Faculty/Staff and Alumni Story

I thought everyone was being fake when I first visited Catawba as a student, they were way too nice. I found out that they were genuinely that nice. This place is like a family.”

Khanis was recruited to come to Catawba College to play football. The term might be “heavily recruited” - if that term applies to Khanis receiving a phone call every Wednesday evening about 7:30 from Chip Hester, then a coach with Catawba’s football program. “Coach Hester came to recruit at my high school in Raleigh, he saw me play and said he liked what he saw.” Khanis says. Visiting campus, Khanis met head coach David Bennett, and played for him during his freshman and sophomore years; Hester became head coach for his junior and senior years. Catawba alumnus Jim Tomsula, then defensive line and strength and conditioning coach at Catawba, was one of Khanis’ coaches all four of his student years. (Tomsula went on to coach teams with NFL Europe, the NFL, and ELF.)

As a freshman, Khanis was undecided about his major. “I tried a lot of classes that first year. I resonated with Communications, so I went down that path. I took a class with Dr. Karl Hales and with Dr. Tim Moreland and really liked it, they made it fun, I learned a lot.” Khanis describes both of those professors as “legendary.”

In the Communications program, Khanis found connection, “Other than the faculty, the people I was around and that were in that major with me I gravitated to, that was a fit as well, I gelled with them outside of classes as well. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I got out of school, but business and communications set me up for the most opportunities, I thought at age eighteen.”

Upon graduation, doors opened at Catawba and locally for Khanis to become assistant to the football coach (Jim Tomsula), as well as working with West Rowan High School as a one-on-one for an exceptional student, which he did for about a year and a half. When Coach Tomsula left, Khanis became the fulltime defense line coach at Catawba. After Coach Hester left, Khanis took a position as defensive line coach and later defensive coordinator at Quincy University, working with Gary Bass, another Catawba alumnus. Four seasons in, Bass became head coach and Khanis became the offensive coordinator and OL coach. Right before Covid hit, Khanis took a job at Lockhaven; after one season on the field as defensive backs and defensive coordinator, he became the interim head coach. From there he went to Southwest Minnesota State as defensive line coach.

His heart for coaching is evident. “All the good coaches I’ve been around, I remember more than anything how they’d make us feel as players. I was eighteen, they were larger than life to me. I try to treat my guys the way I was treated and would want to be treated.”

The opportunity came to return to Catawba as co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Describing what brought him back to Catawba, Khanis says it was a lot of little things, including the direction and vision that Coach Haines has. “I hope the alumni and players know our doors are open. We want them to come back, we want to see them, we want our players to see them and understand who paved the way, the players now pave the way for the next generation.”

About Catawba, Khanis enthuses, “We have an amalgamation of the right ingredients. It’s hard to find a place that pushes athletics and academics in the same way, without there being a big riff. Dr. Hales announced all my games, he knew exactly what was going on and how I played. I haven’t found a place like Catawba anywhere else.”

As much as Khanis’ world centers on football, his life does extend beyond field and field house. “I love cooking! I like making things and adding my own flair to it. Recipes don’t matter it just has to taste good.” He adds, “I’m also a Trekkie.” Of that series he has a current favorite, “I love ‘Strange New Worlds.’ Pike, the captain that was before Kirk, is amazing.”

“Step outside of your normal lanes” he encourages students, “Slow down, take a look around, and explore the entire campus. There’s more going on than what you have going on.” He urges students to attend campus events other than those in their own programs, “your experience can be that much richer.”