Savage Words: Missed opportunity to say hello – and goodbye – to Coach Garrow

At Brandon Valley’s season-opening football game back on Sept. 4, I pretended that I didn’t see Chad Garrow.

I did see him, and I had the opportunity to acknowledge him. I didn’t.

He sat in a golf cart with his son, A.J., under the north goal post. 

I’d interviewed him seemingly a hundred times in the four years I’d covered BV athletics. His was always a good, solid interview. He spoke in quick, easy-to-use soundbites. I could tell he didn’t care for the limelight, but he always had time to chat for the newspaper.

Now, I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like that I hadn’t approached him, and I didn’t like even more that I had no idea if he had the ability to communicate with me as he was dealing with his recent Glioblastoma diagnosis.

Honestly, I was happy to see him. It was only a few short months earlier when I – along with many others around the state – didn’t know if he’d survive. 

On the day he was diagnosed, I received a text from another South Dakota sportswriter. It read: “Coach Chad Garrow is in the hospital fighting for his life.”

That sentence set me back in my chair, as it no doubt did many people around the state. Seven days later, I sent a text to his wife, Melissa, telling her that I was thinking of her family. 

She responded, thanking me, and finished up with the following line: “Crazy how life can change so quickly!”

That was an understatement.

Two weeks after my weakness and inability to approach Coach Garrow at the first home game, I saw him again, this time when BV played at O’Gorman for the Knights’ homecoming game. He sat with Melissa, and his father-in-law, longtime University of Sioux Falls football coach, Bob Young.

I’ve known Melissa and Bob since college as Melissa, Coach Garrow and I were all students at USF when Bob was coaching. I got up the nerve to approach the three sitting in lawn chairs at the goal-line on the visitor’s sideline. I said hello to Melissa and shook hands with Bob. I hadn’t seen him in years.

But again, I failed to acknowledge Coach Garrow.

Why did I do that? Why didn’t I at least give him a nod, or a pat on the knee.

It’s a burden I’ll have to bear the rest of my life. I figured I’d see him again this fall when the Lynx open the season. Obviously, that won’t happen.

No doubt I didn’t have the relationship with Coach Garrow that many of you did in Brandon Valley. I didn’t really know him as a husband, a father, a teacher, or a mentor. I knew him professionally, and as a journalist who’s worked in the media with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Durant, I can tell you that his characteristics were in line with what all of you have had said about him. A class act.

I won’t get this fall to acknowledge him. I missed the opportunity last season. You don’t need me to tell you this, but go hug your loved ones hard today.

God help the team that BV opens with this fall. They’re going to have their hands full. They’ll be lining up against 11 players with emotions teetering on the edge. They’ll be coaching against counterparts on the BV sidelines who will no doubt have tears in their eyes and a fire in their belly to win for Coach Garrow. And they’ll probably be facing a spirit in the stadium that will push the Lynx to a win.

Ironically, I did a story on Coach Garrow in October of 2019 when he broke the all-time coaching record at BV.

“I guess if you thought it was towards the end of your career, maybe it would be a little more emotional,” he said when asked about being honored. “But I’ve got some miles left.”

Sadly, his miles have come to an end. But there’s little doubt his legacy will stand the test of time.