Beyond the Game Plan: John Garrison

By Chad Wylie, Special Contributor

RALEIGH, N.C. - To say that John Garrison was shocked would be a bit of an understatement. Kelly Donahoe, the coach at Blue Springs High School in Missouri, had just told him that he would be coaching the freshman football team at the school, rather than serving as the offensive coordinator for the varsity team.

Garrison had starred as a player at one of the top high schools in Missouri. He was recruited to Nebraska and played for a national championship. He had just finished a stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, working under the instruction of offensive guru, Jon Gruden.

"In the back of my head, I was thinking, 'I was just in Jon Gruden's offense in the NFL, and you want me to do what?'" Garrison laughed. "'You want me to coach the freshman football team?'"

But a decade and a half later, Garrison will be the first person to say that without that somewhat humbling experience, he never would have succeeded as a college football coach.

"It was the best thing that ever happened because I had to learn how to coach," Garrison said. "I had to figure out the coaching voice, how to communicate, how to teach. I had to be able to run offense, defense, special teams, parents, logistics, everything. I learned a lot about myself and how to teach the game of football. I credit Kelly for that, for getting me off on the right foot in my humble beginnings."

Humble beginnings are nothing new to Garrison. His father, John Garrison Sr., was born and raised in rural Carrboro, West Virginia, and had an opportunity to play college football when he turned 18. But the birth of his first son, John Jr., prevented him from fulfilling that dream. He got married to his wife, Jill, and prepared to go into the coal mines. But instead, he was offered an opportunity to drive a gas truck around the nation and became a truck driver.

Being raised in West Virginia meant that football was ingrained into Garrison's bloodstream from the time he was born. His favorite Christmas present was his first helmet and pair of shoulder pads. While his dad was often on the road, what Garrison remembers is the time his dad dedicated to being with his son.

"Dad put in a lot of hours working three or four jobs and when he got home from work, I know he would want to crash on the couch," Garrison said. "But he made sure to come out and play ball with me. So he was a really big influence on me in terms of being tough in football, but also about being a man and having a strong work ethic."

In the heartland of West Virginia, the home university Mountaineers took preeminence all of Garrison's early life. He attended games regularly, enjoying the pageantry and feeling the excitement of the crowd. He watched his heroes, Major Harris and A.B. Brown, take college football by storm. He dreamed of one day playing on that field, a proud member of the Mountaineer tradition.

Eventually, the family moved to Missouri, where Garrison attended Blue Springs High School. He starred at defensive end and was recruited to Nebraska to play that position. While working out with the defense, the offensive line coach kept telling him that they had a spot open for him, and he eventually agreed to make the switch.

"Defensive line is a lot of read and react," Garrison said. "Defensive line is Metallica; offensive line is elevator music. They are both beautiful in their own respect, but they run at different tempos. Offensive line is very coordinated and planned pre-snap, while defensive line is read and react, see the ball and get to the ball."

As the man who most influenced Garrison, it meant a lot to the college player that his dad committed to attending every one of his games for all four years of college. Because John, Sr. never got to play college football after his son was born, the younger Garrison saw this as an opportunity to give back.

"It's something that I look back on now and I appreciate a lot more than I did at the time," Garrison said. "You could see his excitement and that was special. I truly think that he didn't have the career he wanted because of me, because life happens. So to see him relish the fact that his son was out there playing was really special."

After graduating, Garrison was an undrafted free agent in the NFL, picked up by the Tennessee Titans. After being cut, he was picked up by Tampa Bay, where he learned under Gruden. He made it to the final preseason cut but was left off the final roster.

While driving back from Tampa to Tennessee, Garrison's agent called, informing him that he had a tryout opportunity in Buffalo with the Bills. Garrison told him he would call him back, stopped at a Waffle House on the side of the road, and prayed about his decision.

"I realized that I was good," Garrison said. "I was ready to move on and start coaching. I had two great opportunities and they didn't work out, and I was ready for the next chapter. I was really excited about coaching."

After coaching the freshman at Blue Springs, Garrison advanced to assistant coach on the varsity team before being offered a coaching position at his alma mater, Nebraska in 2008. A decade later, Garrison's career path has brought him to Raleigh, ready for his first year with the Wolfpack.

When the 2019-2020 college football schedule was released, Garrison was shocked yet again. The Wolfpack's week 3 trip takes them to Morgantown, where Garrison will get to coach against the team that first gave him a love for football.

"It's been a lifelong dream to play on that field, which didn't happen," Garrison said. "But now I get to coach on that field, which is almost just as good. I'm a Mountaineer, but that day I'm going to be part of the Wolfpack. I'm going to be really excited to be there because I grew up in that stadium and with that tradition. It's going to be really special."

North Carolina State University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos