Robert Garrett remains the official head coach of the Crenshaw High football team, although he has been banned from attending games on Los Angeles Unified School District grounds since Aug. 21, when he was placed on administrative leave.
His longtime assistant and Crenshaw alumnus Terrence Whitehead took over as interim coach a week before the first game. He and his staff, coached by Garrett since they were teenagers, have the Cougars 10-1 and play for the City Section Open Division title against top-ranked Carson on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Southwestern College in Los Angeles.
“I think he's doing an outstanding job from where they put him,” Garrett said.
Garrett said it's no surprise what Crenshaw has accomplished, with 14 of 18 players returning from last season's team that lost by one point in the first round of the Division I playoffs to No. 1 seed Eagle Rock. Add standout linebacker De'Andre Kirkpatrick to that group along with others, and you have Crenshaw seeking his seventh City title.
“I think you win ball games from January to July when you meet every day and learn the fundamentals, the skills and get bigger, stronger and faster. You win in the weight room,” Garrett said.
Garrett said he spoke with Whitehead weekly and saw the games that were broadcast. But he does not intend to attend Saturday's game.
Crenshaw coach Robert Garrett has been on administrative leave since August.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
“I’ll sit in front of the TV and watch the USC-UCLA game,” he said.
Garrett praised Kirkpatrick, an eight-player transfer from Animo Robinson, whom he met last spring and summer.
“He’s definitely a Division I player,” he said of the 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior. “You can't train for size. He has a good attitude. No arguing, no fussing, no partying. That's not coming from me or anyone who trains him. All we can do is motivate him and encourage him to do better.”
To say Garrett is fed up with LAUSD is an understatement. There has never been a celebration of a football coach's greatest achievement in the history of the city section. Crenshaw's 10 wins give him 300 career wins since 1988, putting him in Hall of Fame territory.
“I’m going to coach somewhere,” he said. “I was born to be a coach. I'm a hell of a coach. No one gave it to me, and no one can take that away.”
Garrett said he was never told what was being investigated in the last four months.
“I'm going to coach again. I'm going to leave home very soon because I'm an American citizen,” he said.
He continues to receive his full salary while remaining at home and awaiting release. Once LAUSD begins its investigation, it could last more than a year. Former Huntington Park basketball coach Joe Reed returned this year after 14 months of administrative leave following a parent complaint.
“They didn’t tell me anything,” Garrett said. “All I've been told is that we're investigating. It doesn't matter what happens because no matter what they tell me they're investigating, they won't find anything wrong.”
Garrett is writing a book. He said he was the first Jefferson High School graduate in 1977 to graduate. His mother was one of 18 siblings, each having six or more children. He graduated Concordia University of Nebraska, 1981. with an emphasis in teaching and is certified as a Lutheran teacher. If he wanted, he could become a pastor.
“I’m not a coach, I’m a teacher,” he said. “I'm the first in my family to graduate. You don't know what I've been through or what I've seen.”
He spoke words of wisdom at Thanksgiving: “Always do your duty, which is best, and leave the rest to the Lord.”
You've heard the phrase, “Win one for the Gipper.” Now it's: “Win one for the G Man.”
