Coach Garrett inspires the Kean university football team to strive
By Wayne Dawes | Published November 3, 2022
For 17 years, Head Kean Football Coach Dan Garrett has worked to teach his football players “both” how to dominate on the field and become better men off of the field.
During the off-season, Garrett and his players have discussed how to become a champion in every aspect of their life such as “in their” work ethic, eating habits, “and“ sleeping habits”.
Developing these habits are good physically and mentally. “Physically”, eating a good meal before the game can give you energy to go out and perform well”. Mentally you have to maintain a strong work ethic. “It takes a lot of hard work, practice and dedication”.
“A champion is not something you get, it’s something you become, If you can develop those championship habits and traits, then you have a great chance of winning games”
As Kean university’s football season got underway on Sept. 3, Garret expressed that the team is filled with fifth-year players and a few that returned to Kean to complete their graduate degrees.
Having fifth-year players and seniors as players is a big advantage because they are experienced and can lead the underclassmen, The experienced players mentor the freshman or sophomores about the team’s culture, which is about trust, discipline, and family
This year, Garrett and the Kean football team all have the same goal.
“On and off the field, the Kean University football team prides itself on setting big objectives, and its main objective for this season is winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference,” Garrett said.
The word culture has been overused now for the past couple of years especially when it comes to sports.
Building a culture takes years to develop but Garrett knows that sometimes the right culture can get your team to the top.
“ I think culture is about relationships, trust, and culture develops relationships; I think culture beats schemes any day of the week,” Garrett said.
Building a culture and identity in sports is not easy, you have to have the right personnel, the right coaching staff, and players who have the determination and mindset to follow that culture that is being built.
“ I don’t care what the stat sheet says, the only stat at the end of the game that matters is the win or the loss,” Garrett said. “So as much as we played better this week, we’ve gotten better from week one to week two, week two to week three and I can see this team consistently getting steadily better week to week. The level of consistency for us is really two things, it’s the level of focus and our level of execution because our effort is never going to be in question”, Garret said when asked about the big win over the catholic university and how they can keep up that level of consistency.
This year’s Kean university football team has a lot of potential to win a lot of games and win the new jersey athletic conference. As of October 13, the football team has a record of 2-4, four games left to go in the season the cougars have an opportunity to have more games won than the previous year which was 4 wins.
Anthony Bassani, a graduate student, and defensive back was asked what he loves most about playing for the Kean football team is the chemistry among the players and the feeling of brotherhood.
Under Garrett’s tutelage, he has learned to watch football films and do assignments for the game. He prepares for a game by eating a good breakfast and hydrating with water and Pedialyte. He also listens to his music, which he said, “pumps me up and keeps me locked in until the game.”
“ The most important thing coach Garret has taught us is our culture, everything he taught us in our player manuals isn’t just about football or how to become a champion, it’s about how to become better men in life”, Bassani said.
When it comes to a team sport there is no, “I” in team, but everybody has their own personal goals they go for each season and for Anthony he has one goal of his he wants to reach.
On October 8 the Cougars got the win over Montclair State University 23-22 and For Bassani, he knows what the team needs to do to keep up the level of consistency.
“ To keep winning games our team needs to continue to get better day by day and keep believing in ourselves”, Bassani said.