A native of Saratoga, Kevin Tanner played football, track, and wrestling at Saratoga High when he was a student there.  After graduating in 1981, he went on to four more years of football at Santa Clara University.

 

Now living in the same house he grew up in, Kevin is the President & Chief Investment Officer of Saratoga Research & Investment Management - one of the best performing money management firms in the country where five out of eight employees either played football with Kevin (or for him) at Saratoga High School.

 

If Kevin didn’t get the Coach of the Year Award for his dedication to the school, the students, and the families, he would have gotten it for the longevity of his dedication to the sport – since 1977 as a freshman at SHS, Kevin has played or coached football for twenty-four out of the last thirty-two season!  Kevin’s passion for football is engrained in many of his views and philosophies.  Falcons Sports News (FSN) talked to Kevin recently.

FSN: When did you begin coaching at SHS?  How did that happen?

KT: I am not 100% sure but think it was 1989. About four years into my career, I was missing the competition from sports (I also wanted to get back in shape) and was training over at the high school during football practice to start throwing the shot put competitively again. Benny Pierce saw me and came over; he asked me if I would be willing to coach the defensive line (I had been a center and nose guard at Santa Clara) and the rest was history.

FSN: How has been an athlete shaped your life? 

KT: I learned how to work hard, how to lead, and how to keep fighting through adversity.

FSN: What do you find most rewarding about coaching?

KT: When I can contribute to other kids learning the lessons that I learned.  I also like the competition.
 
FSN: What are the biggest differences between sports back then and now?

KT: In a world before cable TV, computers and video games, I think sports were a much larger part of growing up.

FSN: How about the (sports) environment back then compared to today? 

KT: In the late 70’s to early 80’s, Saratoga was not only the most dominant football team in the CCS, they also were among the elite in most other sports including baseball, basketball, swimming, etc. In some ways, it was a FAR more athletically competitive environment for kids because the school was much larger (SHS enrollment was around 2,200 - 2,300) and there were many more kids competing for the same amount of playing time. SHS was very deep in terms of talent then; on the teams that I played, most of the backups were good enough to have started for many of our opponent teams. Back then, when starters got hurt, they often would play through the pain because they knew if their backups got into the games, it was quite possible that they might not get their jobs back. It was always true in my own case. That sense of insecurity probably allowed me to set a school record for the most consecutive varsity starts at 36 straight games.

 

In other ways, it is far more competitive now for exactly the opposite reasons. Because we are now one of the smaller schools (a situation that is further compounded by demographics and parental attitudes), every team we play against has far more players than we do and they are usually much bigger physically than we are. Consequently, our kids have to work much harder than we did just to try to be competitive. Today, it takes some luck and an epoch effort just to make the playoffs; whereas back then, we KNEW we would be CCS champs by the time we were in 5th or 6th grade. Seriously.

 

FSN: Have attitudes and expectations towards high school football changed over the years?

KT: Parents have always been an important part of high school football. They do everything they can to try to give their kids an advantage. My attitude about "club" sports, especially for pre high school kids, is that they are largely counter-productive. Playing sports as a kid should be about learning the lessons that each sport can teach and having fun. Basketball, baseball, track and field, soccer, wrestling, the more sports the better; they all have different and important life lessons to teach. Specializing in one sport specifically because you think it will help you get into college or even a scholarship, for most people, is a terrible mistake. Kids get burned out and they miss out on so much. As it specifically pertains to football - which really is a special sport because there are so many lessons that you come away with - it would be a terrible mistake to avoid it so you could focus on another sport, or for most kids (at SHS), so you could completely focus on academics. Football is probably one of the single greatest classrooms available to kids who really do want to be successful in life - there really is nothing like it.

 

Over the years I have become convinced that kids who played football at Saratoga High School went on to earn far more money, on average, over their careers than any other single group within the school. I am confident that if a study was conducted of all the graduates of Saratoga High School since its founding, taking into consideration all sports, clubs, and any other factors like GPA or whether or not the kids went on to graduate from a four year college or even graduate school, the study would validate my belief. Incidentally, it has nothing to do with whether the kids went on to play in college or even if they were great football players in high school. It's totally related to learning how to manage a heavy workload, how to fight through adversity, leadership qualities, appreciating the importance of teamwork and understanding how to compete. I make these statements based on much more than a hunch. Having played with or coached nearly half the football players who have ever played at SHS, I know how they have done (later in life). SHS football alumni and their families donated roughly three quarters of the money it took to put in the turf field, the home and away bleachers, the lights, the baseball field, the upper field and even the new sports court - which collectively cost roughly $4.5M. The vast majority of the rest came from friends of the football program. And while I am certain of the statement I am making, money doesn't even tell the whole story. These ex-football players have moved on to become CEO's, doctors, lawyers, incredibly successful businessmen, and even coaches. One of our quarterbacks was recently named the head baseball coach at the University of Washington.

 

This is not to take away from any of the other sports. On the contrary, virtually all of the great football players were multi-sport athletes. The point is, it truly is a mistake for parents to direct their children to over specialize (too early in life). The more life lessons you can learn when you are young, the better off you will be later in life. Football just happens to be one of life's more productive classrooms.

FSN: Tell us about your family.

KT: My family moved to Saratoga when I was 5 and I am the son of a Doctor and a Nurse. I have a younger brother and sister whom were multi-sport athletes at SHS also. I married my high school sweetheart (who played softball at SHS) the year after I graduated from college and we live in the home I grew up in. We have two kids, Samantha who graduated from SHS last year and Jack who is an 8th grader at Redwood.

FSN: Do you know why you were selected as Coach of the Year for 2008-09?

KT: I have never been terribly interested in awards. I just work hard, do the best I can, and keep moving forward.

 

 

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