Tom Knotts one of the most successful and biggest names in North Carolina high school football history is leaving Charlotte Independence High School and he is headed down to South Carolina to coach high school football.
Knotts is now the former Independence coach and did the success of the Matthews Butler program cause him to leave or did he just feel the time was right to make the jump?
Butler has really come on and they have taken over the Charlotte HS football scene in recent years and when you take over the Charlotte scene, that usually means you end up as State Champions.
Click Here to read the full story on the move by Coach Tom Knotts…..
The answer is a big NO. he left because SC pays their coaches a heck of a lot more money and he is at the point in his career where that move makes sense.
How can SC afford to pay their teachers 100k + and provide a full time secretary when they cannot paved but half the roads in the state? The Appalachian Trial Walking governor sends his kids to private schools because the public schools in SC suck so bad.
He is not going to be a teacher according to the article that I read. He is going to be an AD / Head Coach that will pay him 104K a year…He is supposedly going to have an assistant AD as well as a secretary…Not only will he be making that amazing salary doing something he loves, he will also be drawing 3K a month from his retirement (I think it was)…So, unless Independence had a big hold on his heart, this move absolutely made sense…
Maybe North Carolina should open up their wallets a little more…The coaches here deserve more than what they get paid for as well…
Plus he can now draw his NC retirement which will be strong. If he stayed in NC and worked he could not draw retirement. By moving to SC he draws two salaries.
Page Fan, personally I feel 104/year is more than enough for a high school AD. Too much in fact. It’s the teachers that need better pay, not the AD’s, and I’m not a teacher. I would agree that the coaches are not paid well.
Is this the same coach that made Independence a football powerhouse by recruiting the best players in Charlotte to come play for him ?
I wonder if he could win if he had to coach a team full of average high school athletes ?
A lot of NC coaches and state employees make the jump across state lines. They can draw full retirement from NC and also a full salary from the new state. It is a smart economic move.
Kevin,
Don’t get me wrong, I never said that I didn’t think 104k for an AD’s job was not enough…Honestly, he is proven and probably deserves it…I just don’t think the football coaches in NC get paid enough…Some people will argue that its not about the money if you love coaching football, but I believe what is fair is fair…I mean the state right below us is paying their football coaches very well, so if you love coaching football, what would be wrong with making good money while doing it?..
i agree with page fan nc should open their wallets and pay teachers and coaches more. where is all this lottery money going? the people getting paid the most are your people that do nothing. i agree with page fan, sc takes care of their teachers and coaches thats why they can afford to pay that type of money. their lottery probably helps out a lot. where does our lottery money go?
who is to say what is enough ? if some one offered you that amount of money will you say no thats to much i dont deserve it?please , only small minded people will say something like that. put yourself in his shoes ,he has put his work in pay the man. i know of coaches that deserve more pay to, but they want get it. teachers for what they do and go through on a daily basis should be paid more. look at some of these professional players they make a lot some don’t deserve that kind of money but if people are dumb enough to pay it then guess what they are smart enough to take it. and i think if a lot of you were in the same boat you will take it too. who is society to tell some one what they should make and what they shouldn’t make? we all have an opinion but it is what it is.
the bottomline is that winning counts for something. if this coach can create or maintain a winning program wherever he is going, then the system will be rewarded financially in the end. there are few examples of programs that rake in the money and/or fans with losing programs (ie the Clippers in the NBA, the Baltimore Orioles in baseball, or UNC in football – LOL). people will support a winner even if they do not have a vested interest. getting people to walk thru the doors will get you a bigger gym, stadium, and help some of those kids select your school and/or program when the time comes. guilford co needs to learn that listen one day.
winning counts,
Professional sports is a business, and unfortunately, college sports are to, but why do people insist on trying to put high school athletics on that same page.
” and help some of those kids select your school and/or program when the time comes. ”
What a JOKE.
The best coaches in high school are the ones who take the kids at their school and win without recruiting.
Some of the so-called best coaches can win only because they have the best talent, in most cases any one in the stands could step in as coach and win with the recruited talent , most of the time playing against an outmanned opponent.
I often wonder why these super recruiter/coaches in high school don’t test the collegiate waters, but then I realize that probably the college A.D. s realize that the credentials and coaching ability may be a little overblown.
stroke the ego,
i would suggest to any parent that if you do not look at your kids high school as a “business”, then you are missing something. parents that are truely focused on their kids getting into the school of their desire will do their best live in a district with “good” schools, respected programs, good atheletics, good facilities, strong booster and parent involvement. if these things are not present, then that parent will often move or just buy a house in that district in the first place. when it comes to b-ball and other sports, these parents are making the same decision as other parents. you must get the best fit for your kid’s situation.
most of the high schools are coming to my kids middle school in a couple of weeks to display all of the benefits that their school has to offer with the different programs. they are basically “recruiting” kids to come to their school for educational reasons. i am more than sure it helps the overall acedemic ratings of these schools when they can get high level students to change schools for their school. i don’t people crying about these teachers should just teacher the kids that they have already. again if that is not running a school like a business, then i am not sure what else can be said. these schools do this for reasons related to education, atheletics, etc..
unfortunately, there are too many people that believe just because someone has talent that anyone could coach it. you could not be any more wrong about the profession of coaching. some kids prefer the Coach K approach at Duke, some the Coach Williams approach at Carolina and others prefer the style of the guy at Kentucky. I can assure you that all of these kids would not just fit under all 3 of those coaching styles. everyone could not just coach Jordan and the same is true with the Kobes and Lebrons of the world.
i would prefer having my kid in a school with a bunch of high performers and a team of allstars day in and day out rather than them being on a team that only had 1 decent player, a bad coach and lower performers on standard test. it is better to have competition everyday – not just once or twice a week.
winning count,
Parents who get out of the way and allow their kids to compete and, become winners on their own, will be rewarded with well rounded kids.
Don’t be the parent who has to sit on the end of the bed and give instructions on your childs wedding night.