Southern Connecticut coach Knox comes full circle
Fate has a funny way of making an impact in life.
Byron Knox, who has made an impact on every level in the sport of gymnastics, has come full circle on the college level thanks to a string of quirky circumstances.
Knox began his college career as a successful gymnast under the guidance of Olympic Hall of Famer and legendary Southern Connecticut State coach Abie Grossfeld. As fate would have it, in September Knox was named the women’s gymnastics head coach at Southern after 16 years as the head coach at the University of Bridgeport.
“Goodwin University was coming in to take over at the University of Bridgeport,” Knox said. “At the time, since there was a question of whether Goodwin would have an athletic program, the Southern position became available and I applied for it.
“Since then, they have decided to keep the Bridgeport name and they will have a full athletic program. It was a little nerve-wracking when I went through the Southern application process because I was still committed to the athletes I had there (Bridgeport). But I felt good about the Southern position and it was all a plus. At this stage, it’s all history and here I am.”
Knox takes over for Jerry Nelson who coached the Southern women’s gymnastics team the past 16 years and stepped down for personal reasons.
Knox competed at Southern from 1977-82. Following a bronze-medal finish at the 1978 NCAA national championship, the Owls won four straight Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League team championships as well as the 1979 NCAA Men’s Eastern Region championship. Knox was a member of the 1982 USA
Men’s Gymnastics national team and also won the all-around and high bar championship at the EIGL Conference Championship.
“I am honored to be here and carry on the rich gymnastics tradition, following in the footsteps of Abie Grossfeld,” Knox said. “We have a good coaching staff. My job is to serve the seniors and give them the best Byron Knox possible inside and outside the gym. “Our goal is to qualify as a team in the national championship, something that hasn’t been done in a while at Southern. Every athlete has their strength, some are better than others, but I believe this group is talented enough to reach that goal and qualify as a team.”
Knox’s success at Bridgeport has Southern athletes anxiously awaiting the start of the upcoming gymnastics season.
Under Knox’s guidance, the Purple Knights won six straight USA Gymnastics/NCAA Division II national championships from 2009-2014 and three second-place finishes from 2015-2017. Bridgeport won 11 straight ECAC Championships and 12 overall in a 13-year span. From 2009 through 2020, Bridgeport qualified a gymnast for the NCAA Division I regional championship. Knox was a four-time USA Gymnastics National Coach of the Year (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013), a six-time NCAA Regional Collegiate Coach of the Year and a seven-time ECAC Conference Coach of the Year.
“I heard good things from people at Bridgeport about coach Knox,” said senior captain Keara Loughlin, who competes in the beam and floor exercise. “We were all excited to see him coming here and bring his techniques.
“He takes the time with skill development and gets to know all the athletes. He’s definitely very 1-on-1 and takes the time with you individually. He has high expectations and is very motivational. He also has so many great connections, and that is good for recruiting and the future of the program.”
Knox certainly kept himself busy after graduating from Southern in 1982. In 1985, he took his coaching talent to the youth level and opened the Cheshire Acrobatic Training Center (CATS) in Cheshire and ran it until he sold it to a pair of co-workers in 2019. Knox was the assistant gymnastics coach at Yale from 19992000 and became an assistant at Southern for Grossfeld from 20012004 (Grossfeld retired in 2004).
In 2004 he began his coaching stint at Bridgeport and from 20052008 he also coached gymnastics at Southington High. He has also served on numerous regional and national gymnastic committees and organizations. In the past he has also helped with conditioning for the Xavier football team.
Knox has seen and experienced just about everything there is to see as a gymnastics coach, but this year brings new challenges.
“Safety is always a priority and COVID-19 has impacted our practices and preparation,” Knox said. “But it has not impacted our spirit. I’m excited about the future.
“It has been exciting getting back in touch with our alumni base. This isn’t about me. It’s about recruiting, training and getting our athletes prepared. As I said before, we have the talent to potentially contend for a national championship.”
While a winter sports season is still in limbo and in the planning stages, Knox is hopeful gymnastics will start the regular season the last week of January.