By: Marquis Pullins Jr. | Publish Date: September 23, 2026
For almost 24 years, Kean football head coach Daniel Garrett has called Kean University home. Since arriving as an assistant coach in 2003 and becoming head coach in 2006, he has built a culture that means more than just wins and championships. His focus has remained on making sure players, both on and off the field, are learning lessons in accountability, resilience, and perseverance that carry into life after their playing careers are over. That mindset has led into this season as well.
The Kean football team currently has one win and one loss in the season. The football team lost their first game of the season to Suny Morrisville, 33-30.
“If we played that week, one team 50 times, I truly believe we beat them 49 times… we let that first game gets away from us and we talked about it,” said Garrett
Through the advisory (recommendations and guidance) he gave Kean quarterback Ty Kline and, the defense and special teams a lot of praise with how they played their opening game against Maritime College. This game saw a 51-17 victory.
Garrett talked about Kean quarterback Kline’s strong start to the season with 411 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions to begin the season.
“Ty has been great, he takes care of the ball, he extends plays and he keeps his eyes downfield… The guys (players) trust him, and they play for him and it translates towards the receivers,” said Garrett.
Behind all the extended plays and the trust his players have in him, it all starts at the offensive line.
Offensive line coach David Galante believes in the same philosophy as Garrett. Galante has been around Coach Garrett for almost 20 years, and he has even played under him.
“I owe everything that I’ve done with football as a player to Coach Garrett and I am fortunate to be around a mentor and person like him,” said Galante. “It is something that as an offensive lineman, you take a lot of pride in being smart, tough and dependable… Obviously protecting the quarterback, the running backs, anybody that carries the ball and even anybody that catches the ball,” said Galante.
Garrett emphasized winning two-thirds of the game: offense, defense and special teams against Maritime. In the game against Suny Morrisville they had two missed field goals and mishaps on special teams.
“We spent 25 to 30 minutes a day on special teams,” said Garrett. “I think it is not only important to be good on special teams but be good as a team overall.”
Another coach that shares Garrett’s vision for the football team is the offensive coordinator, Coach Evan Durand.
“I’ve been around a lot of programs that preach “family”, but Kean football truly is a family because of the culture that Coach Garrett has put in place,” said Durand.“As a leader, he is not only invested in the success of our team but in the lives of the players and coaches around him,”.
Throughout Garrett’s 24-year tenure, he has been offered other opportunities to leave the program, but he wanted to build something here.
“This has been my home…there aren’t a lot of coaches on the collegiate level or even on the professional level who have had a coaching job for this long. I’ve said no to Ivy League coaching jobs, I’ve said no to Division II defensive back jobs (DB) and multiple other jobs because I didn’t want my family to move every three years.”
Coach Garrett wants his players and coaches to leave better people than they arrived. He knows football can teach important lessons such as perseverance, accountability and the ability to adapt. His message of the “next play” mentality and “don’t filch at conflict” motivates players to recover from both success and failure.
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