Is he a nice guy? Clearly not. However, I am choosing to view this list by who actively denigrates their sport.

I do not think this can be said of Knight, despite his mercurial temper, moments of poor judgement, and his scorn for the media. I think many people on this list are labelled jerks because they are tough interviews, and sports journalists, particularly the electronic variety, are notoriously lazy.

At least he graduates his players, which is more than can be said for some "nice" coaches.

biggest asshole ever

I respect Knight zilch.  I know he is a good coach but he is not a good human being.

A HOF Jerk. . .and an amazing coach. . .a 'deal with the devil' situation here- would I give him my son to play basketball? I know Knight graduates his players, I know he doesn't cheat- but Knight sure makes it tough to side with him. . .

Another candidate for anger management...I'm sure he has been through it several times. Those in charge of the diciplinary actions of the players and coaches let the dollar signe dictate what they put up with. In my opinion Bobby Knight is not famous---he is infamous.

Larry Bird is a lot smarter than he looks...he wouldn't play for this putz.

great coach, bad person. Obviously he does have passion but so do lots of people he has to get it under control. If i coached college basketball i'd probably a screaming basketcase too, but thats why i dont. I know its not a job where i could have self-control. He needs to get some.

He is somewhat of a jerk. I think he is extremly passionate about the game and takes it a little to far sometimes.

I'd never call him a jerk to his face. I like my face.

A real creep.

Bobby Knight is a wretched human being. The stories we all know are true are bad enough, but if even 10% of the rumors you hear are true then that's just amazing. I just knew that someone from Indiana would feel compelled to defend him; a guy at U Indiana (a professor, as surprising as it seems Indiana actually has a few of those)whose name escapes me wrote a book called Beer and Circuses where he dared attack their basketball fuehrer and promptly got death threats and had to be escorted to every one of his classes. At least Bobby represents his fans. If there's any ranking for worst state in the union I know how I'd vote.

he's an icon in college basketball, and he's a tough competitor who wants to win so badly, he's not a jerk, if you don't want to get yelled or harrassed or headbutted by him, just don't dare playing at indiana (then) or Texas tech (now)

Very mean!

A jerk at times with the media, but does have some integrity as a human being as proved through his actions with those who played for him.

I like him as a coach, and i love his emphasis on discipline and graduation among his players. However, the man is a flat out jerk - the way he acts at games, the way he talks to the media, and the way he just doesn't give a shit what anybody thinks.

Not as much of a jerk as some think he is. At Indiana, he had a 98% graduation rate for his players. He is a stickler for the rules and makes the kids take responsibility for themselves. His temper gets the best of him, and in being a stickler for the rules gets him into trouble with officials when he believes they screw up. I like him.