Jump to content

Coach Knepper Farewell to Tennessee


coachknepper
 Share

Recommended Posts

To those of you that I know outside of CoachT, you know that I have been in quite a rigorous job search over the past few months while finishing up my 6th year coaching the Middle Tennessee State University wrestling squad. That journey has finally come to an end and I will be returning to my home state of Ohio as I have agreed to take a Senior Engineering position with a company just outside of Columbus. Those of you in the know would recognize Worthington Kilborne and Hilliard Davidson as two of the better known wrestling programs in high school there.

 

I tried very hard to remain in the state of Tennessee as I have enjoyed my stay here over the past 8+ years. Unfortunately the job market for my specific engineering talents did not afford itself to me and I had to look outside of the state ultimately landing closer to my family in Toledo, OH.

 

It has been a blast seeing Tennessee Wrestling grow over the past 6 years and I am excited at the outlook for not only the private school teams like CBHS, Father Ryan, Baylor, and McCallie doing well nationally but teams like Soddy-Daisy, Cleveland, Wilson Central, Beech, Blackman, Pigeon Forge, and Clarksville doing quite well too. I see good things out of teams like Knoxville Halls, Bearden, Bradley Central, Siegel, Ravenwood, Germantown, and many others for years to come as well.

 

The collegiate teams continue to do well and are continuously improving under solid leadership. It was great to be able to compete against Allen & Nicola's group over at Cumberland and I hope that Coach Steven Smith et al will continue to build that Middle Tennessee bond/rivalry. King and Chattanooga look great and will undoubtedly continue to do so at the NCAA level.

 

In 2007, I approached a very young MTSU club team about potentially helping them become something more and that has led to over 100 men and women having the opportunity to wrestle in college that didn't have that opportunity before and has placed MTSU at a Varsity level in terms of scheduling/competition (not yet in budget). This next year the MTSU Wrestling Foundation will support 5 full scholarships for MT wrestlers as well as several other partial scholarships, which 5-6 years ago was unheard of. This program will continue to grow and hopefully make all Tennesseans proud of what I and many others (Cory Watson, Matt Coffman, Ken Hammonds, Troy Steffy to name a few) have helped to build.

 

To those of you that devote your lives to coaching, supporting, or building wrestling: I salute you and will always hold you in high regard. I would like to thank a few other people for their support over the past few years along this journey as well:

 

Jim Giunta (NCWA Executive Director)

Jonathan Harmon

Jeff Roberts

John Feuerbacher

Kim Feuerbacher

Danny Jones

Brad Wells

John Heath

John Salter

Gordon Connell

Steve Henry

Don Elia

Wendy Windsor

Mark Gonyea

Ronnie Bray

Lee Ramsey

Steven Smith

Lucas Borneman

Mike Westcott

Rod Key

Steve Solomon

Frank Simpson

Pat Simpson

Angelo Giansante

GP West

William West

Paul Vaughn

Jeff Lester

Mitchell Brunner

Mike Kuziola

William Branton (B.B.)

Garrett House

Mark Reeves

BJ Malone

John Brockwell (Ideas Tees)

Chris Vandergriff (THE ANIMAL)

Darrell Lauderdale

Franky James

Jerome Dooley

Thadd Little

Doug Badon

John Kramer

Bill Kennedy

PA Bowler

Kyle Davis

Barry Clark

Jeff Clark

Mike Moyer (NWCA Director)

John Licata (NWCA)

Jennifer Boykin

Gabe Gamadamis

Charlie Warfield

Mike Hatcher

Stephen Petricca

Derek Harrison

Bill Seaman

Josh Bosken

Guy Harris

Jonathan Simpson

Matt Sells

Barry Apland

Scotty Garrison

Charlton Thayn

Maurice Patton

Kimberly Little

Al Miller

Ben Jones

Chris Adams

Shannon Sayne

David Isbell

Randall Woodard

Anthony Shingler

Randall Jennings

----

 

I'm sure I'm missing a few...but it's almost 2 am and I need some sleep.

Edited by coachknepper
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coach,

Been a pleasure getting to know you over the years. Hate to see you leave the state after all the hard work you have put in while in TN. But we all have to do what is best for us and our families when the opportunites come our way.

Hope you still have a chance to be part of the sport you like back home. Maybe we will cross paths on the National Level events in the future.

Best of Luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's not forget a few more names like 2x-2 school Jordan, Most accolades Legman Logsdon, Grizley Bear Ben S., Come back kid Peck, Papabear Lewis, Bro Builder Baucke, Tn wrestling HofF - still living :) Killian, J Morgan-The Legend & also still alive since grappling back in the 50's, Clint "since the 40's" Abbott, G Hall (for smaller programs) Wrestling Encyclopedia Gilbert('s), Powers that be Parker's, still active Mara's, Never to retire Elsea, Historic Blur Raider Varnell's, not to forget Goss's, Never aging Craft's, AA -T Jackson, Blair, Henry, 1st 4xer- K. Hill, Class Act Tommy...Badon, Bulldog Cav Cook, Always building the purple Pedan, nununo of Antioch :) to name a few more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, can't leave out Ol Sly Morris! Once known for building and rebuilding The Bear Nation via early advanced training of elementary middle schoolers in the area... Much talent including his own boys.

 

Then there's ol Joe Blue/Red Raider/UTC Waddell and big UTC/Hixson Alum Murphy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's not forget a few more names like 2x-2 school Jordan, Most accolades Legman Logsdon, Grizley Bear Ben S., Come back kid Peck, Papabear Lewis, Bro Builder Baucke, Tn wrestling HofF - still living :) Killian, J Morgan-The Legend & also still alive since grappling back in the 50's, Clint "since the 40's" Abbott, G Hall (for smaller programs) Wrestling Encyclopedia Gilbert('s), Powers that be Parker's, still active Mara's, Never to retire Elsea, Historic Blur Raider Varnell's, not to forget Goss's, Never aging Craft's, AA -T Jackson, Blair, Henry, 1st 4xer- K. Hill, Class Act Tommy...Badon, Bulldog Cav Cook, Always building the purple Pedan, nununo of Antioch :) to name a few more.

I think this is Coach Knepper saying thanks to a few folks who helped HIM with his program. Not your laundry list of all the fine coaches in the history of TN wrestling. Best wishes to Mr Knepper , you made a big difference at MTSU.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this is Coach Knepper saying thanks to a few folks who helped HIM with his program. Not your laundry list of all the fine coaches in the history of TN wrestling. Best wishes to Mr Knepper , you made a big difference at MTSU.

 

LOL.....never seen a person so anxious to drop names as ole soms is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There you are Maj & Tex. Wonder who placed that negative vote?

 

REALLY? ..Still some good observations I suppose guys, But, I really could care less about your name dropping concerns, Just proud of many that have contributed so much to our great sport over the years & to get us where we are now,,, multiple AA's in the same year and more TN college wrestlers since Connell was at MTSU in the 70's... and before title 9

 

Huge contributions - as many I value of all ages and varied influences are already mentioned from all over... I especially appreciated Coach Knepper mentioning Angelo Giansante and the legendary GP West as well, as they have done much, especially coach West... Just wasn't sure what contributions these two have made since 2005?!?!?

Edited by Sommers
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Angelo and GP have made contributions to the MTSU Wrestling team since I have been here in Tennessee.

Not surprised, especially with your networking skills & thorough follow up in everything that goes into building and maintaining a program such as yours. I went back through your large list and saw Steve Henry was actually listed- again no surprise. The others I threw on here maybe didn't help directly, but it wouldn't surprise me if their overall contributions to what you have today and now Smith, Cory Coffman and Hamm is felt in some measure with the options to wrestle closer to home & still have scholarship support.

 

My hats off!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coach Knepper,

 

You will be sorely missed here in Middle TN. You have made such a positive impact on wrestling here in the state in such a short time.

 

Thank you so much for giving so freely of yourself. I know how much you have dumped into your efforts...

 

All the best in your future endeavors...

 

Coach Gonyea

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

Announcements


  • Recent Posts

    • They’ve both gotten worse. I’ve seen enough games to know that. 
    • The only two transfers that Bearden has gotten that went on to play college football were a defensive back from Karnes, who transferred here way before the new coaching staff got here, and a running back from Carter, who went on to play at Maryville College. Both players received those offers while at Bearden, and both players got a diploma from Bearden High School. Therefore, they are Bearden kids, and you can’t do anything about that.   The transfer from Seymour didn’t win the job, what do you expect two quarterbacks to start at the same time? He played great on JV when he could stay healthy, and when he came in on varsity, he did great. The quarterback position is definitely going to be in good hands when the current starting quarterback leaves, but until then, they’re just going to be battling it out like every good quarterback competition does. The current starting quarterback has his flaws, and that is in the pass game, but what he doesn’t have flaws is running and scrambling, and if you go back and watch any game, which I’m sure you didn’t watch any, we used him very often, and when we needed a deep ball, we brought in the transfer from Seymour. The starting quarterback last year will be a senior this year, and the Seymour transfer will be a junior, so the Seymour transfer is definitely going to get his spotlight. He may even win the job this year. Football isn’t about who the newspaper thinks is the best kid. The best kid in the position will win the starting job, and I trust the coaching staff more than a newspaper or article to pick my starting QB.
    • I mean, we’ve only gotten two transfers that went on to play college football, one who went to UT Martin came his second semester junior year before the new coaching staff was here, and the other one went on to play at Maryville College, in which I don’t believe he had any interest prior to transferring.
    • An FYI: To see how an opponent has done against another opponent since 2001- go to the game by clicking on one of the teams. Click the G beside the game. For example, Milan: The info will show you the previous matchups and other info.
    • All these college signees went yo other schools for 3 years, were getting college offers then transferred to Bearden. It’s not like this staff did much to develop them.    The BBall coaches son and the Seymour transfer were some of the most talented QBs in the region, and you guys developed them into QBs who might complete one pass a game. 
×
  • Create New...