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Garth Gerhart isn’t one to speak up or be vocal around his teammates.That’s just how he is. It’s how he’s always been.
Gerhart would much rather quietly go about his business and let his play on the football field speak for itself, and that’s exactly what he’s done for the past five seasons.
The senior center is now four games into his final season as a member of the ASU football team. Gerhart has evolved into not only one of the Pac-12’s elite centers, but one of the best in the nation as well. He was named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List before the season, a trophy that is awarded to the nation’s best center.
Gerhart was also selected by his teammates as one of three co-captains prior to the start of the 2011 campaign. While junior quarterback Brock Osweiler and senior linebacker Colin Parker lead vocally, he chooses to take a different approach.
“I just play by example and lead by example,” Gerhart said. “I just do the right things out here and do the right things off the field, in the film room, everything. People see that stuff and they build off it.”
That method of leadership has worked throughout Gerhart’s Sun Devil career. His quiet, but influential example has people taking notice.
“You seem him out here on the field and his work ethic on and off the field and in the weight room,” senior tackle Dan Knapp said. “It drives people to want to be like him and work. It shows the way you work. That’s obviously what’s going on and what people are responding to.”
Gerhart’s preference to let others do the yelling and outgoing leadership was put on hold before last week’s bout against then No. 23 Southern California. ASU coach Dennis Erickson asked his starting center to address the team after dinner on the Friday evening before game day.
“He got nervous and came to talk to me and was like ‘Dan I got to talk in front of the whole team after dinner tonight,’” Knapp said. “We went through some speeches he could say. He did a great job, I’ll give him that. He got us all riled up and stuff. It was pretty cool to see.”
Turns out Gerhart may have said all the right things, as he and the Sun Devils handed USC a 43-22 loss on Saturday to end an 11-year winless drought against the Trojans. It was not only a marquee win for the program, but for Gerhart on an individual basis as well.
“I talked to the guys about the fact that I have been here almost five years and I still have not beaten the Trojans,” Gerhart said. “Plus I am from Southern California and we know what SC is all about so it is a huge win for us.”
Gerhart’s ascension to starting center at ASU began at Norco High School in Norco, Calif. While there, he was named 2006 Co-Most Valuable Player of the C.I.F. Eastern division. Gerhart also received All-Inland Empire, All-Southern Section and All-State honors.
As he was piecing together a stellar high school career, Gerhart was under the direction of his father, Todd, who is Norco’s head coach. He also teamed with his brother Toby Gerhart on offense.
“Playing for my dad was really cool,” Gerhart said. “It wasn't crazy like people say 'Oh, what's it like to go home with your dad being the coach?' We wouldn't really even talk about football. We'd just go home like a normal family.”
After following the Pac-10 all his life, Gerhart headed to ASU where he started his collegiate football career as a member of the scout team. That experience helped him learn and develop into the offensive lineman that he is today.
“It was a real good experience,” Gerhart said. “You learn a ton of things about football. Going against the ones every day you really get that full effect of how fast college football is.”
In 2008 and 2009, he started a combined 10 games before starting all 12 in 2010. Now in 2011, Gerhart is competing in his final season in Maroon and Gold. The Sun Devils have played in just four games and they’ve already defeated a pair of Top-25 opponents.
It’s accomplishments like those that make it all worthwhile.
“This is the reason why I play,” Gerhart said. “It’s not for all the offseason training and all that stuff. Even doing all that stuff it’s for moments like what happened last Saturday.”
It’s been five years since Gerhart started at ASU as a member of the scout team. Since then he’s quietly and unassumingly put together a standout collegiate career.
And that’s just how he likes it.
Reach the reporter at greg.dillard@asu.edu
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