, 1981, or 1982.

Personal

Knap met his wife, the former Mickey McFarland of Bonners Ferry, during his first year as a teacher. They were wed in April 1941 and had three daughters: Jacqueline, Angeline, and Caroline.[39] In addition to his bachelor's degree, he also earned a master's degree from Idaho, completing it in 1953 while in California.[28] Following his retirement from coaching, Knap and his wife moved to Walla Walla, Washington in 1982.[29] They were married over 70 years when he died in September 2011 at Bishop Place Retirement Center in Pullman; he had suffered for several years from Alzheimer's disease.[40]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Utah State Aggies (Independent) (1963–1966)
1963 Utah State 8–2
1964 Utah State 5–4–1
1965 Utah State 8–2
1966 Utah State 4–6
Utah State: 25–14–1
Boise State Broncos (NAIA Independent) (1968–1969)
1968 Boise State 8–2
1969 Boise State 9–1
Boise State Broncos (Big Sky Conference) (1970–1975)
1970 Boise State 8–3 2–2 T–3rd
1971 Boise State 10–2 4–2 2nd W Camellia
1972 Boise State 7–4 3–3 T–3rd
1973 Boise State 10–3 6–0 1st L NCAA Division II Semifinal (Pioneer)
1974 Boise State 10–2 6–0 1st L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal
1975 Boise State 9–2–1 5–0–1 1st L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal
Boise State: 71–19–1 26–7–1
UNLV Rebels (Div. II Independent) (1976–1977)
1976 UNLV 9–3 L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal
1977 UNLV 9–2
UNLV Rebels (Div. I-A Independent) (1978–1981)
1978 UNLV 7–4
1979 UNLV 9–1–2
1980 UNLV 7–4
1981 UNLV 6–6
UNLV: 47–20–2
Total: 143–53–4
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Seniors". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 73.
  2. 1 2 3 "Knap is hired by Utah State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. January 23, 1963. p. 8.
  3. ↑ "Idaho football prospects good". Bend Bulletin. UPI. July 13, 1938. p. 2.
  4. 1 2 "Glances from the sidelines at the Turkey Day game". Lewiston Morning Tribune. November 27, 1942. p. 7.
  5. 1 2 3 "Knap, a former all-city gridder, named head coach at Utah State". Milwaukee Journal. January 23, 1963. p. 14.
  6. ↑ "Milwaukee boys star on Idaho frosh '11'". Milwakee Journal. December 10, 1935. p. 5.
  7. ↑ "Freshman football (fall 1935)". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1936. p. 122.
  8. ↑ "Football (fall 1936)". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1937. p. 48.
  9. ↑ "Football (fall 1937)". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1938. p. 168.
  10. 1 2 "1938 Football". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 300.
  11. ↑ "Ding-dong gridiron battle expected Saturday when Idaho and Gonzaga tangle at Moscow". Spokane Daily Chronicle. October 14, 1938. p. 10.
  12. ↑ "Idaho is given final session". Spokesman-Review. October 6, 1937. p. 15.
  13. ↑ "What Leon Green has in mind for Vandal athletics". December 23, 1973. p. 5.
  14. ↑ "Forty years ago". Lewiston Morning Tribune. August 8, 1978. p. 4A.
  15. ↑ "George Thiessen may join Rams in pro grid circuit". Lewiston Morning Tribune. January 1938. p. 9.
  16. ↑ "Stonko Pavkov to Pittsburgh". February 12, 1940. p. 12.
  17. ↑ "Dean of Education". (Oxnard, CA) Press-Courier. January 28, 1968. p. 3-PC.
  18. 1 2 Gibbs, Rafe (November 18, 1937). "Knap, Milwaukee boy, makes All-Coast team". Milwaukee Journal. p. 7.
  19. ↑ "Vandals ready to hit Gonzaga". Spokesman-Review. October 15, 1938. p. 15.
  20. ↑ "All-Coast grid team selected". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. December 3, 1938. p. 13.
  21. ↑ "Idaho in Rose Bowl? It surely can happen". Milwaukee Journal. UPI. October 21, 1938. p. 9.
  22. ↑ Johnson, Bob (February 1, 1965). "Dee Andros named Oregon State grid coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. p. 15.
  23. ↑ "Vandals' ball squad to invade West Coast". Lewiston Morning Tribune. April 4, 1937. p. 13.
  24. ↑ "Vandals' ball team stronger". Lewiston Morning Tribune. April 7, 1938. p. 9.
  25. ↑ "Idaho nine set for Oregon series". Eugene Register-Guard. April 4, 1939. p. 4.
  26. ↑ "Sigma Alpha Epsilon". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 176.
  27. ↑ "Tony Knap signs up as coach at Bonners Ferry". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. May 13, 1939. p. 9.
  28. 1 2 3 "Knap is hired by Utah State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. January 23, 1963. p. 8.
  29. 1 2 "Tony Knap loved his years in coaching, now he's learning to love retirement". Lewiston Morning Tribune. August 8, 1982. p. D1.
  30. ↑ "Anthony Joseph (Tony) Knap, 96". The Lewiston Tribune. September 29, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  31. ↑ "New Aggie coaching duo is shootin' high". Deseret News. September 16, 1959. p. B6.
  32. ↑ Utah State Aggies.com - Former Aggie football coach Tony Knap recently passed away - 2011-10-06 - accessed 2012-03-25
  33. ↑ Pro Football Hall of Fame - Merlin Olsen - enshrinement speech - accessed 2012-03-25
  34. ↑ "Tony Knap resigns". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. January 19, 1967. p. 11.
  35. ↑ "1967 Regular Season Standings". Canadian Football League. p. 11. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  36. ↑ Bronco Bob (August 16, 2009). "The Story Of A Bronco Legend". BroncoCountry. Scout.com. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  37. ↑ "School board okehs raise for Boise State football coach". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. June 1, 1972. p. 18.
  38. ↑ Anderson, Mark (January 30, 2011). "UNLV memories most vivid for Knap". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  39. ↑ shortsfuneralchapel.net - obituaries - Tony Knap - accessed 2012-03-25
  40. ↑ Anderson, Mark (September 26, 2011). "Former UNLV football coach Tony Knap dies at 96". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2011.

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