Oct 21, 2018 7 min read

While his athletic accomplishments and prowess in high school and college are well known, it is what Dennis Garrett continues to do that reveals his special gifts.

Garrett was a three-sport star at Jefferson-Morgan High School from the early to mid-1970s. He was an outstanding football and basketball player and top-notch member of the Rockets’ track team.

In college, he was an integral part of the Waynesburg football team through the 1979 season.

But his greatest contribution is his ability to touch the lives of the young people he has coached in high school and college over four decades.

He continues to serve as the Rockets’ defensive coordinator in football and has been the boys basketball coach for several seasons. This is after coaching football at Waynesburg and Washington and Jefferson College.

“Dennis is just one of those people who loves to coach and wants to make an impact on the kids he coaches,” said Scot Moore, Jefferson-Morgan’s athletic director. “He not only wants to make a difference, he makes a difference.

“He doesn’t talk about his (athletic) accomplishments. But the kids know about them and they respect that. Dennis is very meticulous about things being done a certain way – the right way. He’s the best dressed coach in the WPIAL and the kids believe in him. Coaches like him are hard to find.”

It is the coaches who guided Garrett at Jefferson-Morgan that made an impact on him. He credits them for his success.

Garrett played on Jefferson-Morgan’s conference and WPIAL Class B football championship teams in 1973 and 1974.

Jefferson-Morgan defeated Western Beaver, 35-6, in the 1973 championship game at Wash High Stadium and Midland, 20-0, in the 1974 title game. The Rockets went 10-0 in 1974 and were 9-0-1 in 1973 – the only blemish a tie with rival Carmichaels.

The team’s two-year mark of 19-0-1 is a source of pride.

The 1973 team was coached by Walt Whitehead and the 1974 team was coached by Dave Eavenson. Bill Phillips, who coaches alongside Garrett for the Rockets’ football team now, has been a mentor throughout.

“Those guys influenced me in so many positive ways,” said Garrett. “I continue to use their coaching philosophies.

“I also took a lot from coaching under Bill Tornabene (at Waynesburg from 1980-1994) and John Luckhardt (at W&J from 1995-1997). They always stressed acting like you had been there before and to be professional. My heroes were my parents (Louis and Ida). They were hard workers and taught me if you want to make it at something, you can make it.

“With nine children,” he continued, “there wasn’t a lot of money. But we had what we needed and we had great role models in them. We all graduated from college.”

Garrett, who will turn 63-years-old in December, grew up and continues to reside in Pitt Gas, which is part of the Jefferson-Morgan School District. He relishes his high school days.

“We were led by great people,” Garrett said. “In football, Walt, Dave and Bill saw we had a lot of talent when we were young. We had a losing season (3-6) in 1972 but were champions the next year.

“Walt left for Brownsville the next year and wanted Dave to go with him. He said ‘No way,’ and led us to another championship.

“We had several good athletes with speed and strength.”

One of Jefferson-Morgan’s signature wins in propelling those teams to championships was a 1973 season-opening 15-0 victory over Chartiers-Houston, which had won consecutive WPIAL titles.

Garrett played flanker and safety in those seasons. He scored touchdowns in both title games. Against Western Beaver, he returned a fumble 85 yards for a score.

“We just had a lot of talent and a lot of desire,” Garrett said. “Things went our way because we worked for it.

Garrett scored five TDs in a Homecoming game and established a school record with a 103-yard interception return for a score during his Rockets career.

“It was an exciting time for the school and the community,” he said.

At Waynesburg, Garrett was the Yellow Jackets’ leading receiver in his junior and senior seasons with 39 catches, in a run-oriented offense.

In track at Jefferson-Morgan, Garrett was a conference champion in the long jump and triple jump. He shared school records in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.9 seconds, and 22.6 in the 220-yard dash. He advanced to the PIAA Championships meet three straight seasons.

While football and track were important, basketball was Garrett’s favorite sport.

He set a Jefferson-Morgan school record with 1,356 points in only three seasons. He was recruited “pretty heavily,” he said. Garrett received many accolades, including all-state status.

He wasn’t afforded the chance to play both football and basketball at Waynesburg.

“The coach didn’t think it would be fair for me to join the basketball team at Waynesburg after football season because the other basketball players would have been there from the beginning,” he recalled.

That ended his basketball playing career but it didn’t stop him from forging a career in officiating and coaching.

Before becoming the Rockets’ head coach, Garrett was one of the top basketball officials in the WPIAL.

He officiated games for 35 years, working three WPIAL championship games – including the 2005 Quad-A title game be-tween rivals Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Center.

Moore said Garrett’s reputation as a top basketball official was well known throughout Greene and Washington counties.

“When I was a student at West Greene and playing basketball there, you always felt like you better be at your best when Dennis was the referee for your game,” Moore explained. “We all thought it was neat when he worked our games.

“You wanted to be at the top of your game. It was like seeing the mayor. Him being there added to the game.”

In addition to his time as a football coach at the college level and at Jefferson-Morgan, where he has been since 2006, Garrett also served as defensive coordinator at Beth-Center under Ed Woods from 1998 to 2006.

“Dennis’ greatest attributes are his love of sports and kids,” said Phillips. “When playing and coaching, he gives all he has. He is a selfless person who always tries to help others.

“As a player, Dennis had natural instincts. He found the ball. He worked at being good. He put in extra time.

“We have a great relationship,” Phillips continued. “We respect each other. He’ll run things by me and ask for advice. I know this, if the kids follow his plan, they’ll be in the spots they are supposed to be in. Sometimes they just don’t get there. We just have a warm feeling for one another. I watched him from being a 7th- and 8th-grader through high school and college and now as a coach. He’s an amazing guy.”

Garrett had great satisfaction coaching his son, D.L. Garrett, in football and basketball before he graduated last spring. The younger Garrett now attends Indiana University. He joined his father in Jefferson-Morgan’s 1,000-point basketball club.

“That was special for me and my son,” said Garrett, who has worked for Equitable Gas as a compressor technician for 37 years. “I love the coaching aspect now because I feel I am helping kids.

“In officiating or coaching, players respect someone who knows the game and respects the game. This isn’t just about winning and losing. It’s about competing. You compete in different ways and things throughout your life. It’s important to compete.”

Said Phillips: “To see him work behind the scenes and on the sidelines is pretty amazing. Dennis has a magical affect. People of all ages respect him.”