Gregory Fishbeck Knapp (March 5, 1963 – July 22, 2021) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He served as an assistant coach for 25 seasons with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. 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 ...

and later coached at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

Playing career

As a

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 ...

Sacramento State University California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

, Knapp enjoyed a distinguished career where he ranked among the Hornets' career leaders with more than 3,800 passing yards and 32 touchdown passes. He went to training camps with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

in 1986,

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

from 1987 to 1990, and the

in 1992 to 1994. Prior to joining the 49ers as a coach, Knapp spent nine years on the coaching staff of Sacramento State, as running backs coach from 1986 to 1989, receivers coach from 1989 to 1990, and offensive coordinator/assistant head coach from 1991 to 1994. Knapp's coaching career at Sacramento State included the 1988 season where Sacramento State reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Football Championship.

Coaching career

San Francisco 49ers

Knapp spent nine years in various positions with the

: offensive quality control from 1995 to 1997, quarterbacks coach from 1998 to 2000, and offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2003, featuring the

West coast offense The West Coast offense is an offense in American football that places a greater emphasis on passing than on running. There are two similar but distinct National Football League (NFL) offensive strategic systems that are commonly referred to as ...

Atlanta Falcons (first stint)

Knapp was named offensive coordinator for the

from 2004 to 2006, helping to form

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Norfolk State Spartans football, Norfolk State University. He played quarterback in the National F ...

as a potent two-way offensive threat. The 2004 Atlanta Falcons finished first in the

NFC South The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season when th ...

with an 11–5 record.

Oakland Raiders (first stint)

Knapp then went to the

as offensive coordinator in 2007 and 2008.

Seattle Seahawks

In 2009, Knapp was hired by the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

Houston Texans

Knapp was the quarterbacks coach of the

from 2010 to 2011, helping mold Matt Schaub into a premier quarterback. The 2011 Texans finished the season 10–6 and first place in the

AFC South The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season, 200 ...

Oakland Raiders (second stint)

Before the start of the

2012 NFL season The 2012 NFL season was the 93rd season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 47th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, with the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants falling to the Dallas Cowbo ...

, he was named by new head coach Dennis Allen, whom he met as a fellow coach in Atlanta, as offensive coordinator of the Raiders a second time around. To strengthen the offensive line, the Raiders' general manager, Reggie McKenzie, picked the Texans' right guard, Mike Brisiel, as a free agent. After a season marked by a switch to a zone-blocking scheme at Knapp's urging, and the resulting ineffectiveness of the Raiders' key offensive threat, running back

Darren McFadden Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks football, Arkansas ...

, Knapp was relieved of his duties as the Raiders offensive coordinator on December 31, 2012.

Denver Broncos

Knapp was hired as the quarterbacks coach for the

on January 18, 2013. On February 7, 2016, Knapp was part of the Broncos coaching staff that won

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) ...

. In the game, the Broncos defeated the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

by a score of 24–10. After Vance Joseph was hired as head coach for the Broncos, he and Knapp parted ways.

Atlanta Falcons (second stint)

On January 22, 2018, Knapp returned to the

as their quarterbacks coach.

New York Jets

On January 18, 2021, Knapp was hired by the

as their quarterbacks coach under head coach Robert Saleh.

Personal life and death

On July 17, 2021, Knapp was struck by a motorist while riding his bicycle in

San Ramon, California San Ramon (Spanish language, Spanish: ''San Ramón'', meaning "Saint Raymond") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located within the San Ramon Valley, and east of San Francisco. San Ramon's population was 84,605 per th ...

, near his home. He died from his injuries five days later in a hospital in

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland, California, Oakland. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per t ...

, at the age of 58. Knapp was survived by his daughter, Jordan, wife, Charlotte, and three stepdaughters, Bailey, Natalie and Camille. At the time of his death, he lived in

Danville, California The Town of DanvillePronounced is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is one of the List of municipalities in California, incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their nam ...

. To honor the memory of Greg Knapp and to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving the Coach Knapp Memorial Fund was created.

References

External links

Coaching statistics at Pro-Football-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Greg 1963 births 2021 deaths American football quarterbacks Atlanta Falcons coaches Cycling road incident deaths Houston Texans coaches Huntington Beach High School alumni Kansas City Chiefs players Los Angeles Raiders players NFL offensive coordinators Oakland Raiders coaches People from Seal Beach, California Players of American football from Long Beach, California Road incident deaths in California Sacramento State Hornets football coaches Sacramento State Hornets football players San Francisco 49ers coaches San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks coaches Players of American football from Danville, California Sportspeople from Long Beach, California Players of American football from Orange County, California