Anthony Joseph "Tony" Knap was an
American college football coach. He was the
head coach at
Utah State (1963–66),
Boise State (1968–75), and
UNLV (1976–81), compiling a career
college football record of 143–53–4.
(December 8, 1914 – September 24, 2011)
Early years and college
The oldest son of
Polish immigrants, Knap was raised in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from
Riverside High School, where he as an All-City selection in football in 1934.
[2] He accepted a
scholarship to the
University of Idaho, and played three varsity seasons for the
Vandals for head coach
Ted Bank. Among his UI teammates were future head coaches and administrators
Lyle Smith[3] and
Steve Belko.
[4] Knap was a second-team All-
Coast selection at
end as a senior in 1938, the only Vandal to make any of the three teams.
[1] 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.
[5]
Three conference losses later, the Vandals finished the season at
6-3-1, which would be Idaho's last winning season for a quarter century;
[6] not improved upon until
1971.
Knap was also a
pitcher and
utility player for three seasons on the varsity
baseball team.
[7][8][9]
High school coach
After graduation in 1939, Knap became a high school teacher and coach in
Bonners Ferry for three years,
[10] and while waiting for his military commission, spent a fall at
Lewiston High School in 1942 as an assistant under former Vandal teammate
Steve Belko.
[11][12] During
World War II he served in the
U.S. Navy, then returned to coaching after the war back in Idaho at
Potlatch, where he stayed with the Loggers through 1948.
[13] 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).
[2]
College coach
Utah State
Knap left Pittsburg to become an assistant coach at
Utah State in 1959 under new coach
John Ralston.
[14][15] He was credited with developing the big, agile lines which contributed to the Aggies' rise to national prominence.
[2] 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.)
[16]
After posting a 26-3-1 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,
[10]
where he compiled a 25-14-1 (.637) 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.
[17]
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
After one season as an assistant with the BC Lions in
1967, 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 (.788) record in eight years,
including three ten-win seasons and three consecutive Big Sky titles
(1973–75).
[18]
He 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.
[19]
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 and married his wife, the former Mickey McFarland of
Bonner's Ferry, during his first year as a teacher. They were wed in
April 1941 and had three daughters: Jacqueline, Angeline, and Caroline.
[20] In addition to his bachelor's degree, he also earned a
master's degree, completing it in 1953 while in California.
[10] Following his retirement from coaching, Knap and his wife moved to
Walla Walla, Washington in 1982.
[12] 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.
[21]
Head coaching record
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