OBU pumped for playoffs after 10-0 run, stadium redo
ARKADELPHIA — It’s hard to tell what’s a larger source of pride at Ouachita Baptist: Its undefeated football team or recently renovated Cliff Harris Stadium.
Both will be on display at noon today when OBU (10-0) hosts Minnesota-Duluth (120) in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. It’s the first time the Tigers have reached the playoffs since moving to Division II in 1997, and their first postseason game of an kind since the 1968 Peanut Bowl.
“It’s going to be fun to think about once it’s all over,” said Todd Knight, who is in his 16th season as OBU’s head coach. “This is going to be really gratifying.”
Knight insists he doesn’t have time for reflection just yet, but he took some time recently to show off the grandstand that has been in discussions for more than a decade. Gone are the rickety bleachers and press box that were comparable to a small high school program. Knight estimated the last time they had been overhauled was in the 1970s.
What has been put to use for five OBU home victories this season is a sparkling set of metal bleachers and a press box complete with carpeted floors, tall glass window panes and suites.
On the surface, the opening of the new stadium named after former OBU and Dallas Cowboys safety Cliff Harris and the school’s best
season in decades seems like a coincidence.
“Cliff Harris tells me all the time that he’s taking credit for the good season,” Knight joked. “No doubt he can have it.”
Athletic Director David Sharp, who has been on campus as a player, graduate assistant, assistant coach and athletic director since 1975, isn’t quick to dismiss a direct correlation either.
“Call it a coincidence, call it karma, call it whatever, but I do think it had an effect,” Sharp said. “I think it had an effect on how we approached work.”
The fact that it all came together in one season is a testament to Knight’s dedication to philosophy and place and Sharp’s willingness to never question the coach’s process.
Knight was a linebacker for the Tigers in the mid-1980s for Coach Buddy Benson while Sharp was on staff. Knight became head coach at Delta State in 1993 and built it into one of the Gulf South’s top teams, leading the Statesmen to their first conference title and Division II playoff appearance in 1998.
That same year, OBU went 3-7 in its second season in Division II. Coach Jimmy “Red” Parker and Benson, who was the athletic director, announced their resignations on the same day in December.
Sharp was promoted from defensive coordinator to athletic director and Andy Westmoreland, the school’s president at the time, put on a fullcourt press for Knight, who turned down the job at least twice before agreeing in January to rebuild his alma mater.
“One of the toughest decisions we’ve made,” Knight said. “I don’t know how you print this, but I really feel like I was called to be here and this is what I was supposed to do at the time.”
From the start, Knight chose to build his team by recruiting Arkansas high schools. More than 60 players on OBU’s team this season are Arkansans, but that strategy didn’t pay off from the start.
In OBU’s first 14 seasons in Division II, it played in either the Lone Star Conference or Gulf South, both of which were stocked with teams that were more established at the Division II level and operated with better facilities and larger budgets.
Knight went 3-7 in his first season in 1999, then 2-8 and 3-7.
Sharp helped secure a donation from an alum for an indoor facility on campus in 2002, which helped show a commitment to the program, and in 2002 and 2003 the Tigers went 5-5. Four consecutive losing seasons followed, but Knight points to those 5-5 teams as the ones who set the tone.
“We were getting close,” Knight said. “I tell those guys all the time: ‘Man, y’all were the base.’ It gave us hope.”
OBU won its final five games to finish 7-3 in 2008, and it hasn’t had a losing season since, going 49-21 with GAC titles in 2011 and 2014.
Sharp said he never questioned the direction Knight was headed, even as OBU went 28-61 in his first nine seasons.
“I know the kind of competitor he is,” Sharp said. “He and I both have stories of guys that were recruited to replace us as players, and neither one of us let that happen. We’re fighters.”
OBU can already count this season as its best in decades, but Minnesota-Duluth is used to such seasons.
The Bulldogs are in the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season and won Division II titles in 2008 and 2010. It’s the type of place Knight believes OBU is headed, citing the winning seasons and its first playoff appearance.
“Those things say you’re here,” Knight said. “Now, do you stay here? You have good players and good facilities and you’ve got a formula for success.”