Retiring Washington High AD leaves legacy of success and shared respect: 'He's Mr. Panther'

WASHINGTON — Herb Knoblauch spent many winter nights on the baseline of Torry Gymnasium, watching the Washington boys and girls basketball teams.

Next hoops season, though, the Washington athletics director will likely be sitting in the stands cheering on the Panthers. Knoblauch is retiring as AD following the school year, capping a career in education that spanned from such stops as Lowpoint-Washburn to Pekin to his final stop in Washington where he’s worn orange and black since 2010.

“You may be moving on,” Knoblauch said of what he tells graduating seniors, "but once you’re a Panther, you’re always a Panther. I’m going to live by that motto.”

That means Knoblauch, who turns 60 in March, won’t be disappearing anytime soon. “You’ll always see me around, but in a different capacity,” he said. “You look at a game differently when you’re not running the event. … I’m going to look forward to sitting back and actually watching the game and kids I know play.”

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A 1982 L-W grad, Knoblauch excelled in several sports, but was a standout track and field athlete. He was a four-time Class A state medalist, including a pair of runner-up medals. His 1981 second-place 100-meter dash finish came to future Olympic gold medalist Mike Conley Sr.

A track scholarship lured Knoblauch to Eastern Illinois, followed by a few-year detour to help on the family farm. He finished up his education degrees at Bradley and Illinois State before diving headfirst into teaching, coaching and administration. He has worked at Washington St. Patrick’s, Farmington, Washington District 50, L-W, Pekin and now Washington. "I've been many places," he said.

Relationships are a big part of Knoblauch’s tenure. Whether he’s working alongside his longtime administrative assistant, the Washington coaching staff or an athletics director from a rival school, Knoblauch is held in the highest regard.

These are just a few anecdotes from those who have established personal and professional friendships with Knoblauch throughout the years.

The administrative assistant

During the 14 years under Knoblauch, the Panthers have been one of the Peoria area’s most successful athletic departments, earning 20 Illinois High School Association state trophies and counting. He’s witnessed five wrestling state championships, four music sweepstakes titles and one softball crown. Knoblauch’s office is littered with IHSA state medals from every deep state tournament run.

Plus, the football team played in the state playoffs in all but one year, which was the non-playoff pandemic-shortened spring season.

“It’s a big job,” said Sherry Thurston, Knoblauch's administrative assistant. “We keep adding more sports and co-op sports. … He’s always there for the athletes.”

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Many times, regionals and sectionals were put on by Washington, resulting in those Final Four berths. Thurston and him have worked hand and hand for the entirety of his Washington career.

“We’re going to be great hosts, and that is one thing that really, really helps out our athletic department, especially with her and I working together," he said. "She’s always been the behind-the-scenes person, working, working.”

By now, Thurston says she’s spent so much time with Knoblauch over the years that she can almost always predicate what he needs or wants when it comes to coordinating the many Washington sports. In fact, there are times Knoblauch would call Thurston by his wife’s name, or vice versa.

The duo, though, is always in sync, according to Thurston, who also will retire from her post at the end of the school year.

“He’s not just my boss,” she said, “he’s a good friend too.”

The football coach

Darrell Crouch knew Knoblauch long before he came to Washington.

Both of Knoblauch’s sons, Evan and Kyle, played for the retired Panthers football coach. Evan died in a tragic car accident as he headed to his grandmother’s house on Jan. 5, 2008. He was the football captain and a three-sport athlete, and a memorial award now bears his name.

How the Washington community embraced Knoblauch and his family during this unfathomable event touches him to this day. “There are no words for that one,” he said. “Wow, that was unbelievable as a community and a high school.”

Knoblauch and his wife, Susie, first gave The Evan Knoblauch Memorial Award to some of Evan’s classmates just months after his passing. That moment has stuck with Crouch all these years later.

“To have to get up,” he said, “and speak about that award and about your son and why you choose this award … The power that they had within themselves, and the spiritual part was huge.”

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On Nov. 17, 2013, an EF-4 tornado ripped through Washington, tearing the town almost in half. Three people died and almost 650 homes were damaged and thousands were left homeless.

The aftermath of the natural disaster left Crouch and his team uncertain if their Class 5A state semifinal would go on as scheduled a week later. Knoblauch did everything in his power to make sure the Panthers would play and everything else would run smoothly.

“Just a very special person,” Crouch said, noting that Knoblauch was helping him move that Sunday morning. “He’s put his life work into (Washington athletics). … He’s always been an advocate for our athletes ... and super supportive of us as coaches, too.”

Those two events were life-alerting. But not surprisingly, Knoblauch sees the positive. “I know they were tragic,” he said, “but the silver linings that came out of them were unbelievable.”

The basketball coach

Kim Barth was hired as the Washington girls basketball coach before the 2016-17 school year. She had been the sophomore coach the previous season and was excited for a chance to take her coaching career to the next level. Barth, though, had reservations about having no prior head coaching experience.

“Well, somebody’s got to give you a shot,” Knoblauch had said to Barth. “Somebody gave me a shot.”

This changed everything for Barth, who is a Washington dean of students.

“I’m glad that he took that chance on a young kid at that point,” the former Kim Holdenrid said. “That he gave me that opportunity because without that opportunity I wouldn’t be where I’m at.”

Barth says Knoblauch is not just a great AD and person, but he is someone who supports her in so many ways like an encouraging phone call following a loss. When former Washington coach Kevin Brown died in June 2019, after a 10-month battle against brain cancer, Barth and Knoblauch leaned on each other in their time of mourning. Both had been especially close friends with Brown.

“We’ve become even closer,” Barth said, “and created a bigger bond even going through that tragedy and losing him.”

One characteristic that seems to resonate with the student-athletes and coaches is Knoblauch’s positive mentality. “No matter when you need him,” Barth said. “He’s there. He’s our No. 1 fan. There’s no question about that.”

The rival athletic director

Jared Hart is the dean of Mid-Illini Conference athletic directors, taking over the Woodford County school's athletics department before the 2009-10 school year. A year later, Knoblauch was hired by Washington, putting the pair in the same league for the next nearly decade-and-half.

“As an athletic director,” Hart said, “you’re kind of on an island and the only person that really knows what you’re going is another athletic director. I’ve been able to call him and bounce ideas off of him, and he’s called me as well.”

Knoblauch reached out to Hart at a difficult time. He needed assistance running the annual Tournament of Champions boys basketball event. The usual gameday crew, however, was still recovering from the tragic events of the November tornado.

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“I need help,” Knoblauch said, recalling what his email read to the Mid-Illini ADs.

Members of the Metamora booster club stepped and ran the concessions for the entirety of the five-day tournament.

“We’re very competitive when we’re on the field and between the lines,” Knoblauch said of the Washington-Metamora rivalry, “but when we’re not there … people couldn’t believe that. ‘Really? Metamora has raised their hand.’ ”

In the years that followed, the competitiveness between Washington and Metamora has remained a fierce yet classic rivalry. A lot of credit goes to Knoblauch and Hart working in collaboration. Hart admires Knoblauch’s charisma and ability to work a room.

“He can go across the state,” Hart said, “and probably just know somebody. … His personality is very outgoing, and he just remembers a lot of things and works with a lot of people. That’s just a positive trait.”

The next AD

A replacement for Knoblauch has not been hired yet. The job opening remains on the Washington website, having been posted earlier this month.

Not exactly an easy job to fill; Knoblauch was recognized in 2022-2023 as the Class 3A & 4A state athletic director of the year by the Illinois Athletic Directors Association. "Those are going to be big shoes to fill,” Crouch said. “I would almost say, he’s Mr. Panther.”

When the new Washington AD takes over, hopefully, they will have Knoblauch’s number handy. And if he does receive a call, Knoblauch has some advice ready to go — words of wisdom passed along to him from retired IHSA administrator Dave Gannaway.

“Whether it’s the ticket-taker, to the guy setting up, to the guys cleaning up, to your coaching staff,” Knoblauch said. “Take care of your personnel.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Washington AD Herb Knoblauch retires, leaves legacy at Peoria-area school