Robert Garrett, who coached Crenshaw High to the 2017 CIF State Division 4-AA championship, was selected as the “Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year.”
Garrett will receive $25,000 from the NFL Foundation, $15,000 of which will go to Crenshaw’s football program. Garrett will be a guest of the NFL during Super Bowl LII and walk the red carpet at “NFL Honors,” a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally on Feb. 3.
Garrett was selected for the award by a panel that included Shula, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and retired quarterback Peyton Manning. He was nominated for the award by the Los Angeles Chargers, whose roster includes two players he coached at Crenshaw, linebacker Hayes Pullard and defensive tackle Brandon Mebane.
“He’s turned Crenshaw High into a powerhouse over the 30 or so years he’s been there, but more than the wins and losses, it’s the number of lives he’s touched and the young men he’s mentored that matters most, that’s why he’s so deserving of this honor,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said.
“And I can say that, without hesitation, because I’ve witnessed it first hand with Brandon and Hayes on our team. As men of great character and integrity, the respect and love they show for coach Garrett is telling.”
The award, named for the winningest coach in NFL history, was created to honor exemplary high school football coaches for their character and integrity, leadership and dedication to the community, commitment to player health and safety and on-field success.
The Crenshaw Cougars were 12-3 in 2017, losing the Los Angeles City Section’s Open Division championship game to Narbonne, 48-7, but defeating Oceanside’s El Camino High, 13-10, for the Division 4-AA southern regional championship, and Auburn’s Placer High, 46-43, for the state title.
