Not one for conventional thinking, Robert Montgomery Knight stepped down as head coach of Texas Tech University last week with 10 games remaining in the regular season. His son Patrick, who was named the successor several years ago, will coach the remainder of this season.
Since last week, ESPN has ran its obligatory Knight highlight reel, which we have all seen thousands of times.
If you are even slightly aware as a sports fan you know that he threw a chair, yelled at reporters weekly, punched a cop in Puerto Rico, etc.
Amidst those highlights, however, Coach Knight also granted a few interviews. During one with ESPN announcer Jay Bilas he hinted that he might not be done patrolling the sidelines and that we should "never say never."
As a lifelong fan of Indiana University, I suppose his resignation doesn't seem askew from his normal behavior. I can't see The General on a farewell tour, begrudgingly accepting some widget or what have you on every Big 12 school's home court while he waves disingenuously at the throngs of people trying to live a little piece of history. That spectacle would only soften the image of the man, take away the edge of what made him a winning machine.
Some would argue that his image needs to be softened in order to properly accept him as our winningest coach in major college basketball history. He's too rough around the edges for mainstream adulation and consumption. They're probably right in some way.
The legend that is John Wooden is a perfect example. Known as a classy and intelligent gentleman, Wooden was the pinnacle of what a coach should be. His UCLA teams were dominant for an entire decade. He saw the beauty of college basketball and taught it to his willing disciples. His brand of basketball was great, but it required talent. We know the names, Walton, Abdul-Jabbar, and the list goes on. Wooden combined his knowledge with talent to create greatness. His teams were glossy, almost too good to be real.
Knight was different—a flawed genius, like US. Knight worked hard his entire career. As a player at Ohio State he played in the shadows of John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas, two immensely talented individuals. Lucas would later remark that Knight's playing days at OSU shaped his frame of mind for the rest of his life.
Knight was a warrior but he didn't have the talent to be a star on that team. However, he didn't believe that talent was everything, and he would prove it as a coach.
Knight devised an offense centered around constant motion and screens. If executed properly the offense didn't require star players or even a dominant big man, only shooters and slashers. He needed guys who could knock down the open shot and get to the free throw line.
On the other side of the ball he taught a suffocating style of man-to-man defense that emphasized "helping" out your teammates. He understood that it doesn't take talent to defend, just will and tenacity.
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