It has been a rough week for the Garrett brothers.
A day before Jason Garrett was fired as offensive coordinator for the Giants, his brother, John Garrett, was relieved of his duties at Lafayette College, a Patriot League school in Pennsylvania.
“On behalf of the college and our student-athletes I want to thank John Garrett for his work and contributions to Lafayette athletics,” Lafayette AD Sherryta Freeman said in a statement. “We will begin a national search immediately to name the next Fred M. Kirby ‘42 head football coach.”
This season, the Lafayette Leopards went 3-8. Their record is 15-33 since Garrett took the helm in 2017.
One doesn’t reflexively associate Lafayette as a college football powerhouse, but it is one of the oldest programs in the country. The Leopards’ lineage dates back to 1882, and they won national titles in 1896, 1921 and 1926 and won the Patriot League as recently as 2013.
Prior to his dismissal, Garrett, 56, had been touting the successes of the program under his leadership.
“We resurrected a program that wasn’t doing real well before,” he said after Saturday’s 17-10 loss to Lehigh, according to the Morning Call. “They had won just one Patriot League game in the two years prior to my arrival. We instantly became competitive and we remain competitive every week. It’s really because we brought in the right kind of guys. We improved the recruiting and talent on our team, and also the football character of our team and the overall performance.
“Even in the classroom, we do really well with a 3.6 GPA and I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of the young men that come into our program and leave it better. The future’s certainly bright for the Lafayette Leopards.”