Making the Jump

You ask Tommy Knotts why he decided to leave his job as head coach of one of the most dominant high school programs in America for an assistant’s job at a college football program. You wonder how he could leave Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C., where his teams have won 62-straight games, the second-best mark in the country. You assume it’s because of some major life-changing event. Was it because of his family? “No, not really,” he said. Was he bored with winning at the high school level? “The kind of person I am, winning wasn’t enough,” Knotts said. “We had to win and play perfectly. Winning never got old, but it was never satisfying. We had to be perfect.” Was it because he evaluated his life after almost dying two years ago, when he contracted West Nile virus? “I knew I would beat West Nile like any Charlotte high school,” he said. No, Tommy Knotts