The official head coach for Crenshaw High\u2019s football team remains Robert Garrett even though he\u2019s been barred from attending games on Los Angeles Unified School District property since Aug. 21, when he was placed on administrative leave.<\/p>\n
His longtime assistant and Crenshaw grad, Terrence Whitehead, took over as interim coach the week before the opening game. He and assistants trained by Garrett since they were adolescents have the Cougars at 10-1 and playing for the City Section Open Division title against top-seeded Carson at 6 p.m. Saturday at L.A. Southwest College.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s doing an outstanding job from where he\u2019s been put,\u201d Garrett said.<\/p>\n
Garrett said it\u2019s no surprise what Crenshaw has accomplished with 14 of 18 players returning from a team last season that lost by a single point in the opening round of the Division I playoffs to No. 1-seeded Eagle Rock. Add standout linebacker De\u2019Andre Kirkpatrick to that group along with others and you have Crenshaw seeking its seventh City title.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thoughts are you win ballgames from January through July when you meet daily and go over fundamentals, skills and get bigger, stronger and faster. You win it in the weight room,\u201d Garrett said.<\/p>\n
Garrett said he has spoken to Whitehead weekly and seen games that were streamed. But he has no intention of attending Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Crenshaw coach Robert Garrett has been on administrative leave since August.<\/p>\n
(Mel Melcon\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be sitting in front of a TV watching USC versus UCLA,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Garrett praised Kirkpatrick, a transfer from eight-man power Animo Robinson who he met last spring and summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s by far a Division I player,\u201d he said of the 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior. \u201cYou can\u2019t coach size. He has good attitude. Doesn\u2019t cuss, doesn\u2019t fuss and doesn\u2019t hang out. It doesn\u2019t come from me or anyone coaching him. All we can do is motivate him and encourage him to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
To say Garrett is fed up with LAUSD is an understatement. There has been no celebration of the greatest achievement by a football coach in City Section history. Crenshaw\u2019s 10 wins give him 300 career victories since 1988, which puts him in Hall of Fame territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to coach somewhere, somehow,\u201d he said. \u201cI was born to coach. I\u2019m a helluva coach. Nobody gave me that and nobody can take it away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garrett said he has never been told what is being investigated the last four months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to coach again. I\u2019m going to get out of the house real soon because I\u2019m an American citizen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He continues to receive full pay while staying home and waiting to be cleared. Once LAUSD starts an investigation, it can last more than a year. Former Huntington Park basketball coach Joe Reed returned this year after 14 months on administrative leave after a parental complaint.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t been told anything,\u201d Garrett said. \u201cAll I\u2019ve been told is we\u2019re investigating. It doesn\u2019t matter what happens because whatever they tell me what they are investigating, they will find no wrongdoing whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n