Chip Knapp (born 1964/1965) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He coached for 30 seasons at Wesley College, the final three as head football coach before the program was shut down. He played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

for

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

Playing career

Knapp played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for

under head coach

Maxie Baughan Maxie Callaway Baughan Jr. (August 3, 1938 – August 19, 2023) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Baughan played linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, and Washingto ...

from 1985–1986. He earned the starting

position as a junior in 1985, but was sidelined for part of the season due to a knee injury. He played in six games the following year, but the "fine play of Marty Stallone" kept him off the field for most of the time.

Coaching career

After graduating in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in economics, Knapp was hired by Cornell as the freshmen quarterbacks coach. He left before the season started to join the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

as an offensive assistant. He spent the 1987 and 1988 seasons there. He left after a promised stipend from Kansas was not given to him. Taking advice from friend Roy O'Neil, Knapp joined Wesley College in

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

, as a defensive assistant. Though he only expected to remain with the program for a year or two, Knapp would eventually spend 30 seasons at Wesley. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in his third year, a position he would retain until 2018. When longtime head coach

Mike Drass Mike Drass (March 15, 1961 – May 14, 2018) was an American football coach. He was the head football coach at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities ...

died in 2018, Knapp was promoted to head coach. Wesley compiled a 7–4 record in his first year as head coach. They improved the following year, making the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs with a 10–2 record. The 2020 season was cancelled, but a spring schedule was later released. His team went 2–1 in the spring schedule. The program was discontinued in 2021, following Knapp's third season. As an assistant coach and head coach, he helped players to 48 All-American honors, 99 All-Region honors and 122 All-Conference awards. He accepted a position as head coach of Dover High School in May 2021. He resigned after three seasons in 2023.

Playing career

Coaching career

Head coaching record

College

High school

References

Further reading