A Quiet Leader Who Specializes in Teamwork

Los Angeles can use all the leaders it can get. Some of them we already know about--the mayor, members of the City Council and other public officials, parents or that special teacher who can inspire students. Other leaders aren’t so easily categorized.

One surfaced in South-Central Los Angeles the other day. His new status isn’t likely to prompt a discussion over how best to revitalize L.A. or whether the mammoth L.A. Unified School District ought to be broken up into smaller agencies. He may not come immediately to mind in such conversations but he has something to contribute.

Mike Garrett is the kind of leader L.A. needs. He’s a quiet, dignified man who doesn’t cut corners. He demands excellence from those around him. He understands the city. It’s also his job to “fight on,” beat UCLA and obliterate the Fighting Irish.

Well, can’t have everything.

For those of you who don’t venture beyond the Metro section, Garrett, 48, has been named the new athletic director at USC, replacing Mike McGee, who left to become the athletic director at another USC, the University of South Carolina. Garrett was appointed to the top administrative post in USC’s athletic department by President Steven B. Sample after a nationwide search.

Normally, such news would be of interest only to those who read the sports pages or profess undying loyalty to the Trojans.

But I think this appointment is important because the city needs more Mike Garretts. He has made his mark here and hasn’t forgotten his roots. He knows the glory that a community can bestow on a hero and the pain that can befall its innocent victims.

That’s a rare combination these days.

Born and reared on the Eastside, Garrett is the first African-American to lead a major intercollegiate athletic program in Los Angeles, the most diverse town in the world. He lived for a time in the Maravilla public housing project in East L. A. but spent most of his early years in the Spanish-speaking neighborhoods near Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights.

The city first heard of Mike Garrett as an all-city running back at Roosevelt. Later on, he starred at USC.

Actually, starred is a poor word to use. He was a two-time all-American tailback who set 14 collegiate, conference and school records during his career at USC. In 1965, he became the first USC player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, college football’s most prestigious award. In later years, three other Trojan runners--O.J. Simpson, Charles White and Marcus Allen--followed Garrett’s path to the award.

He went on to a successful eight-year pro career with the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers. He played in two Super Bowls and was one of the stars in the Chiefs’ 1970 Super Bowl win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Before joining the USC athletic department three years ago, he was a youth counselor and an investigator, ran unsuccessfully for Congress and for the San Diego City Council, and held management positions in the retail, construction and real estate industries. He has a law degree.

But I remember him best as a grieving uncle.

In 1988, a niece, Andrea Denise Garrett, was gunned down in the Pico Village public housing project in Boyle Heights. Barely 20 and pregnant with her third child, she was another victim of L.A.’s senseless gang violence.

Assigned to write about the girl’s death, I remember seeing Garrett at the memorial service. It was held in a small church at the grimy housing project where she was killed. He didn’t seem angry or vengeful.

He was just very sad.

As he left the church, he stopped to chat with several gang members from the area. There were no angry words. He spoke quietly with them and later shook hands. The homeboys no doubt reminded him of the vatos he knew at Roosevelt.

He had no public comment about his niece’s killers, but he thanked me for attending the service.

He also shook my hand.

Sample, the university president, said he expects USC’s senior administrators and faculty to be leaders of the community, especially in view of recent events. That’s a reasonable expectation, given the school’s South-Central location.

Although his job is to oversee Trojan athletics, Garrett is aware that he holds a unique job at a unique time in city history.

“If I can be a fine example,” he said shortly after his appointment, “let me be a role model to others by setting an example.

“Being a Trojan is all that needs to be said.”

Putting school rhetoric aside, it sounds like we have a new leader in the city.