Love and support keep coach afloat
From Garrett's Mother, Mariann Bennett
The Broken Chain
We little knew that morning that
God Was going to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
In death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone;
For part of us went with you,
The day God called you home.
You left us peaceful memories,
Your love is still our guide;
And though we can not see you,
You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken,
And nothing seems the same;
But as God calls us one by one,
THE CHAIN will link again.
Remembering Garrett Bennett
By Jenni Carlson: The Oklahoman
JENKS - Allan Trimble received few sympathy cards and condolence letters in his 42 years. Then again, he never lost an immediate family member or a close friend. Until July 12. That afternoon on an sun-baked stretch of the Creek Turnpike, a Toyota SUV swerved, crossed the median and the other lanes of traffic, then rolled. It was engaged in a high-speed game of paintball. Jenks High School football player Garrett Bennett lost his life. Trimble lost one of his kids. That‚’s the way the Jenks coach thinks of every single one of his football players. Doesn’t matter if they win a championship like so many have in the past decade or if they fall short. Doesn’t matter if they simply carry great promise, like the squad that will face Tulsa Union tonight in one of the state’s great rivalries. All of them are his kids. His boys. His sons. How, then, could he console them when he was heartbroken himself? How could he buoy them when he was barely staying afloat? The love and the caring of people...” Trimble said almost two months since the accident, “it just breathes a little air back into your sails.” Love and caring arrived via the U.S. Postal Service. Coach Trimble, I know as a coach and mentor this is a devastating and stressful time. I don’t know why these obstacles are put in our path, but God does. May his peace and understanding be with you, the team and Garrett’s family. - A former high school basketball coach To most outsiders - and maybe even some insiders - Allan Trimble is the Dark Lord. Jenks, after all, is the Evil Empire. The football program has won seven state championships in the past decade and gone 122-12 during that stretch, all with Trimble at the helm. That success has fueled awe and envy in equal measure for the program and its leader. Trimble sports those wraparound shades and wears that stern expression, too. But scratch the surface a bit, and you find softer edges. A father who loves doting on his two little girls. A husband who looks at his wife with wonder. A man who does anything for his players. ThatÂ’s why he took several dozen of them on a paintball excursion that Wednesday in July. Sure, it was good for team chemistry, but it was grand fun, too. After a couple hours and a million laughs, Trimble and new assistant Greg Calabrese climbed into Trimble’s truck and began the 10-minute drive back to Jenks. A couple minutes later, as they approached the Highway 75 interchange, Trimble saw flashing lights. “Greg,” he said, “it is never a good sign when there’s a fire truck parked on the turnpike.” With the truck in the Creek Turnpike‚’s westbound lanes, though, Trimble breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The players who‚’d already left were heading eastbound from Sapulpa to Jenks. Then, he saw his boys. Several of his players were sitting on a grassy hill. The looks on their faces were unlike anything Trimble had seen before. Then he saw Lance Calmus, a Jenks fireman and the oldest of the brothers who helped build the Jenks juggernaut. “And he just had this look on his face,” Trimble remembered. “I just knew that something was really bad.“ The next few hours became a blur. The kids at the scene. The news about Garrett. The ride with the Highway Patrol to the Bennetts’ house. The hugs. The tears. There were so many things to do that Trimble had no time to feel. “But boy, that night when the dust settled ... it was just awful.” He shook his head. “And it didnÂ’t get any better.” Coach Trimble: I know this time is tough beyond words for you as the head coach, but remember, there are people praying for you. I am going to be praying for you. ... I know we are not really acquainted, but I was just heartbroken when I read about the wreck. I feel for his family, but I also felt terrible for you. - A Class 4A football coach Trimble called a coaches‚’ meeting for the next morning. All of them arrived before he did. “Guys,” he told the 16 or 18 men gathered, “this is one that I don’t know.” The man who always said the right words to his team, who always made the right adjustments in big games, who always knew exactly what to do in every football situation was at a loss. Trimble had stayed up all night, studying and reading and praying. “I read everything I could because I know the kids are going to be looking for answers,” Trimble told the coaches. “And I’ll be honest with you, I really don‚’t have any.” The next few days were difficult. Team meetings were tearful, hearts heavy and spirits sunk. Every one of the Jenks coaches did what they could to help the healing, but alone, they were overmatched. Helping hands reached out everywhere. Parents opened their homes so the players could congregate. Counselors offered their services. From the homemade banner that appeared on the football field’s fence to school district administrators and little league coaches and so many others, support came from the community and beyond. “It definitely means a lot when somebody sends something just showing that they care” said free safety Tim Dial, who’s committed to Arkansas and expected to play linebacker. Tight end/defensive end Jake Taptad, who was a passenger in the car with Bennett, said, “Just knowing that you’re not the only one hurting ... you’ve got a shoulder to lean on.” With the exception of the Bennett family, perhaps no one needed the support quite like Trimble. He was not only the coach but also the spokesperson, the counselor, the figurehead, the comforter. Nothing meant any more to him than the letters, the e-mails and the phone calls. Bob Stoops called. So did Mike Gundy. Ditto for several of his assistant coaches at Oklahoma State. Then while Trimble was driving players to the lake for a senior retreat, Eddie Sutton called. The two coaches who have been so wildly successful in their chosen sports had never spoken before. Sutton, however, knew what Trimble was going through after the 2001 plane crash that killed 10 members of the Cowboy basketball family. “It‚’s not going to be easy,” Trimble remembers Sutton saying. “It’ll weigh on your mind every day.” Allan, You are a great man of character, and Jenks is very fortunate to have you at this time. - A former Tulsa Union football assistant One afternoon a few weeks ago, the head coach’s cramped, cinder-block office buzzed. Assistants popped in to ask questions about practice. Players paraded through to pick up info about a fundraiser. The whole time, Trimble had this look in his eye. You might even call it a twinkle. “Success, from the fans’ perspective, is winning‚” the coach said. “But success is so subtle.” Never before has that been more evident to Trimble than in the weeks since Bennett’s death. The recovery has been slow, the healing difficult. But all along the way, there have been reasons for hope. “There’s a whole lot of successes that come from being a coach‚” Trimble said. None have been more important than keeping his players afloat since the accident, and he knows he wouldn’t have been able to do so without plenty of life preservers. Luckily for him, they arrived postage paid.
By Lynn Jacobsen: Tulsa World
Jenks' football team dedicates 2006 to teammate Garrett Bennett Football might be on their minds, but Garrett Bennett remains in the hearts of the Jenks football team. Exactly a month to the day of a car accident that took the life of the senior offensive lineman, Trojan players opened fall practice. Their goal -- to honor their friend and teammate. While the last month has been difficult, the players are trying to channel their emotions into a lasting legacy for their friend, free safety Tim Dial said. "It's something I think about every day," Dial said. "That's why I wear this necklace with his number on it. I told my mom I wanted to do it and she got it for me a couple of days after the accident. "We understand you have to go on and focus on football and we know that is what Garrett would want us to do. But it's still on my mind. I spoke to Garrett's dad after the accident and I made a promise to him that I was going to play every play for Garrett." Dial and classmates Ty Cobb and Keith Mefford took time from Tuesday's practice to speak about their friendship with Bennett. "I remember the first time I saw him in little league football," said Mefford, a fullback on the varsity squad. "He was big, he was so big and I remember thinking 'oh my gosh, how will I get past him?' " Cobb said Bennett was a happy-go-lucky type of guy, always with a smile on his face. "He was a really funny guy and could always make me laugh," said Cobb, who would have played alongside Bennett on the offensive line this season. "He would help me on the football field. He was kind of a team leader among the linemen. He was very smart." Mefford said he has looked at life differently the past month. "Garrett's death has brought the team closer, we're more tight-knit," he said. "It's made me appreciate things I once took for granted." Bennett's death has also been difficult for head coach Allan Trimble and the coaching staff. "It's the worst situation I've ever been in," he said. "It's heart-wrenching. I didn't sleep very well after the accident. When somebody takes a piece of your heart out like that, it's really hard. To feel the pain of Garrett's parents, it was tough. "It's on your mind all the time," Trimble said. "There are days where you think about (the accident) a lot and it's very sad. We're going to work hard every day and try to give everything we've got for our fallen comrade and his parents." Trimble said the letters, calls and e-mails he has received has helped. "The support has been the most amazing," he said. "Three OSU football coaches -- including Mike Gundy who was vacationing in Florida -- called. Bob Stoops called and Eddie Sutton called me the day of the senior retreat. They weren't token calls. We were on their minds and they wanted to offer support. "That Eddie Sutton would call, after going through what he did with the plane crash, really meant a lot. He told me time will help but he still remembers it like it was yesterday. The outreach at my church (Park Plaza Church of Christ) has been phenomenal." Trimble said he has also taken a closer look at himself . "This has reinforced for me my why you get into this business and hopefully the impact you can have on kids," he said. "I just keep going back to the priority list we give out to the players. Faith, family, academics and football and times like this makes me understand why I put them in that order." The team has many memorials planned for Bennett -- everything from stickers with his number (76) on helmets and wristbands, to a locker in the new athletic facility. Dial said the team has taken Bennett's love of the game and will channel that emotion on Friday nights. "Garrett's death is definitely going to give us a little more drive," Dial said. "This is something difficult the entire team has had to face. It will be on our minds. But we've all been able to lean on each other. I think we'll be okay."
Jenks Head Coach Allan Trimble
“He was one of our own family members,” Trimble said. “There are no words to describe this. We want to make sure we do everything we can to support the family and make something great come out of this tragedy. Bennett came up through the Jenks school system. He started a few games at center as a junior last year and, after a great spring season, was going to be the starting center in his senior season. “He was a normal Jenks guy,” Trimble said. “Average kid ability-wise. He was not a big kid, a fast kid. But he loved to play and he was a kid who wanted to do his part to make Jenks football better. He became a leader. An undersized offensive lineman at 5-11, 235 pounds, Bennett used his work ethic to eventually become a starter. And it rubbed off on teammates. “He was quiet, reserved, composed and very intelligent,” Trimble said. “He was quick to listen and slow to speak. He was very smart, he knew all the positions. He was a student of the game and was really respectful. “He’s exactly how you want your own boy to be."
Jenks Alumni, OU Lineman, Chase Beeler
“He was somewhat stoic‚” former teammate Chase Beeler said. “But he was the perfect guy you wanted on your team. He never complained. He just worked really hard. He was a team player. He did whatever it took to help the team.”
Offensive Line Coach David Alexander
David Alexander joined the Trojans coaching staff this spring and knew Bennett through off-season workouts. He said the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Bennett had been projected to start at center this fall and that the offensive lineman was the type of young man every coach seeks to build a program. "Garrett grew up in the Jenks system," Alexander said. "He was your typical Jenks football player. His whole life was Jenks football. "He was a quiet young man. He never missed a workout. I think he enjoyed being with his teammates as much as he did the Friday night experience." Alexander also praised Bennett as a team player. "Every program needs this type of young man -- the kind you trust, the kind you didn't have to worry about," he said. "Garrett wasn't looking to be a star. He just wanted to be part of a championship program and do whatever he could to make the Jenks football team better."
Jenks Alumni, Missouri Southern Receiver,
Issaac Norman Isaac Norman, who graduated from Jenks High School this year and was a teammate of Bennett's, said they were good friends. "He was just a great guy," Norman said. "He was always laughing and smiling, and he was very athletically talented."
Union Football Booster Club
On behalf of the Union Football Booster Club, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bennett family. The Bennett family and the Trojans have suffered a great loss and we will remember Garrett this week and in this upcoming football season. Our blessings are with Garrett! May we all take this time to thank God for the precious gift of life today and each and every day. Allan J. Wondra2006 UFBC President