Knight call it quits, but will he be back?

In his 42 years of success, Knight finished his coaching duties with the Texas Tech Red Birds. In addition, he also had several remarkable seasons with the Indiana Hoosiers. Sadly, some will remember him as the coach who was terminated due to his unscrupulous behavior. However, others will never forget the influence he had as a coach.

At 67, there isn’t much that Knight hasn’t done. As the all-time career victories leader with 902, Knight has demonstrated that brutality and enthusiasm are keys to success. He has also made it clear that if he did not receive proper respect, he would show no sympathy. These approaches unfortunately lead to his termination from Indiana University when he supposedly berated a student for greeting him the wrong way.

Knight’s biggest accomplishment was probably surpassing North Carolina head coach Dean Smith on the leader board for all-time career coaching victories. Knight will pass down the Texas Tech coaching honors to his son, Pat Knight, who has been perfectly groomed for the job. While many criticize the fact that Knight is leaving his team during the middle of the season, some feel that it does not come as a surprise as it was his plan all along.

Knight has won the Coach of the Year honors on four separate occasions, and there is no question that he will go down in the books as one of the game’s most remembered coaches despite the criticism that he has received throughout his career. Will his son Pat be able to fill the role? It will be hard to determine, but given that Texas Tech is in the middle of the pack in the Big 12, he isn’t facing extreme pressure. However, the Red Raiders do have four games remaining on their schedule against ranked teams, so it will be interesting to see how the club transitions under their new head coach.

Should Knight be scolded for ending his tenure with more than a handful of games still remaining in the regular season?

“I don’t believe that at all,” said Texas Tech guard Alan Voskuil. “I just think it was time. He’s behind us 100 percent. I don’t think he quit one bit. He’ll be there. We can always ask him any questions if we need anything.”

Knight has hinted on radio interviews that he would not rule out a possible coaching job in the future. One would guess that after 42 long seasons Knight would finally be done, but there is no telling what he will do next, as he has demonstrated several times that he is full of surprises. For now, it is up to his son Pat to fill his shoes.