John Knuth
Episode 220
17 APR 2023
Providing some emotional testimony in the second half of this episode, he’d won eight consecutive state championships and nine overall as the volleyball coach at Marysville High School in Michigan where he had three consecutive undefeated seasons, registering 192 straight wins. He won 20 consecutive district and regional championships and over ten seasons had an amazing won-lost record of 584-9. In 2015 he was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He coached three sports for 27 consecutive years at Marysville, and all together, he coached football, girls basketball, boys basketball, track & field, and volleyball. He is the author of a book titled, “Coaching 100 Days With Jesus.”
Notable guest quotes:
“We see scripture during Holy Week of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples and He’s modeling behavior and I would say that was my mom. Sometimes when things weren’t going well with our family or our lives, I would walk by her bedroom and there she would be, on her knees praying the rosary and it just had a big influence.”
“Even through all my sinfulness I went to Mass every Sunday at Central Michigan University.”
“I had the faith, and I kept the faith and God kept loving me through it.”
“That freewill thing kicks in and somehow my freewill told me that I need to stay close to the Lord.”
“Sports had such an influence on me and the coaches that I had in my life, I wanted to give back, I wanted to provide that kind of guidance for young people and teach life lessons.”
“Athletics is such a great avenue to provide that life lesson of the team is more important than yourself.”
“When I heard that, I began praying John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life’.”
“She said, ‘I’m just telling you, I was praying so hard,’ and she said, ‘This verse came to me and it’s Psalm 118:17 – you will not die but live and proclaim what the Lord has done’ and that became the motto for my life.”
“I just made this vow that if I go in to do prison ministry or if I speak or religious education or wherever it happens to be, I always start out with covering and speaking about John 3:16.”
“If you know everything about the Bible, John 3:16 is a good place to go and if you know nothing about it, it’s a good place to go.”
“To be in persistent quest of excellence really means to be in persistent quest for God.”
Related link:
John’s book “Coaching 100 Days With Jesus”
