Jim Garrett

James W. "Jim" Garrett was a US football player, coach, and scout. He starred as a fullback and linebacker for Rutherford High School (NJ) (1944–1948) and as a running back playing college football at Utah State University. He had a short-lived pro career as a fullback with the Philadelphia Eagles (1954) and the New York Giants (1956). He began coaching at the United States Coast Guard Academy and Lehigh University and found success as head coach at Susquehanna University (1960–65), leading them to a 39-11-1 record which included undefeated seasons in 1961 and 1962. Unfortunately, he was fired during the 7th game of the 1965 season for assaulting a player. He spent most of the next forty years in the National Football League as an assistant coach with the New York Giants (1970–73), the New Orleans Saints (1976–77), and the Cleveland Browns (running backs 1978-84), as well as head coach of the Houston Texans of the fledgling World Football League (1974). There was also a brief stint in the mid-70s as head coach at Millburn High School in New Jersey. His last coaching job as head coach of Columbia University in 1985 was fraught with controversy as the team went 0-10 and accusations of verbal and physical abuse surfaced. After the season, his sons John, Jason and Judd, who were enrolled at Columbia, transferred to Princeton University. From 1987 to 2004, he served as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys.

Jim and his wife Jane (Lentz) are the parents of eight children, Jim III, Jane, Jennifer, Janine, Jill, John, Jason, and Judd, and grandparents of twenty-seven grandchildren. His sons John, Jason, and Judd played and coached in the NFL. Jason is the head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, John is an assistant coaches with the Dallas Cowboys, Judd is a front office executive with the Cowboys,and Jim III teaches High School English at University School near Cleveland, Ohio.

In 2001, Susquehanna University named their new sports complex in his honor.

Inducted into the Rutherford High School (NJ) Athletic Hall of Fame (1996).