After the Rye High School football team won the state championship last fall, and Coach Dino Garr completed his 50th season and became the winningest football coach in New York state, he seriously considered retirement.
But after many conversations with friends and family, Garr decided to return this fall and resume his quest “to get the players to get the best out of themselves.”
Garr discussed his decision recently when he spoke to a rapt audience of close to 70 gathered over bagels and coffee at Whitby Castle.
As part of the Tuesdays at Ten speaker series, Garr held court before this gathering of men of a certain age, a good number of whom had either played for the coach or had sons who had done so.
Garr has spent thousands of hours over the last 50 years inspiring teenagers to improve themselves as players — and as human beings.
Although this was not his usual audience, Garr was not intimidated by the challenge. “I am a motivator,” he said. “That is my job.”
Garr talked about Garnet gridiron topics including how the game has changed, the long-running Harrison-Rye rivalry and when Garr likes to “go for it” instead of punting on fourth and long.
But between the hardcore football talk, Garr contemplated how coaching messages apply to life for those way beyond high school.
Central to his approach are “The Four C’s,” a philosophy Garr instills in his players from their first practice to their last game:
Choice: Whether joining the high school football team or just living life, people should be conscious of the choice they are making.
Commitment: Making a choice means committing to an activity that could demand sacrifices in other parts of their lives (a player may miss a family vacation or have to forego an after school job).
Courage: If an endeavor requires teamwork, participants may need to be selfless for the group to be successful.
Compelled: Winning often requires digging deep to perform personally and as a team.
So how, more specifically, does that way of thinking relate to Garr’s contemporaries?
He gave a personal example:
“It’s hard for me sometimes,” Garr said. “You go to bed knowing that you have a day when you have to do certain things. Sometimes physical, sometimes mental.”
It’s important, he said, to fight the urge to give up. “You don’t want to surrender, because if you surrender once, you can find a reason why you’re not going to do that,” he said.
So next season, as in so many seasons before, Garr will be getting up every day, ready to take on the challenge of Garnet football.
