Former Tyner head basketball coach Gerald Harris is shown with player Jarron Elston during a home game during the 2014-2015 season. Harris is leaving the Rams' coaching position for administrative duties at Dalewood Middle School.
photo by File Photo/Dennis Norwood
Long-time Tyner Academy boys basketball coach Gerald Harris has resigned his coaching position to accept a job as assistant principal at Dalewood Middle School.
Harris, 49, was offered and accepted the administration job last Friday and met with last year’s team on Tuesday to break the news to those players.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and I’ve said goodbye before,” Harris said Wednesday night. “This one hit me a little harder. I was the only coach these guys had at Tyner.
I told them I wouldn’t trade them for anyone. They have respected me and my staff and worked hard. They were a little hurt and that’s expected.
“But I told them that every year I have guys leaving me and life goes on. It’s a learning experience.”
In eight seasons with the Rams, who compete in District 6-AA, Harris led Tyner to seven consecutive winning records after posting a 10-16 mark in his first season.
Harris guided the Rams to state tournament appearances in 2013-14 and 2009-10. Tyner missed three other trips to the state tourney by losing in the sectional three times to Livingston Academy.
In addition to his coaching duties, Harris spent the last three years as the school’s dean of students, years the position took him out of the classroom. Prior to the job as dean of students, Harris taught computer applications for five years.
Harris said he didn’t go into the 2014-15 season thinking it would be his last as coach at Tyner.
But Harris received a phone call from the central office on Thursday and met with school officials the next day. The job was offered and he accepted the offer during that meeting.
Harris said, while he’s met with Chris Earl, the Dalewood principal, his new duties begin in July.
Tyner principal Julius Hargrove has just begun the process of finding a replacement for the well-respected Harris, who played college ball at Middle Tennessee State University after an all-city, all-state career at Tyner during his prep days.
“You think about these things, but you never know when they (school officials) might offer you a job in administration,” Harris said. “Somebody saw something in me and I’m fortunate enough to take advantage of this opportunity.
“While I found out Friday I would be making the career move, I didn’t want to make it public because I owed it to my players to tell them first. I sent an e-mail to my staff and players and we met on Tuesday. Tyner is a special place for me because I’ve been there eight years. That’s the longest time I’ve had a job since college.”
Harris admitted the new challenge at Dalewood Middle School is like a renewal of his career to this stage.
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity,” he said. “It’s something I’ve thought about for a while. I feel like I’ve been able to make a difference in kids’ lives, but I’m taking that to a new level. I try to inspire kids’ to do the right thing and make good decisions in their lives. I’ve been fortunate and blessed. I had a great coaching career at Tyner.
“Hopefully, I’ll have a great career in administration. I’m going to approach it the same way I approached coaching basketball. I’m going to put my all into it.”
Harris played basketball at Tyner prior to his graduation in 1985 and earned all-city and all-state honors for the Rams as a point guard.
He played collegiate basketball – and played it well – at MTSU from 1986-90, helping the Blue Raiders earn two NCAA tournament berths. Harris, a point guard, remains No. 2 with 207 assists in a season in the MTSU record book and his career mark of 463 assists stood until Kevin Kanaskie broke it with 485 from 2005-09.
Harris is No. 4 on the assists per game (4.6) list during his 101-game career at MTSU.
Harris is also No. 4 on the Blue Raiders’ all-time list with 156 career steals behind No. 1 Richard Duncan (190, 1996-99), No. 2 Tommy Gunn (156, 2000-04) and No. 3 Tim Gaither (145, 1992-96).
After graduation from MTSU, Harris spent eight years in corporate banking and finance and then began his coaching career at Trevecca Nazarene University from 1998-2001. He was then an assistant basketball coach at MTSU for one year before going to the University of Colorado as director of basketball operations for coach Ricardo Patton, who coached him at MTSU.
“I was a pretty good ballplayer at Tyner, with the all-city and all-state honors,” Harris said, “and had a great career at Middle Tennessee.
Harris spent 2 ½ years at Colorado and returned to Chattanooga where he worked at TVA.
In 2007, he returned to his alma mater to become the head coach of the boys’ basketball team.
Harris and his wife, Martina, have three daughters – Tori, who will be a senior at East Hamilton High School in the fall; Sydney, a rising sophomore at the University of Tennessee; and Taylor, a rising senior at Southern Illinois.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)