Like father, like son: the tale of two Knights

Pat Knight is the son of infamous Hall of Fame head coach Bob Knight. Pat played for his father at Indiana University, Bob’s most successful coaching gig. And after a short time away from his ill-tempered father, Pat rejoined his dad on the bench as an assistant in Indiana before following him to Texas Tech.

Pat Knight was recently suspended for the first time in his career after making negative remarks about the officiating during the Red Raiders’ loss to Texas A&M over the weekend.

Pat was previously threatened with suspension after he ran out onto the court twice during a game, upset after a poor call. He was subsequently thrown out of the game.

Can you imagine what his dad said to him?

Bob: “Pat, now that is not how you do it. You’ve got to throw your assistant coach out of the way, grab that fucking chair and hurl it at that man who knows nothing about basketball.”

Pat: “Dad, you got suspended multiple games for that.”

Bob: “You don’t think that every referee reconsidered every close call in my favor in fear of an object like the scorers’ table flying at them? They were damn scared of me. That’s how you coach, son. You have to be more assertive.”

ESPN has blessed us with Bob Knight’s return to our lives this season by hiring him as a broadcaster for NCAA basketball coverage. He shares John Madden’s habit of rambling, but Knight is actually intelligent, makes terrific remarks and does not have robotic hands that scare the life out of me. Unfortunately for Pat, however, Bob was not broadcasting Texas Tech’s game against Texas A&M, or Bob probably would have done the job for his son.

Bob was the definition of the old-fashioned respect-inspiring coach. His son is proving to be no different.

Pat, however, is missing one very important element of his father’s reputation: winning.

Bob Knight has the most wins in Division I NCAA men’s basketball history, three national championships, 11 Big 10 championships and an Olympic gold medal.

Pat’s first year as a head coach after taking over for Bob at Texas Tech last February has not been anything special, and his team is well under .500. It is not looking like Pat is going to be as successful a coach as his father. Why? Because he is not getting sufficiently mad at enough people. He is focusing all of his aggression on the referees and the Big 12 Committee. Pat, you have to focus your aggression on the players and media as well. Duh.

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Bob did it all. He grabbed his players by the arm and the neck, threw them out of practice, made them cry and curl up into the fetal position and even harassed them with “yo’ mama” jokes.

He yelled at every reporter he came across, made fun of them, told them their mothers must have cheated on their fathers and still found time to get mad at the referees. Pat is focusing all of his “dark Knight aggression” on the referees. Pat has to learn how to take the aggression out on the players, the media, the Big 12 athletic directors and Texas Tech administrators as well. Then, and only then, will the wins come.

I know there is no way today that Pat Knight could develop into the bright red HellBoy that his father did in his prime, but he should at least try.

Bob Knight excelled at avoiding apologizing for his actions. He never changed the way he coached, despite Indiana’s “zero tolerance” threat.

He never backed down to conform to cultural rules or obligations. And prior to coaching at Texas Tech and Indiana, Knight was the coach at Army. He has the military background that perfectly enables him to be a strict asshole.

The only coach other than Bob Knight that has been so successful and so hated is Bud Kilmer, but then again he didn’t get mad when Tweeder put his wiener on the glass at the Alano Club in the movie “Varsity Blues,” so I think Knight gets the nod.

Pat, the recipe is laid out for you to excel as a coach in the NCAA. All you have to do is emulate everything your father did well. Getting your first suspension is a good start. But if you start throwing chairs at people and strangling players, wins, championships, gold medals and players like Isaiah Thomas will come to you. Didn’t Yoda say, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to victories?” Or was it that hate leads to a cool red light saber and an awesome mask with a scary voice? Either way, you need to be more like your dad to start winning basketball games.