Lee County's first Black head football coach coming out of retirement to help lead Cape Coral

Nearly 4 1/2 years into retirement, Larry Gary missed the game he loved and coached for 36 years in Lee County.

Gary will be back on the sidelines this fall, leading a football program he's very familiar with. He's returning to take over at Cape Coral, albeit temporarily, following the departure of Barry Bowman after one season.

Gary, 66, broke a barrier in 1994 at Lehigh Senior, becoming the first Black head football coach in Lee County 25 years after schools were integrated in 1969.

Previously reported: Cape Coral football coach Larry Gary resigns after six seasons

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"We interviewed three people," Cape Coral Athletic Director Tom Kenna said. "Everyone was great in their own aspects of it all. Each one had their thing, offense, defense, etc. In the end, with the timing of it all in the middle of the summer, school coming close, Coach Gary's record of being a coach in Lee County and his history, and the fact that he's connected to a lot of our kids at our school already, it was an easier transition for us this year.

"It's been an incredible few days since we decided this. The renewed energy and the excitement he has us all fired up."

Gary will be providing a bridge to the Seahawks' future as he will be joined by Cape Coral alum Isaac Harvin. Harvin will be the associate head coach before taking over the head coaching role at a time to be determined, although Gary views himself as the interim head coach.

Gary coached Harvin and multiple of his relatives during his nearly four-decade coaching career. Gary made a promise to Harvin that if he ever got into coaching, he would take him under his wing.

"I'm mentoring Isaac to be a head coach. He's going to get a lot of the credit because I'm going to force him to work," Gary joked. "I promised him that if he had anything to do with this job, I would help him, I would mentor him, and I would try to get him in the right direction."

Harvin, who was inducted into the LCAC Hall of Fame earlier this year, previously served as an assistant coach at Cypress Lake. For the Seahawks, Harvin was a state champion and a brief state record holder in Class 4A in the 200-meter dash, where he ran a 21.15 in 1994.

"... When the job finally came open at my school, I was like, 'Why not?'," Harvin said. "I gave it a shot, and I had a lot of inspiration from coach Gary. He talked to me a lot, he thought I was ready to take on this challenge, and I figured, why not get this program back to where it was?

"What better guy to have to mentor you becoming a head coach, so big ups to him to coming out of retirement to help me this year."

Kenna expressed that of the thousands of alumni he's met over the years, there's few people who have as much passion towards the school than Harvin.

"We're super excited to have Isaac back on board," Kenna added. "First and foremost, his passion for our school, his passion for football, I've met a lot of alumni, and it's unbelievable how much he loves our school. We're also excited to allow him to have a larger role as associate head coach, and have more of a role in the program.

"It's exciting for him. We're always looking for our coaches to grow and gain the skills to eventually become head coaches."

Gary served as an assistant at Cape Coral for five years prior to assuming head coaching duties in 2012, where he coached through the 2017 season and compiled a 37-31 record. Over his Lee County coaching career, which includes two stints at Lehigh, Gary has a 66-63 record and will look to revive a Cape program that has a 10-29 record since his departure.

"At that time, we didn't expect him to come back," Kenna said. "Coach Gary has always gone to all the football games, he's been at almost every home game for every sport. He is part of our school, part of our athletic department, and for our community to have him come back again and help us into the future, it's really exciting for him to get back out there."

Kenna expressed optimism that the program could return to the winning ways it saw under Gary in 2014 and 2015, when the team combined to post a 17-6 record.

"We're excited. I think Coach Gary is going to do a great job this year and getting the kids and the program back in the right direction. Isaac's going to be there, his passion is going to jump off the board for all the kids. It's going to permeate throughout the building, and we're excited about that."

Harvin was more than excited about the return back to his alma mater, saying it was an offer that he just couldn't pass up.

"I'm coming home. I'm very excited about that. I'm coming home, man."

Follow Southwest Florida Sports Writer Alex Martin on Twitter: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Larry Gary coming out of retirement, will help coach Cape Coral football