Proactive mindset key to Ouachita Baptist football Coach Todd Knight

There may not be a clear-cut routine that Todd Knight follows during this time of the year when the differences between the winter and spring seasons finally become noticeable, but that doesn’t mean he plays things by the ear either.

Rest assured, Knight can regularly be found doing something that centers around a profession in which he is well-versed.

“Shoot, I’m sitting here about to turn on some film now,” said Ouachita Baptist’s longtime football coach. “We’re about to have practice No. 9 of spring football, so I’m going to see if I can find a way to do a drill better than the way we’ve been doing. Always trying to find ways for us to get better.”

That proactive mindset has long been a staple of Knight since his high school days at Star City, and it’s a key to why he’s been one of the most successful college football coaches in the country.

On Friday, the 61-year-old and nine others will be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame at the Oaklawn Event Center in Hot Springs.

The induction adds to a lengthy list of achievements for a man who went from winning just three games in his first season at OBU to possibly becoming the school’s all-time winningest coach next season.

“When I got that call several months ago about going into the Hall, I was just thinking, ‘Man, I’m not deserving of this,’ ” Knight said. “When I think of Hall of Fame, I think of all the guys that were coaching when I played in this league during the golden age; Buddy Benson, Sporty Carpenter, Harold Tillman, Archie Cooley. … That’s the league, the AIC, that I played in, and a lot of those guys made it into the Hall of Fame. So when I think of Hall of Famers, I think of them. I definitely don’t think of myself, but man, it’s very much an honor.

“And for me, I feel like I’m getting and receiving it for a bunch of people who have truly been a part of my football life and helped me grow.”

Knight was born in Baytown, Texas, but grew up in Star City where his sports journey initially began. He later played football at OBU for Benson, who died in 2011 but was inducted into the ASHOF in 1993 after a 31-year coaching career. Although playing for Benson did play a part in Knight eventually wanting to roam the sidelines, it wasn’t the sole reason.

“It actually really hit me during my sophomore year of college,” he said. “I was at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event at Northwestern (State) Louisiana, and there was a guy speaking down there by the name of Pat Tilley, who was wide receiver for the (then-St. Louis) Cardinals and was one of those famous receivers at the time, along with Billy ‘White Shoes’ Johnson. But he was there speaking about his faith and how it not only drove him to play in the NFL but also how it mixes with his Christian life.

“Man I thought, ‘Wow, if I can have a football life, if I could live out my faith while doing something that I enjoy and have great relationships with young people, that would be great.’ That FCA event was where I really felt like God was telling me that coaching was what I was supposed to do with my life.”

Knight followed that calling straight to Delta State in Cleveland, Miss., where he became a graduate assistant in 1986 for another ASHOF enshrinee in the late Jimmy “Red” Parker, who spent 62 years as a coach at multiple levels and schools. He was elevated to a full-time assistant coach ahead of the 1888 season before heading to Texas-El Paso in 1990 to join the Miners’ staff that was led by former University of Arkansas assistant coach David Lee. Knight remained in west Texas until 1993 when he headed back to Delta State for his first head coaching job.

During his six seasons with the Statesmen, he went 28-32-2. The 1998 season — Knight’s final go-round with the program — was his best as he guided Delta State to an 8-3 record, a the school’s first Gulf South Conference title and a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. After that season, he got a call from his alma mater about their head coaching vacancy, but leaving Mississippi for OBU wasn’t a no-brainer.

“It was tough actually,” Knight said. “We were Division II, and we’d just won the conference. Ouachita had been NAIA up until about 1997, and I knew there were going to be some growing pains. In fact, I turned the job down initially.

“They had some really good candidates they were interested in who had really good jobs, too, and I was probably fourth or fifth down the line. But after about a month of kind of going back and forth, me and Julie (wife) just started to feel like this was kind of what we were supposed to do. So it was kind of like that sophomore year in college for me where I felt like it was a calling. Of course, I questioned that some because it was a rough first few years.”

Knight led the Tigers to an 8-22 mark his first three season before back-to-back 5-5 campaigns, but those were followed by four straight losing seasons from 2004-07. However, the 2007 season was Knight’s last finish below .500.

OBU has 16 consecutive winning seasons since 2008, the longest active streak by a college team in the state. Knight has powered the Tigers to seven Great American Conference titles since 2011 and six Division II playoff appearances. OBU has also finished the regular season unbeaten on four different occasions.

Knight, whose 162 wins are tied with Benson’s total for the most ever at the school, has produced 288 all-conference players, 47 All-Americans and 5 academic All-Americans while having a 90% graduation rate amongst his seniors. Despite having to deal with the ever-changing landscape of college football, particularly with how recruiting has changed with the transfer portal as well as the emergence of the name, image and likeness initiative, the Star City native has still put his teams in position to flourish.

“We’ve been in some choppy waters the last four or five years, and we still are in some ways because of everything that’s changed,” Knight said. “We’re still trying to navigate things and figure stuff out. Now I do think the game, in some ways, is at an all-time high, but in other ways, it’s lost a little bit of the way I feel like it was designed to be. As coaches, I think we’ve got to fight to maintain and keep that because I still think it’s the greatest game ever invented.

“But again, when you lose the team aspect and the man-building process of it, the game’s in jeopardy a little bit with that part of it. But we’ve had issues and choppy waters before, and coaches and players have worked to figure out ways to make it better. I will say that the game is safer than it’s ever been, though. Things will continue to evolve, and we’ll continue to adapt.”

One thing that isn’t expected to change is the success the Tigers routinely have under Knight, who’s about to be celebrated because of it.

“Any time something like (Hall of Fame) happens to you, it just means you’ve got a bunch of dedicated players and coaches around you,” he said. “Man if you just pull one or two people off the road you’ve crossed together, this doesn’t happen. So it’s really, for me, it’s about a lot of people. I happen to be getting the honor, but man, it doesn’t happen without critical, vital players, coaches and administrators.

“And for me, I think I can continue to do this for a while. As long as I can keep connecting with the coaches and players, I can keep rolling. As long as I can keep growing and learning. … It’s when you think you know everything that you need to get out. I’ve still got a lot left in the tank.”

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