UK coach wrote a vision for the future. His boss wouldn’t read it, and now he knows why.
Sitting in the lobby of Nutter Field House in late September, Tim Garrison reflected on his journey in gymnastics to this point, while also pointing to the future of what the sport can be in Kentucky.
Garrison is on the doorstep of his 12th season as UK gymnastics head coach, a highly successful stint so far for the Conroe, Texas, native, whose wife, Rachel, is also on the UK coaching staff as the program’s associate head coach.
During Garrison’s time leading the Kentucky program, the Wildcats have reached new heights on the competition floor, including reaching the NCAA national semifinals as a team for the first time in 2018 and recording the highest team score in program history last season.
These accomplishments are even more admirable given how Garrison’s introduction to college coaching came about.
He competed as a college gymnast for one year at California State University, Fullerton, before the school shut down the men’s gymnastics program.
But the head coach of the women’s gymnastics team at Cal State Fullerton knew Garrison had previous coaching experience, and offered him a position on staff as a third assistant coach.
This meant Garrison went from walk-on member of the men’s gymnastics team to getting a scholarship to help coach the women’s team.
“I’m probably one of the only people that actually worked out for,” Garrison can now say of the Cal State Fullerton men’s program being shut down.
Following time spent in club gymnastics, Garrison made the move back to collegiate gymnastics and was an assistant coach at Nebraska for five years.
After the Kentucky head coaching job came open in fall 2010, both Garrison and another member of the Nebraska staff were interviewed for the position by UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart.
“I got here and I had my program plan all printed out, had probably five copies of it. I walked into Mitch’s office, and handed it to him and he goes, ‘Ah, you can just put that over there,’ and didn’t even look at it,” Garrison remembers. “He didn’t want to read what I had written down. He wanted to hear a vision. He wanted to talk. He wanted to find out about me and he wanted to hear what I thought the program could be, from where it is, where it could go, what that would look like. He didn’t want something that was basically just like read to him. ... That struck me.”
In the 11 seasons that have followed Garrison’s appointment, UK has become a consistent, competitive presence both in the SEC and nationally.
Ahead of the 2023 season — which will start for UK on Jan. 8 with a meet at Ohio State — Kentucky was voted No. 11 in the country in the preseason Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) poll.
UK has appeared in the poll every year that Garrison has been the head coach, including consecutive top-10 appearances prior to the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Kentucky’s success under Garrison — and the expectation for it — is a marked change from the program he inherited more than a decade ago.
“When we first got here, it’s hard to enjoy not being successful, and the program was not successful. We were at the basement of the SEC,” Garrison recalls honestly. “We didn’t have a chance to win. On the weekend we would go into a competition knowing we were going to be beat.”
One moment from these initial seasons still sticks out.
Garrison was being interviewed prior to an SEC meet, and he was asked how it would feel to win the meet.
“I’m like, ‘It wouldn’t feel like anything because we’re not winning this meet.’ I remember saying that and they were taken aback by the honesty,” Garrison said.
But that part has changed for Garrison and the Wildcats.
“Where we compete — in the top 10, top 12 — our margin for error is very small, so if (recruits) come in and they’re already good, and we can make them that much better, then we’re going to be in a pretty good spot,” Garrison said. “I think that’s what we’ve been able to do.”
Garrison receives contract extension
In September, it was announced that Garrison — who is only the third head coach in the history of the UK gymnastics program — signed a contract extension through the 2026 season.
“He’s done a remarkable job in coaching our team to its greatest heights and look forward to continued success in the future,” Barnhart said in the news release announcing Garrison’s contract extension.
Over his 11 seasons as UK’s head coach, Garrison has become the Wildcats’ all-time winningest head coach.
Among the accolades and historic program marks achieved with Garrison leading the program are the following:
▪ 11 All-Americans;
▪ 11 trips to the NCAA regional championships;
▪ 2018 National Coach of the Year;
▪ UK’s team debut at the NCAA national championships (2018);
▪ Highest season-ending ranking in UK history (No. 9 after 2018 season);
▪ Highest team score in UK history (197.750 in 2022).
According to Garrison’s new contract (which runs from July 2022 through June 2026), he will receive an annual base salary of $220,000.
There are also several non-cumulative bonuses on the table for Garrison during the contract period, including a $30,000 bonus for winning the SEC championship and a $35,000 bonus should UK become national champions.
After nearly a dozen years of record-setting success at Kentucky, what keeps Garrison coming back for more?
“When I drive to work I’m smiling, I’m happy, I enjoy the day to day. I’m motivated to get these athletes to that level. I want to see them at the national championships competing,” Garrison said. “I think for me that’s what staves off any kind of burnout or anything like that. It’s the day to day I enjoy. ... I’m enjoying the process.”
Future uncertainty
Something that remains part of the context for this upcoming Kentucky gymnastics season is the unknown of where the team will host home meets in the near future.
Planned renovations to Memorial Coliseum are expected to force four UK women’s sports (gymnastics, STUNT, volleyball and women’s basketball) out of their home arena during the 2023-24 school year, Barnhart previously told the Herald-Leader.
UK has not announced where the temporary homes for those programs will be for their 2023-24 seasons.
During his wide-ranging interview with the Herald-Leader in late September, Garrison mentioned some potential options for UK gymnastics given the Memorial Coliseum renovations.
Garrison mentioned potentially hosting more meets inside Rupp Arena, potentially hosting meets at Alltech Arena on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park and potentially hosting fewer home events next season.
“I think the end result (of the renovations) is going to be worth whatever shakeup we have to deal with,” Garrison said. “It’ll be something we can manage, it won’t be something that’s outrageous.”
Looking ahead to a renovated Memorial Coliseum, Garrison expects it will be an upgrade to the fan experience.
“We’re a winter sport, what’s going to get people out of their houses in January, February to come down to Memorial Coliseum to see us? It’s the fan experience,” Garrison explained. “Our sport, it’s a fun environment, there’s risk involved ... just the sheer athleticism, the feeling in the room, it’s a completely different experience than you would have at home.”
There’s also the potential recruiting benefit that would come to the Kentucky gymnastics program with a new-look home arena.
Garrison said there are renderings up in UK’s locker room to show recruits what the facility will look like in the near future.
An improved in-person experience at Memorial Coliseum, where UK hosts the majority of its home meets, would also complement the increased exposure the program gets from the annual Excite Night meet at Rupp Arena, as well as prime-time Friday night television slots during the season on the SEC Network.
“I don’t think it’s going to slow down, I think it’s going to get stronger and stronger. I think in this community there’s definitely an appetite for gymnastics, there’s no question about it,” Garrison said.
2022-23 Kentucky gymnastics schedule
(Home meets in all capital letters)
Jan. 8: At No. 19 Ohio State, 2 p.m.
Jan. 13: No. 6 LSU, 6 p.m.-1
Jan. 20: At No. 20 Georgia, 7 p.m.
Jan. 27: No. 7 ALABAMA, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 3: At No. 9 Missouri, 6 p.m.
Feb. 10: EASTERN MICHIGAN, 7 p.m.
Feb. 17: No. 15 ARKANSAS, 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 24: At No. 2 Florida, 6 p.m.
March 3: No. 5 AUBURN, 7 p.m.-2
March 11: At No. 23 Illinois, 3 p.m.
March 18: SEC Championships
March 29-31: NCAA regional championships
April 13-15: NCAA national championships
1-Excite Night at Rupp Arena; 2-Senior Night
Preseason rankings
Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll for 2023 (SEC teams in bold):
1. Oklahoma
2. Florida
3. Utah
4. Michigan
5. Auburn
6. LSU
7. Alabama
8. California
9. Missouri
10. UCLA
11. Kentucky
12. Michigan State
13. Denver
14. Oregon State
15. Arkansas
16. Minnesota
17. Stanford
18. Iowa
19. Ohio State
20. Georgia
21. Washington
22. BYU
23. Illinois
24. Arizona State
25. Arizona
26. Boise State
27. North Carolina
28. Southern Utah
29. Maryland
30. Iowa State
31. North Carolina State
32. Nebraska
33. West Virginia
34. Utah State
35. Penn State
36. San Jose State
