‘I’ve still got the fire’: What’s fueling Dutch Fork coach Tom Knotts for new season

The high school football season kicks off this week around the state of South Carolina.

Each week, The State will feature five questions with a prominent high school football player or coach in the Midlands along with this week’s schedule and the top games to watch.

This week, we talked with Dutch Fork’s Tom Knotts, who led the Silver Foxes to their seventh state championship in 2022 and is starting his 38th season as a head coach. Knotts, 67, has won 14 state titles combined at Dutch Fork and during his days coaching in North Carolina.

The Silver Foxes open up the season against Colquitt (Ga.) on Saturday.

Q&A with Tom Knotts

Lou Bezjak: What got you into coaching and what still drives you after doing it almost 40 years?

Tom Knotts: “When I started, I always wanted to be a pro football player. Then when I realized I wasn’t going to make pro ball, I chose the next best thing. I love football, I love kids. When I made my choice to go the high school route, I have enjoyed every moment of it. As an older daddy, my son is in the ninth grade so I got at least four more years. I’m not going to give up not coaching my son. If I didn’t have a son in the ninth grade, it might be a different story. I’m still in pretty decent shape, I feel good and love football. I have a tremendous desire to win. I know everyone has that, but I have a desire that drives me to different things. If I ever lose that, I will have to hang it up. I’ve still got the fire.”

LB: You mentioned your son, Jaxon. He is a freshman quarterback on the team. What is it like coaching him?

TK: “It is a thrill. It gives me goosebumps when I walk out here, and it makes me feel old. When we first started, he was a little kid with a big head on the sidelines running around. He has grown into his body and he is a great kid. He does things right, loves his lifting, loves his football. He wants to play ball and I can’t ask for anything more. And he does great in school. He is an A student. I don’t have complaints, so it is pretty awesome to have him here.”

LB: What is your favorite piece of memorabilia you have kept through the years? Do you have room in the house dedicated to trophies, etc.?

TK: “I got some stuff, but not like I did at one point. When we moved down to South Carolina, I said, ‘Let’s not put all that stuff up’. But what makes me feel good is the players that I coached come back and say how hard I was, how hard it was to play for me, but how they really appreciated it. Guys like Mohamed Massaquoi, Joe Cox, Hakeem Nicks, that have done well not just in football but in life. I run into them periodically. People that didn’t turn out right, they avoid me like the plague because they know I don’t pull any punches on that kind of stuff. Seeing the players grow up and go on in their lives. Shoot, some of them are freaking 50 years old now.”

LB: Who were your influences growing up?

TK: “I was a big Steve Spurrier guy. My college coach at Duke was Mike McGee (who later became the athletic director at South Carolina), there was Jerry McGee, John Gutekunst. The one thing I learned from those guys was, they are fundamental nuts. The fundamentals of the game is where they started, so a lot of my little sayings were from those guys. Then Coach Spurrier with his offensive scheme and wits. I also loved Joe Gibbs. I taped a lot of Redskins games and I tried to mimic what Spurrier and Gibbs did. Lot of what I do today is patterned from them in the 1980s and early 1990s.”

LB: You have a big opening game on Saturday against Colquitt (Ga.). Both teams are nationally-ranked. Your thoughts on playing such a high-profile opener?

TK: “I think Colquitt is ranked 10th in the country, nine offensive starters back. We are battling a couple of injuries but we won’t make any excuses. We will play what we’ve got. But we are going to have a good trip down there, going to do it the right way. We are going to play hard and see what happens. I’m excited about doing it. We are going to play a great team. It might not be a typical Dutch Fork result, but we are going to see what happens. It is good to play the best early as long as you don’t get beat up or have injuries. You will come out a better team. We have been able to put the pressure on them a little more. They have seen film and seen how good they are.”

Five must-see games this week

▪ Camden at Myrtle Beach: Eighth all-time meeting between the schools. Myrtle Beach leads the all-time series, 4-3, but Camden won 42-13 last year at Zemp Stadium. ... Camden returns much of its firepower on offense in quarterback Grayson White, running back Averee Hickmon and receiver Ja Mayrant. The Bulldogs are 4-2 in season openers under coach Brian Rimpf. ... Myrtle Beach is coming off a 5-7 season, its first losing year since Mickey Wilson took over as coach in 2009 and first overall since 2003. Myrtle Beach quarterback Gibson Goodroe will be making his first start at QB for the Seahawks.

▪ Christ Church at Gray Collegiate: Third meeting between the two schools. Series is tied 1-1. It will be the first game at Gray Collegiate’s new on-campus stadium. ... Gray offensive lineman JT Sowell is an Appalachian State commit. S.C. State commit Zai Offord is Gray’s top returning receiver, catching 41 passes for 524 yards and three touchdowns a year ago. The War Eagles return their top two running backs in BJ Montgomery (912 yards, 10 TDs) and Caleb Ford (701 yards, 9 TDs). ... Christ Church is the defending Class A champions. The Cavaliers are led by running back and Northwestern commit Dashun Reeder, who rushed for 2,157 yards and 42 touchdowns last season.

▪ Prince Avenue (Ga.) at Hammond: It’s a battle of state championship teams. Hammond has won six straight S.C. Independent School Association championships, while Prince Avenue has won two of the last three Georgia Class A Division I titles. Prince Avenue won 39-3 in last season’s matchup. It’s the first game at the Skyhawks’ Edens Stadium with artificial turf. ... Starting running back Manny Johnson had 120 yards and a TD in the SCISA 4A championship game against Laurence Manning. The Skyhawks return leading tackler Will McQueen and added a couple transfers on defense, including Keenan’s Adis Jamison, who led the Raiders in tackles last season. ... Prince Avenue QB Aaron Philo, a Georgia Tech commit, threw for 4,594 yards and 54 TDs last season. Philo had 273 yards and 3 scores last year against Hammond. Prince Avenue graduated its top three receivers from last year, all of which went over 1,000 yards receiving.

▪ Ridge View at Blythewood: The season opener features two Richland 2 rivals. Ridge View won last season’s game, 21-14, but it had to be forfeited later because of the use of ineligible players. ... Friday’s game will be the debut of new Blythewood coach James Martin, who was the team’s defensive coordinator last season. Blythewood is coming off a 10-2 season, the most victories since 2006 and a first region title since 2012. The Bengals return several key players on defense, including Edward Robinson, who led the team with 25 sacks last season, Division I prospect Sterling Sanders, Drayden Young, Jaylin Thomas and Trevon Williams. Quarterback Harrison Collins threw for 2,052 yards and 18 TDs, and Chris Thomas (45 catches, 595 yards) is the team’s leading returning receiver. ... RV quarterback Breylon Boyd threw for 614 yards and had 13 TDs in a backup role last year. The Blazers graduated its top receivers and running backs from last year. Defensively, Myles Brown (65 tackles) and David Matthews (88 tackles) are among the team’s key returners.

▪ Dutch Fork at Colquitt (Ga.): This game is Saturday and is the first meeting between the two schools. Both teams are nationally ranked, with Colquitt No. 13 and Dutch Fork No. 24 in MaxPreps’ composite rankings. The game will be live-streamed on FloSports and is one of MaxPreps Top-10 games to watch this week. ... Dutch Fork is coming off winning the Class 5A state championship and has won six titles in the last seven seasons. Senior Jon Hunt takes over as the team’s starting quarterback. Hunt saw time backing up Aliam Appler in 2022 and made a couple starts when Appler was injured. The Silver Foxes have several key players back on defense, including Tyler Jones, Dakota Jordan, Terrance Wells, Peyton Betts, Elgin Sessions and Josh Smith. ... Colquitt made it to the Georgia Class 7A semifinals last year before losing to Carrollton. Colquitt returns nine starters on offense, including QB Neko Fann, Georgia WR commit Ny’Quavion Carr and Florida State TE commit Landen Thomas.

This week’s schedule

All games start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted

Thursday

Great Falls at Heathwood Hall, 7 p.m

Friday

AC Flora at Greenwood

Airport at Swansea

Ben Lippen at Asheville Christian (NC)

Bethune Bowman at Pelion

Camden at Myrtle Beach

Christ Church at Gray Collegiate

Clinton at Batesburg-Leesville

Columbia at CA Johnson

Fairfield Central at Carvers Bay

Harding (NC) at Brookland-Cayce

Irmo at Chapin

Johnsonville at North Central

Jefferson Davis at Providence Athletic Club

Keenan at Dreher

Lower Richland at West Ashley

Lugoff-Elgin at River Bluff

Newberry at Union County

Northside Christian at First Baptist

Prince Avenue (Ga.) at Hammond

Richland Northeast at Crestwood

Ridge View at Blythewood

Saluda at Mid-Carolina

Spring Valley at Westwood

Trinity Collegiate at Cardinal Newman

Victory Christian at Newberry Academy

West Florence at Lexington

White Knoll at Orangeburg-Wilkinson

Saturday

Dutch Fork at Colquitt (Ga.), 7 p.m.