Tag: Greg Knox

Why Mississippi State interim coach Greg Knox rode out on an ATV for the Egg Bowl

So why did Greg Knox ride out on an ATV before the Egg Bowl?

Mississippi State interim coach Greg Knox found an incredibly unorthodox way to teach his team to handle adversity of Thursday night’s Egg Bowl rivalry game against Ole Miss.

Knox rode out of the tunnel on an ATV with all of his players at his side, telling ESPN that he was doing this as a way to teach them how to handle opposition and make this moment a life lesson for all of them to remember.

If you’re a Bulldogs fan, you probably were ready to run through a wall for Knox, even if you’re not entirely sure why.

If you’re wondering why he did this, it’s actually for a specific reason and not just for the heck of it.

The ATV entrance was reportedly inspired by this story from inspirational speaker and former Tennessee football player Inky Johnson.

Mississippi State hasn’t had a great football season, but a four-wheeler entrance for an interim coach has to be at the top of the list of highlights.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

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Former Gators coach takes over MSU after Zach Arnett fired

A familiar name will be roaming the sidelines for Mississippi State after they gave Zach Arnett his walking papers on Monday.

A seismic tremor rocked the college football world on Sunday when the Texas A&M Aggies bit the bullet and cut ties with head coach Jimbo Fisher. The move triggered a reported $77 million buyout for the former Florida State Seminoles skipper who has struggled since leaving Tallahassee for College Station.

But that was not the only firing to happen following Week 11, as the Mississippi State Bulldogs also canned their head coach, Zach Arnett, on Monday. In the wake of the big news, a former Florida Gators coach has once again quietly risen for the occasion.

Now a senior offensive analyst with MSU, Greg Knox was tapped to take the reins for the final two games of the Bulldogs’ 2023 campaign. The role of interim head coach is far from unfamiliar to the 60-year-old coach.

Knox first worked for the Mississippi State Bulldogs from 2009 to 2017 alongside former Gators coach Dan Mullen. After Mullen left for Gainesville before the end of his final season in Starkville, the then-running backs coach and special teams coordinator led MSU to a 31-27 win over the Louisville Cardinals in the TaxSlayer Bowl as the interim HC.

Coincidentally, Knox would also coach Florida after Mullen was fired following a stretch that put the Gator Nation over the brink. He went 1-1 in Florida’s final two games after being elevated from the same role he had at Mississippi State — running backs coach and special teams coordinator — into the interim position.

His win came against the Florida State Seminoles at home while the loss came against the UCF Knights in the Gasparilla Bowl.

Now, Knox has a chance once again to prove himself on the sideline as the head honcho with a second stint for Mississippi State. While the program is mathematically eliminated from bowl game contention, there are still things the team can build on with some solid showings to wrap up the schedule.

It will be a tough road ahead for Knox but he has proven to be a fighter. Plus, after all, the third time is the charm — maybe he can parlay this opportunity into a full-time HC gig.

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Trevor Etienne looks to forge his own path at Florida

A little sibling rivalry never hurt anyone, but Trevor Etienne is looking to make his own name at UF.

There’s a good chance that when Florida signed four-star running back [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag] in February most of the country was checking to see if he was related to former Clemson star and now Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne.

When a quick Google search reveals the Etiennes indeed share a bloodline, and the immediate follow-up is something along the lines of “is he going to be as good or better than his brother?”

That’s not a new question for the younger of the siblings, according to a recent piece from The Athletic. Trevor grew up in Travis’ shadow, and the latter believes it has benefited him enough to give him a leg up on most other players at his level.

“It accelerated his process, because he knew what having success looked like,” said Travis. “He knew what it took, knew what he needed to do. He’s only 18 now, but the way he carries himself is far beyond his years.”

Of course, Trevor is his own person and that’s why he opted not to follow his older brother’s path to Clemson. Donnetta Etienne, the matriarch of the family, provided some insight on the decision to go with Florida over other programs.

“We knew Clemson had good people, but Trevor didn’t want to travel behind his brother,” Donnetta said. “He wants his own legacy, which we understand. Travis paved his way there, and so Trevor needed to pave his own way at his own school.”

[autotag]Greg Knox[/autotag], Florida’s last running backs coach, earned Trevor’s silent commitment in October. [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag], and Knox as well as the rest of the staff, were let go in November, but Etienne didn’t back off the commitment. Playing just 71 miles away from his brother, and giving the recently relocated family a chance to see both sons in action, was too good to pass up.

Billy Napier’s addition of [autotag]Jabbar Juluke[/autotag], who recruited Travis at LSU and Trevor at Texas Tech and Louisiana, further convinced the family Florida was the right landing spot for him.

Trevor got to Gainesville in May and has since become a leader among the freshmen on the team. He actively recruits players to join the program and has a shot to break into a rotation of relatively inexperienced running backs.

Will Etienne end up breaking school records as his brother did at Clemson? That remains to be seen, but he has enough potential to be something special at Florida. His brother’s success showed him what it takes to be a campus legend, and now he’s using that knowledge to start his college career on the right foot.

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NFL Draft 2022 Profile: Dameon Pierce is a high-value pick at running back

Florida running back Dameon Pierce could be one of the first running backs to have his name called during the 2022 NFL draft.

It was malpractice how little former head coach [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] and running backs coach [autotag]Greg Knox[/autotag] used Florida running back [autotag]Dameon Pierce[/autotag] during his four-year career with the Gators. His best season came in his final one where he tallied 574 yards on 100 carries for 13 touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards per touch. He was solid in the passing game, catching 19 passes for 216 yards and three more scores.

The good news for Pierce as he enters the NFL draft is that he doesn’t have a ton of mileage on his body. Most outlets that have ranked the running backs in this year’s draft class consider Pierce a top-10 player at his position.

With the NFL draft coming up on Thursday this week, look for Pierce to hear his name called anywhere between late Day 2 and early Day 3. The draft kicks off Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT and runs until Saturday. It can be watched on NFL Network or on ESPN.

Opinion: UCF’s Gasparilla Bowl rings should fuel the 2022 Gators

Like it or not, UCF was the best team in the state last season and the Gators need to have a better mentality in 2022 to reclaim the throne.

Florida football was a disaster around the 2021 bowl season, but that doesn’t change the fact that the UCF Knights beat the Gators, 29-17, in the Gasparilla Bowl. At the time, UCF fans, players and coaches reasoned that the team had won an unofficial state championship following Florida’s season-closing win over Florida State and FSU’s victory over Miami earlier in the year.

On Monday, the Knights got the hardware to back up the claim. Each player received their own Gasparilla Bowl ring complete with a “#1” over the state of Florida on the side. It’s hard to imagine that the design was intended for anything but ruffling the feathers of the state’s elite.

Most college football fans in Florida know how this goes by now. It’s not the first time UCF has claimed a championship, and the fallout is expected. What fallout? Check the comments under any social media post involving the rings. They are guaranteed to be a steady mixture of Knight Nation poking the bear and Florida, FSU and Miami fans clinging to what used to be a clear three-horse race.

That conversation alone has helped the Knights surge in popularity throughout the state, but this stunt could end up helping the Gators.

Many have pointed out that Florida was a .500 team without a coach going into the Gasparilla Bowl. While true, it’s not a strong argument against UCF being the best team in the state. [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag]’s presence is what got the Gators to 6-6 and [autotag]Greg Knox[/autotag] was already the interim coach by the time Florida beat FSU. Delaying the coaching change wouldn’t have made a difference, but having [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] at the helm should.

Napier has said from day one that he needed to change the culture at Florida to create a strong foundation for success in Gainesville. That culture shift seems to be coming along nicely based on early glimpses of the team during spring practices.

Mullen’s Gators didn’t lack pride, but they didn’t carry themselves like the dominant force in the state that should be regularly competing for national championships either (see 2020 LSU game). They’d likely shrug off the Knights’ rings and take little responsibility for the loss that allowed Gus Malzahn to place the order. That’s just the mentality the program was in under that staff.

Under Napier, the team should take it personally. The old Gators let that happen, but this version won’t. Let the Knights flash their rings and use it as motivation to not be in the Gasparilla Bowl, or its equivalent, next year.

UCF’s rings are valid. FSU made state championship rings following the 2015 season that ended in a Peach Bowl loss to Houston and Florida had some “SEC East Champions” rings made following a win over Iowa in the 2017 Outback Bowl. Are those also meaningless or “well-deserved,” as [autotag]Jim McElwain[/autotag] said at the time?

The Gators lost, and any fans trying to discredit the best-in-the-state claim by saying “the state was weak” are saying more about their favorite team than the Knights. Let this be fuel for a rivalry that’s only going to continue to grow as UCF joins the Big 12 as soon as 2023. By the time the Knights arrive in Gainesville for a game in 2024, it could be an unquestioned battle for the state with FSU still on the schedule as well.

Until then, the Gators’ goal should be to make sure that they aren’t in a position to play UCF in a bowl game at the end of the year unless it’s in the College Football Playoff.

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Greg Knox takes over Florida football as interim coach after Dan Mullen’s firing

Knox is a longtime Mullen assistant, and he was tabbed to take over after the head coach’s dismissal.

The Dan Mullen era at the University of Florida came to an end on Sunday. The fourth-year coach was fired after the Gators’ 24-23 loss to Missouri on Saturday night, dropping the team to 5-6 on the season and 2-6 in SEC play for the first time ever. He finishes his Florida tenure with a 34-15 record and two New Year’s Six Bowl wins (in three total appearances) and an SEC East title in 2020.

With Mullen out, running backs coach and special teams coordinator Greg Knox will take over as interim head coach for Saturday’s game against Florida State and a potential bowl game. Knox is a longtime Mullen assistant who joined his initial staff at Mississippi State in 2009, also coaching running backs.

When Mullen left before the Bulldogs’ bowl matchup in 2017 to take the Florida job, Knox served as MSU’s interim coach, defeating Louisville in the Taxslayer Bowl.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin is set to address the media in a press conference at 3 p.m. EST as the Gators begin another coaching search for the fourth time in 10 years.

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