University of Tennessee Athletics
Former Vols Coach Knotts Dies in Florida
October 11, 2011 | Football
Doug Knotts, an assistant football coach on Doug Dickey's staff at Tennessee, died Thursday in Port Saint Joe, Fla. He was 77.
Knotts came to Tennessee to serve as defensive line coach under Dickey. He coached the Vols from 1966-69 before following Dickey to Florida, where he was defensive coordinator from 1970-78. He also held assistant coaching positions at Colorado and in the USFL for several years before returning to Duke, his alma mater, as administrative assistant for football in 1994.
A native of Albemarle, N.C., Knotts was the first athlete in Stanly County history to receive high school All-America honors in any sport. He attended Duke and was a three-year football letterman under head coach Bill Murray from 1953-55, playing center and defensive tackle. Knotts earned All-ACC second-team honors in 1955.
Upon graduation from Duke, Knotts was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL. In 1957, he joined the CFL's Calgary Stampeders but suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first exhibition. He returned to Duke that year as an assistant coach of the freshman squad. Knotts then spent the next seven seasons as an assistant under Murray, coaching the defensive line before taking the Tennessee position with Dickey.
The Vols were 34-9-1 in those four seasons, twice winning the SEC championship and in 1967 being named Litkenhous national champions.
Born July 29, 1934, Knotts is survived by his wife, Patsy, and two children, John and Katy. Knotts also had three brothers earn varsity football letters at Duke - Don (1949-50), James (1947-49) and Ernie (1943-46).
