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What Could Have Been.....

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Buddy Rich

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2005
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Thought the Albemarle people might enjoy this. I was just watching an interview with Tom Knotts on facebook. He is now the HC at Dutch Forks in SC. We all remember the great success at Independence. Well they face each other this coming weekend..
Just think for a minute ... He applied for the job at Albemarle in the 60's or 70's . The school board turned him down. Said he was too YOUNG. lmao.. Just think he would have followed Toby Webb. and what would Albemarle football have been like in the 60's, 70's 80's, 90's and 20's as he is still coaching. It blows my mind.
One of the greatest coaches in the history of North Carolina.
All I can say is "what could have been".........
 
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I was reading about him and Hal Brown who is the interim at Independence now that Scot Young was let go. What a great career he has had I was unaware that he applied for the job at Albemarle. He said in the article I read that he has been trying to get Hal down to coach with him for years. Coach Knotts is not thrilled about playing independence with Coach Brown as the HC said at one point in the article he would cancel the game if he could.

Anyway very interesting he had applied for the HC at Albemarle that long ago.
 
I believe when he applied for the job at Albemarle he was a fresh graduate from Duke. Think the whole Knotts family went to Duke....
 
Buddy Rich said:
NO........I guess we hurt his feelings.......
Click to expand...

That's a shame. Did he graduate from AHS? It's hard to look back especially at a guy fresh out of college depending on who they ended up hiring but man you look at his success now and his career in its entirety and that would have been a great hire.

Didn't independence play Coach Knotts team last night? I thought I seen a score of 45-0? Maybe that was a previous score.
 
Sir I would love that!!!! I will be at all the Bulldogs games this year and would love to sit down with you. I love hearing and learning about the history of not only Albemarle and AHS but also Stanly County. I have been here now for 5 years and had the privilege to sit down with some great people.
 
As you may or may not know I am battleing cancer. Hope to make the first home game. If I'm able I always sit in front of the press box. Come on up and we can talk.....
 
Buddy Rich said:
As you may or may not know I am battleing cancer. Hope to make the first home game. If I'm able I always sit in front of the press box. Come on up and we can talk.....
Click to expand...

Yes sir I have been praying for you!!!! And I will look for you at the first home game.
 
Knotts is a great coach. Knew about his Albemarle connections but didn't know he'd ever applied for the coaching job. I don't think he would have applied in the 60s and maybe not even the 70s - don't think Knotts is quite that old. Could be wrong.

Doubt Knotts would have stayed even if he'd been hired. He is an ambitious guy, and betting he would have moved on to bigger schools if he'd been successful at AHS. We'll never know.
 
steady99 said:
Knotts is a great coach. Knew about his Albemarle connections but didn't know he'd ever applied for the coaching job. I don't think he would have applied in the 60s and maybe not even the 70s - don't think Knotts is quite that old. Could be wrong.

Doubt Knotts would have stayed even if he'd been hired. He is an ambitious guy, and betting he would have moved on to bigger schools if he'd been successful at AHS. We'll never know.
Click to expand...
He is older than he looks, I'm thinking he is probably around 60. He would have graduated from college around 78 or 79.
 
Tom Knotts graduated from AHS in 1973. Shoulder and knee injuries ended his last two prep seasons early where he played QB and punted. Followed his three uncles and father to Duke where he started at safety. (Two uncles were All Americans and one went onto a distinguished college assistant coaching career.) The Blue Devils played on the road at Tennessee, Michigan, Pitt (Tony Dorsett), and Southern Cal (Ricky Bell) during his four seasons.

Knotts was working a management position at a trucking company when he applied for the AHS job in spring 1979 after the Dogs had gone 0-10. That was their third 0-10 season in the last five.

Albemarle City Schools opted to place the succesful basketball coach Dave Holcomb into the position. The thought was that his success in hoops would carry over and Knotts had no coaching experience. Holcomb had never been an HC but had been an assistant in the past.

Knotts went to CMS and Independence HS where he was the QB coach and groomed Mark Maye and Chip Ferguson. Ferguson would move to Spartanburg for his last few seasons before starting at Florida State. Maye would become the first big time passer in the state and the first Meck County to make the Parade AA team. He was also a three sport all state selection and a Morhead ScholR at UNC. Ask Mark how much effort and time the young assistant put in with him and he will tell you he owes a lot to TK.

Knotts went onto Harding as the HC, then West Charlotte, and Indy before retiring in NC and going to SC. Took every school to a state title game and three to state titles. Harding was one of the smallest set 4A school in the state when he was there.

He never had an interest about coaching at AHS again nor does he now. That ship sailed.
 
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btango said:
Tom Knotts graduated from AHS in 1973. Shoulder and knee injuries ended his last two prep seasons early where he played QB and punted. Followed his three uncles and father to Duke where he started at safety. (Two uncles were All Americans and one went onto a distinguished college assistant coaching career.) The Blue Devils played on the road at Tennessee, Michigan, Pitt (Tony Dorsett), and Southern Cal (Ricky Bell) during his four seasons.

Knotts was working a management position at a trucking company when he applied for the AHS job in spring 1979 after the Dogs had gone 0-10. That was their third 0-10 season in the last five.

Albemarle City Schools opted to place the succesful basketball coach Dave Holcomb into the position. The thought was that his success in hoops would carry over and Knotts had no coaching experience. Holcomb had never been an HC but had been an assistant in the past.

Knotts went to CMS and Independence HS where he was the QB coach and groomed Mark Maye and Chip Ferguson. Ferguson would move to Spartanburg for his last few seasons before starting at Florida State. Maye would become the first big time passer in the state and the first Meck County to make the Parade AA team. He was also a three sport all state selection and a Morhead ScholR at UNC. Ask Mark how much effort and time the young assistant put in with him and he will tell you he owes a lot to TK.

Knotts went onto Harding as the HC, then West Charlotte, and Indy before retiring in NC and going to SC. Took every school to a state title game and three to state titles. Harding was one of the smallest set 4A school in the state when he was there.

He never had an interest about coaching at AHS again nor does he now. That ship sailed.
Click to expand...


Thanks Btango very interesting. Now didn't coach Andrews help Coach Holcomb as well? I think at one time Coach Al told me he was an assistant for a bit with football.
 
Al Andrew graduated from AHS in 1977. I think he obtained his masters at UNC before he came back to teach but Holcomb had resigned the football position before Al started teaching. Al was the baseball head coach before he took over hoops from Dave in about 1993.
 
In 1999 Indy was 5-5. TK's first year (2000) they started 16 underclassmen and only one starter was not at Indy the previous year.

Dutch Fork won ten games total the three seasons before TK arrived. Played in the state title game his third season and won it his fourth and lost in the championship game his fifth.

Harding was 4-6 each of the two seasons before he took over. His fourth season they played for the 4A title in the days before subdivided playoffs.
 
Great info as usual. Correct that Holcomb retired after the '92-'93 season.

Can't really fault the AHS admin for not hiring Knotts at the time. Bad decision in hindsight, but hindsight is 20/20.
 
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