November 11th, 2020 | Josh Adelman
This month we celebrate Veteran’s Day and honor a Soldier Coach who has been extraordinarily dedicated to improving his craft. SSgt (Ret.) Terrance Gant is the Soldiers To Sidelines Coach of the Month.
Coach Gant got into coaching while on active duty out of frustration with the poor quality of coaching experienced by his oldest son. From that moment he vowed to coach his son immediately upon retiring in 2010.
Terrance explains, “I told my son I would coach his team. I started off as just an assistant when we started registration. By the time we started to play, I was the head coach with one assistant. It was a learning experience and at times challenging, but it was a great group of kids who bought into what we were teaching. Coaching has impacted me more than I have impacted coaching. It has taught me humility, relationship building, and it’s not all about winning games.”
The experience Coach Gant had with his son was one of his fondest coaching memories. “I am most proud of my son. It’s difficult to be a coach’s son, but Emanuel has risen to the occasion every time. He finished his career with every passing record for the school and was Arizona All-Time Passing Yards Leader” (recently broken by Spencer Rattler).
Sometimes a father-son relationship suffers when a dad becomes the coach. However, this was not the case between Terrance and Emanuel. It speaks to the deep understanding of emotional intelligence within Coach Gant. “Early in his [Emanuel] teen years it caused stress in our relationship, but now it’s the bond that makes our relationship tight. Being able to have your son call and ask for advice, or confirm something you’ve taught and instilled, has worked out and is an amazing feeling.”
Terrance was well prepared to coach from his service in the US Marine Corps. The Marines prepped him to handle all sorts of adversity and unforeseen changes. “My military experience has been a huge influence on me as a coach. The ability to adapt to circumstances has been huge especially during this season. Being flexible during COVID-19 and thinking outside the box has helped me with practice planning, meeting, and install ideas.”
Even before COVID-19, Coach Gant utilized his leadership experience in the US Marine Corps to lead football teams through adversity to success. He describes a specific coaching experience that still has a special place in his heart. “We were a new staff in 2011 at Tempe High School in AZ, and the team had not been to the playoffs since the 2001 season, nor had a winning season since 1999. We took our lumps the first couple of years (3-7, 1-9, 6-4), but the kids bought in. Their senior year, they not only went 9-1 in the regular season but went on to break multiple school records and make the playoffs. However, the greatest accomplishment was they had an 89% graduation rate. I will always remember that group.”
Since that time, Terrance moved to California to explore new coaching and teaching opportunities. Moves like this are never easy, but Terrance always finds a way to thrive. “My most difficult challenge was my transition from AZ to CA. The level of competition was higher, and the level of talent gap was big. It forced me to seek out mentors, reinvent myself, seek knowledge, and become a more advanced coach. This is what brought me to Soldier to Sidelines.”
Coach Gant has taken full advantage of the offerings from Soldiers To Sidelines, and he is working hard to keep having a tremendous impact while discovering where his coaching journey will lead. Everywhere Terrance Gant has traveled he has modeled the best practices of the ideal Soldier Coach. It is our honor to award Coach Terrance Gant the Soldiers To Sidelines Coach of the Month November 2020.
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