PLAYER #94 - DAVE "TUFFY" KNIGHT (1983-87)

A couple of weeks ago, Dave "Tuffy" Knight, who is the current head coach at the University of Waterloo, set a CIAU record for wins by a coach with 138. Obviously, the guy must know something about football players.

Therefore, it should have come as no surprise that the Argos signed him out of neighbouring Wilfrid Laurier University in 1983, where he had been the head man for 19 years, to be their director of player personnel.

"I did the signing of all the Canadians and Americans that were the incoming players," said Knight. "I went out and scouted talent in the NFL, U.S. colleges and in Canada, and helped prepare the Canadian draft."

And he did a heck of a job, helping bring in the likes of Willie Pless, Reggie Pleasant, Rodney Harding and Danny Barrett among his import contingent, and Chris Schultz and Blaine Schmidt among the Canadians. However, Knight feels his art of recruiting talent was topped with draft selections like Bruce Elliott and Jim Kardash, a pair of late-round picks out of the University of Western Ontario, who went on to have long careers in Double Blue.

"Anybody can pick in the first or second round, but I was kind of proud we were able to pick someone in the seventh round who could make the team," said Knight.

While his years with the Argos were very successful, including a Grey Cup win and three first-place finishes, the team only had one first-round draft choice. That was in 1986, when they selected defensive lineman Marcus Koch from Kitchener, who went on to make the Washington Redskins.

"We never thought he'd make it, but he did," said Knight, whose job description meant he had to find out which players could play in the CFL game. "There are some kids who can play in Canada that can't play in the States," said Knight, who is originally from West Virginia, and came to Canada in 1965. "The #1 thing is mobility, speed and quickness. A guy like Willie Pless is a prime example. He was an outstanding player out of college, but he was too small for the NFL."

Of course, there are a few that go the other way, who failed to make a CFL team and went on to star in the NFL. One was Sam Mills, a linebacker the Argos let go who went on to a great career in New Orleans, while another was offensive lineman Tyrone McGriff, a cut of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who played on a Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl team. Knight had been a guest coach at some Ticat training camps, having been invited by Ralph Sazio, who hired him for the Argos.

"I probably got along with him as good as anybody else," said Knight, who admitted working with the moody Sazio was not always easy. "He may have had some trouble delegating authority. He was like, how could you say, a one-man show."

Knight was able to work alongside Sazio until the 1988 season, when he decided to rejoin the university ranks at Waterloo, where he has turned a once sad-sack team into one of the country's best. He lives in Waterloo with his wife Connie, and they have two sons, Brian and Tim.