SAN ANTONIO — A coaching veteran for nearly three decades, John Knauer on Friday announced that he is retiring as UTSA head men's golf coach after leading the program for the past 14 seasons.
Hired as UTSA's head coach in 2008 after a 10-year tenure as an assistant coach at Arizona, Knauer guided the Roadrunners to unprecedented success on and off the course. Under his watch, UTSA claimed five tournament titles, 38 top-five showings, 109 top-10 finishes, 13 all-conference selections, eight Golf Coaches Association of America All-Academic Team awards, 16 Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar certificates and three league all-academic honorees. The program also received four straight NCAA Public Recognition Awards for posting an Academic Progress Rate among the top 10 percent nationally within the sport, recording a perfect score of 1,000 during each of those reporting periods.
"I am very grateful and proud to have been a part of building this team and the culture that we have developed over the past 14 years," Knauer said. "UTSA has a lot of momentum right now and I have no doubt that the next head coach will inherit a group that is ready to break through and be the best this program has ever seen.
"The decision to retire from the coaching profession was not an easy one, but it is time for me to step away and spend more time with my family. I wish UTSA nothing but the best and I'll be cheering on the Roadrunners in all our sports for years to come."
Earlier this year, Knauer led UTSA to the Conference USA Championship Match for the second time in the last three league tournaments, dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Charlotte. That runner-up finish was one of four top-five showings for the Roadrunners in 2021-22, as they captured the Lone Star Invitational crown, finished second at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate and tied for fourth at the Bentwater Intercollegiate.
That success came one season after Knauer took UTSA to new heights in 2020-21, as the program was ranked as high as No. 26 nationally by Golfstat and advanced to the NCAA postseason for the first time as a team. The Roadrunners finished in the top five at three tournaments. That included a runner-up showing at the Trinity Forest Invitational, which propelled them into the top 30 after an eighth-place showing at the Cabo Collegiate at TPC San Antonio ahead of five nationally ranked squads, including then-No. 1 Arizona. UTSA earned an at-large berth to the Kingston Springs Regional and placed 10th in its NCAA postseason debut.
"John has contributed to our mission of developing student-athletes in competition, in academics and in life," UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos said. "We cannot thank him enough for his service to our university, UTSA Athletics, his colleagues and our student-athletes. We wish him the best in his future endeavors."
A native of College Station, Knauer began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Texas A&M in 1995, then was promoted the following year to men's and women's assistant coach. During the 1997-98 season, Knauer was the assistant coach for the men's program, where he helped the Aggies win a regional title in 1998.
Knauer then moved to Arizona, where he spent 10 years as an assistant and was named the 2006 National Assistant Coach of the Year. The Wildcats were ranked as high as second in the country and ended the season in the top 10 five times during his time in Tucson. Arizona won two NCAA West Regional titles (2000 and '06), advanced to 10 NCAA Championships, captured 19 team championships — including a Pac-10 title — and 19 individual crowns.
UTSA will conduct a national search for a new head coach.
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