OBU Talks Football At Media Days
On Tuesday, the Great American Conference would tackle the yearly grind of Football Media Days. We would sit down with Ouachita Baptist head coach, and American Football Coaches of America President, Todd Knight, and players, to discuss the 2024 season as it swiftly approaches.
More importantly, we would speak with Knight on two topics, recruiting in Arkansas, and the current state of college athletics and how OBU combats this. In these answers we would learn who the powerhouse from Arkadelphia,Arkansas is at their core and how it impacts the staff and roster. Let’s learn more about Knight first as we kickoff 2024 and OBU football.
Who Is Todd Knight?
Knight came to the Tigers in 1999 following a 5-year run, from 1993-1998, at Delta State and was fresh off a D2 First Round loss for the Fighting Okra. Knight would finish sub .500 in his first three seasons followed by two 5-5 seasons in years four and five. From 2004 to 2007 the Tigers would again hit a losing skid as they would not win more than 4 games in a season in 07’.
This is when we would see the hard work of Knight and his staff begin to come to fruition. Ouachita would see a 7-3 season and the first winning under Knight. Since this season, the Tigers have had 15 consecutive seasons of winning. This is currently the longest such streak of any division of college football in the state of Arkansas.
Since the 2011 season, the Tigers have been dominant in the GAC and on a national level. Knight would speak on this in his opening statement by making sure his program continues to do the little things right despite their “rebuilding” 9-2 season in 2023. Knight said that being a good practice team was their “theme”.
He would get more in detail by saying “You know, when you do something over and over, that’s really what you become. And we believe you’re only as good as your last practice. And, you know, we had a pretty good practice yesterday, so we’re feeling good today and looking forward to another one.” In addition, he would speak on the standard that has been set at the University. With this, Knight would praise his players and their dedication to being the best they can be on and off the field. To further this point, over the last six seasons, the Tigers are 61-6 in regular season competition. With this, the Tigers are the only program to have won six conference championships. All of these championships have been won since the 2013 season.
As talented as this roster is for the Tigers, Knight would say that this team “…probably got more depth than we’ve had, you know, across the board on our football team. Excited about that. We’ve got a lot of returners off a solid team last year.”. Knight would close his opening statement by saying he, as the head coach, was “excited to be at the event and looking forward to a great year and hopefully a great start.”
Recruiting Is ‘Natural’ For Tigers
We would then speak with Knight on the importance of the state of Arkansas when it comes to his program and their approach to compiling a roster. Knight would not delay by saying “It is vital. It’s the lifeblood of the program.We’ve always had a philosophy to take Arkansas first.” and this method has proven to be successful.
When you look at the Tigers roster, according to Knight, it is “70 percent Arkansas high school football players.”. Knight would further explain the importance of finding the right “fit” for the University when speaking on the players attending, Connor Flannigan and Melvin Kumwenda, both of Fayetteville High School.
Knight would elaborate even more by saying “I think the guys understand the rivalries. They understand the conference. They understand how hard you have to play and who you have to – who you have to be, you know, as a football player and as a person. And I would say this, too. These guys, they fit our university. I mean, these guys, they understand the total mission. We talk about the total man all the time. We talk about the mental, the physical, and also the spiritual, the faith side of it. These guys are not embarrassed of who they are. And I think when you take those three aspects of manhood, you wrap that into a football player. I’m getting I’m getting pretty jacked even talking to you about it right now. Just thinking about those principles and the guys that I sit in here with right now.”
“But back to that recruiting model. Naturally, we’ve got kids from Australia, California, Texas, all over the place. But the meat of our program is Arkansas high school football players.”
Why is OBU A Destination In A Wild West College Football?
With the talent and the current WILD state of college football, how does a program such as OBU retain their roster? Don’t fret we asked Flannigan, and Knight, this exact question. Flannigan would speak with confidence when explaining how the school, and program, assist in building more than a student-athlete.
When speaking on this, Flannigan would have this to say. “Yeah, so I think that, I mean, we kind of talked about it, where you’re building yourself as a man. It’s not just about football. You know, the day, like you said, of Travel Portal and NIL, the idea of college football has kind of turned into a money game, especially the D1 level. And I think what you’ve got here, you’ve got coaches that care about you. I mean, that’s evident. They’ve been here 20 plus years. You’ve got a university and you’ve got a campus and a community that cares about you, not only on the field.”
Flannigan would double down on his statement with more insight on how the small campus in Arkadelphis has large talent as a campus environment as well as gridiron. Connor would say “ I’ve got all my professors’ phone numbers. I’ve got church leaders’ phone numbers. The community is so tight that it extends just beyond football. And that’s really what Ouachita is. It’s an entire community. It’s not just a university. It’s not just a football team. And I think that’s why you see guys staying here and not leaving and going onto the portal and staying here for six years or, in me and Melvin’s case, it’s five years when we’re getting three undergrad degrees. We want to be here. We want to develop as a man, as a future husband, as a son, and not just as a football player.” and this speaks volumes for the growth in the 25 seasons under Knight.
Unbenowst to us, when speaking on the subject to the star wide receiver that he had some offers to utilize the portal and leave for a larger program. Coach Knight would speak on this candidly by saying “I’m glad you asked that question, and Connor probably wouldn’t want me to say this, but Connor could be somewhere else right now. I mean, you asked the question to the guy that could have left to be in an FCS, Division I, whatever you want to call it, program, and he’s here sitting beside me right now. So that’ll tell you the relational side of it. And Kendall’s probably had those same opportunities and I could go around the room, but I think it’s an excellent question that you ask. And I couldn’t think of a better guy to ask than this guy right here, because he’s a living example of what you just talked about”.
When you look around the world of D2 football there is a name that, over the last thirteen seasons has made a national impact. A name that many around the nation butcher when saying; Ouachita Baptist. The name is one many may want to become accustomed to because this program is being built into a powerhouse.
You might ask “Powerhouse? In Arkadelphia, Arkansas?” and we say “Yes, a powerhouse!”
How have they been able to do this? We would learn today in our conversation the dedication of Knight, recruiting the state of Arkansas, building of young men outside of the game, and loyalty will keep this program at their current level and higher.
