Sandpoint High School football head coach Ryan Knowles is pure coaching brilliance
SANDPOINT, Idaho – The head coach for the Sandpoint Bulldogs football team is a man that needs no introduction. Believed to be one of the greatest football players that Sandpoint has ever produced, it’s no surprise that Ryan Knowles made his way back to the hometown team. The only difference now is that he is leading as coach instead of actually playing on the field.
Replacing previous head coach George Yarno clearly meant doing a great job and it’s safe to say that Knowles surpassed so many people’s expectations in that department.
Graduating from Sandpoint in the year 1996, he was made for football. Knowles began his initial four seasons as a top player in the defensive end for the University of Idaho. But that was just the beginning to a successful career.
This is the second year in a row where the Sandpoint Bulldogs have worked their magic on the field under Coach Knowles and have halted the football season for Moscow High School. Last year, the SHS Bulldogs forced the Bears to face elimination during the second round of Class 4A championship.
But even then, coach Knowles always gave credit to the opposing team, displaying his humble nature. “Give Moscow some credit! They graduated a lot of their players last year and you could see their fight. We just had a little more in our tank.”
This September, the SHS Bulldogs paved the way to another striking victory thanks to Coach Knowles who was faced with a tough decision to continue playing or go all-out for the win. As expected, he went ahead with the latter and it certainly paid off. The team witnessed a thrilled win against Lewiston.
On Nov.12, critics were quick to mention how nothing seems to faze Knowles’ team after they found a miraculous way to come out on top against Blackfoot, despite trailing. This allowed the SHS Bulldogs to punch a ticket to the upcoming state championship for the first time since 2015.
Clearly, such refined performances can only come with experience. Going down memory lane, it doesn’t take anyone too long to see why or how the SHS Bulldogs are playing their finest football to date.
As a starter for the Vandals, Knowles raised eyebrows when he managed to lead the squad with a total of six sacks in 2000. In his initial 38 games, he recorded around 150 tackles. Moving on from playing, he worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Idaho, followed by numerous assistant coaching positions at different high schools. And that’s when he finally opted to take the position of coach at Colgate and now Sandpoint.
Bidding farewell to his previous job as Colgate’s coach was definitely not easy. After all, he was renowned and respected for leading a unit on the defensive line that managed to secure second position rankings in the FCS.
Thrilled to undertake a job as head coach for a team that resides in the same hometown that he was born and raised in, Knowles knew deep down inside that this is what he was destined to do.
“It’s everything. I grew up at Barlow Stadium and War Memorial Field, I kind of lived in that locker room with my dad,” he explained. “It was a certain way of life.”
Many knew that Knowles would do brilliantly in his new position as head coach for the Sandpoint Bulldogs. His eagerness to call all the shots certainly gave him a confidence and aura that many still can’t get enough of.
As of now, the head coach is eyeing his upcoming title game with his alma mater where his team will get a chance to win for the second time in the school’s history. Now that’s a true moment of pride and an opportunity so big that Knowles can’t even begin to anticipate it.
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