|
Arleen McKnight begins her third season as the assistant coach for Utah State and was hired on August 3, 2007. McKnight, who coached with USU head coach Candi Letts at the University of Mississippi from 1998-2001, returns to coaching after working in athletic administration and event management at Ole Miss. "I'm excited to have Arleen as part of my coaching staff here at Utah State," Letts said. "She is a very good multi-tasker and very good at recognizing talent and utilizing that talent to the best of its abilities. We're looking forward to making this program successful again." McKnight temporarily left the coaching ranks for a job outside of coaching, but was still involved in athletics as she became the Coordinator of Events and Facilities at Ole Miss, coinciding with Eli Manning's collegiate career. In that role McKnight was in charge of all aspects of security for football games including sideline control. In addition to security, McKnight oversaw all aspects of custodial operations for the entire athletic department and worked with vendors for successful operations of 17 Division I Southeastern Conference sports. McKnight anchored all event management operations. Additional responsibilities included overseeing event operations, authoring manuals, designing passes, analyzing budgets, procurement of goods and services and interactions with Senior staffers, conference officials and NCAA representatives. As Event Coordinator, McKnight ran SEC Championship events as well as NCAA Regional events. "I have been given two great opportunities in my career. One to work behind the scenes during Eli Manning's tenure, the other to be able to work with Coach Letts. I'm thrilled that she has asked me to assist her in another program building," McKnight said. "Real excitement and gratification comes only when hard work has accomplished success. I look forward to following Coach Letts' leadership at Utah State." As an assistant coach at the University of Mississippi, McKnight helped to build a third year program to being ranked 28th in the nation. During the three years as an assistant, McKnight helped in recruiting and developing SEC home run leader Dede Justice. McKnight will utilize her talents to instruct the hitters at Utah State. She will also be recruiting coordinator, oversee team travel and equipment, and manage the softball facility. A native of Marionville, Mo., McKnight graduated from Ole Miss in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. McKnight went on to play women's competitive softball, winning four national tournaments, before a knee injury ended her playing career. During her high school career, she was a three-time all-conference performer and still holds several high school and Missouri state softball records. McKnight was a four sport athlete, competing in volleyball, basketball, track and softball. |
|||||||||||||||||||
