David "Tuffy" Knight (born May 17, 1936 in
Clarksburg, West VirginiaClarksburg is a city in the North-Central region of West Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Harrison County, and the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the city was 16,743 at the 2000 census....
) is a former coach of Canadian university football and a member of the
Canadian Football Hall of FameThe Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation located in Hamilton, Ontario that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian junior...
.
Knight was a high school football, track, and basketball coach in Southeastern
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
who moved to Canada in 1965 to become head coach of the
Wilfrid Laurier Golden HawksThe Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks is the name used by the varsity sports teams of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.The football team is famous for winning the Vanier Cup twice, in 1991, and in 2005....
in
Waterloo, OntarioWaterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the larger city of Kitchener....
. He coached the Hawks until 1983. Knight then joined the
Toronto ArgonautsThe Toronto Argonauts are a Canadian Football League team based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1873, they are one of the oldest extant professional sports teams in North America. The Argonauts have won the Grey Cup championship a record fifteen times, most recently in 2004...
as director of player personnel, returning to Waterloo in 1988 to coach Laurier's cross-town rivals at the
University of WaterlooThe University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
.
David "Tuffy" Knight (born May 17, 1936 in
Clarksburg, West VirginiaClarksburg is a city in the North-Central region of West Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Harrison County, and the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the city was 16,743 at the 2000 census....
) is a former coach of Canadian university football and a member of the
Canadian Football Hall of FameThe Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation located in Hamilton, Ontario that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian junior...
.
Knight was a high school football, track, and basketball coach in Southeastern
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
who moved to Canada in 1965 to become head coach of the
Wilfrid Laurier Golden HawksThe Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks is the name used by the varsity sports teams of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.The football team is famous for winning the Vanier Cup twice, in 1991, and in 2005....
in
Waterloo, OntarioWaterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the larger city of Kitchener....
. He coached the Hawks until 1983. Knight then joined the
Toronto ArgonautsThe Toronto Argonauts are a Canadian Football League team based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1873, they are one of the oldest extant professional sports teams in North America. The Argonauts have won the Grey Cup championship a record fifteen times, most recently in 2004...
as director of player personnel, returning to Waterloo in 1988 to coach Laurier's cross-town rivals at the
University of WaterlooThe University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
. At the time, the
Waterloo WarriorsThe Waterloo Warriors are the athletic teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in Football, Hockey, Rugby, Golf and Basketball among others, and the Warriors have won national championships in hockey ,...
hadn't won a game since 1985. He missed the entire 1988 season after suffering a mild heart attack, and the Warriors had an 0-7 season in his absence. Knight came back to be Canadian university football coach of the year in 1989. He coached the Warriors to the
Yates CupThe Yates Cup is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport federation. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back to 1898 and surpassing both the Grey...
provincial title in 1997 and then retired. Knight came out of retirement in 2000 to be an assistant coach for the Golden Hawks, working three seasons under head coach Rick Zmich.
Knight won four Yates Cups over his career as head coach (1972, 1973, 1978, 1997). At the time of his retirement, he was the winningest coach in Canadian university football history with 153 career wins (record surpassed in 2003). He was a three-time winner of the Frank Tindall Trophy as the top university football coach in Canada. Knight was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
In 2006 he came out of retirement again to coach highschool football. He coached the Phoenix of Resurrection Catholic secondary School. Under his coaching the phoenix won the following titles:
WCSSA Division B Champions 2006
WCSSA Division B Champions 2007
WCSSA Division A Champions 2008
CWOSSA Champions 2008
Western Bowl Champions 2008