Gary Knecht

Gary Knecht {born September 29, 1939) is a faculty member at Azusa Pacific University and former college football coach. Knecht has served as an assistant coach at several universities and as the head coach at UC Riverside from 1970 to 1971 and at Walla Walla Community College from 1976 to 1983. During his career as a head coach, Knecht compiled an overall record of 6–13–1 at Riverside and 52–19–1 at Walla Walla.

Coaching career
In February 1970, Knecht was promoted to the head coach position at Riverside after the resignation of Pete Kettela. In March 1973, Knecht resigned as head coach after he led Riverside to an overall record of 6–13–1. From Riverside, Knecht served as a defensive assistant at Cal Poly Pomona in 1972 before he was hired as the linebackers coach at Idaho in February 1973.

He stayed at Idaho through the 1975 season before he resigned in February 1976 to become the head coach at Walla Walla Community College. At Walla Walla, Knecht led the Warriors to an overall record 52–19–1 during his tenure as head coach from 1976 through 1983. In 1984, he served as athletic director at Walla Walla before he was hired at Oregon State as an assistant coach in 1985. Knecht finished his coaching career at Azusa Pacific where he served as defensive coordinator from the 1995 through 2003 seasons.