03 Aug ‘He Was A Safe Space For All of Us’: Remembering Gerald ‘Coach G’ Montgomery

The late Gerald “Coach G” Montgomery held many roles throughout his life, but all included being a mentor of sorts.

Story by Joe Porrello | Photos courtesy of Louis Montgomery

Dedicating over three decades to local sports and youth in need of guidance, the late Gerald “Coach G” Montgomery gave countless children hope, comfort, advice, constructive criticism, and even shelter and rides to school.

“He was a great man, a great coach, a great mentor, a great father,” said his 39-year-old son, Louis Montgomery. “I haven’t heard of too many kids or people that didn’t like him. He would give the shirt off his back to any kid.”

A longtime coach at Hercules High with strong ties to Richmond, Gerald Montgomery died in 2022 at the age of 59. Two years later, those close to him say Coach G’s unexpected death continues to leave a hollow feeling in the communities of Richmond and Hercules and beyond.

“It was hard for a lot of people,” said Montgomery. “If I see people in the neighborhood or on the road, they always tell me what a big influence he was.”

Only 13 when his own father died, Coach G tried giving others the support he lacked at the same age, Montgomery says.

Growing up in North Richmond, the elder Montgomery graduated from Richmond High in 1980 as a basketball All-American. Shortly after, he would find his calling as a coach in both sports and life.

Teams and programs under Coach G’s tutelage included the Berkeley Cougars Pop Warner football team, Richmond Athletic Youth Association, and Richmond Police Activity League basketball. Helping mold numerous college scholarship athletes, he contributed to the fundamental foundation of 14-year NBA veteran Drew Gooden while coaching at El Cerrito High.

“As a coach, he was understanding, but at the same time expected and demanded respect,” said Montgomery. “He would tell everyone he didn’t have time to sugarcoat things… He wasn’t shy about telling you the truth.”

Growing up in Richmond and playing basketball for the Oilers — though under Coach Ken Carter — Montgomery says his house was a secure place for youth from all over the area to “have fun and be a kid,” while also learning about athletics.

“Even though we lived on the Southside, everybody from Parchester (Village), Central, North Richmond, everybody was welcome,” he said. 

Montgomery’s childhood friend Quinton Ganther agreed.

“You knew when you came to Coach G’s house, I don’t care what differences you had, that s— was done,” he said. “It didn’t matter who your parents were or what you did wrong, he was a safe space for all of us.”

Now a football coach at the University of Utah and formerly an NFL running back for five seasons, Ganther met Coach G at age 11 while playing on a baseball team with Louis at Nicholl Park. 

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“He took me in and raised me as his son,” said Ganther, whose father was in and out of prison. “I was the kid everybody thought was going to be in jail or dead, but he believed in me and wouldn’t let it happen.”

He and others who crossed paths with Coach G, Ganther says, were wiser than most their age thanks to what they learned from him. 

“Nothing was off limits. He was teaching us life lessons as kids, so nothing that we came across or ran into we were surprised by,” said Ganther. “I don’t know who in the community now holds that type of weight that these kids respect enough to let that communication take place.”

When Ganther became a father in high school, Coach G was there to see the birth of his child and teach him how to take care of his family. When Ganther wanted to buy a home or was upset or unsure about something, he checked in with Coach G.

“Even as an adult, I never made a big family decision or big business decision without consulting him,” he said. “He’s the first person I called for everything in my life. I never understood how he had an answer for almost anything.”

Ganther says he even owes his career to the inspiration of Coach G.

“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be a coach,” he said. “The way he loved me and loved kids in the community, I couldn’t do anything but give that back.”

While playing for the Tennessee Titans, Ganther flew out Coach G to see his favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, when the two teams played each other.

Today, Ganther says he still has a hard time accepting that his mentor is no longer alive.

“I’m going through things in life, and all I want to do is talk to him,” he said while fighting back tears. “I called his phone last week just to hear his voicemail.”

Richmond-raised Deandre Mitchell, also known as the rapper Laz Tha Boy, says he gravitated to the Montgomery household as a child to have familial warmth and friends to hang out with who did not get into trouble.

“Most of the family I gathered was in the streets because that’s where I was as a kid,” he said. “A lot of kids from the ghetto, coming from where we come from, they didn’t have that structure, that fatherly figure.”

Coach G’s tough love, Mitchell says, often had to grow on someone before they appreciated it.

“You could be mad at him, but he’d stand on what he said because he could already see your potential… or what could be your demise,” he said. “He’d always stay on people’s backs.”

Mitchell says Coach G could connect on a deeper level with local youth because they could relate to him.

“He came from what we come from,” he said.

Moving his family and community-oriented approach to Hercules in 2003, Coach G would put down new roots that grew just as strong as the ones he developed in Richmond. 

He coached football as well as boys and girls basketball at Hercules High, with his longest tenure being 15 years leading the baseball team. He came to be known as “Mr. Hercules” and often hosted summer barbecues for staff and students.

Hercules High held a memorial for Coach G on its baseball field, which it renamed for him, in June 2022, the month he died. Now, the school’s football field and basketball court also bear his name.

“Having my sons who are going to be freshmen next year play on the field that’s named after their grandpa is something that they’re looking forward to,” said Montgomery. 

Beginning as a volunteer coach alongside his father, Montgomery kept working with him for the next 17 years and is now the Hercules High baseball head coach himself.

“To continue his legacy is a great thing,” he said. “I’m just trying to give myself comfort, as well as the kids and families that know him some comfort of seeing a familiar face still out here.”

Though, at times, Montgomery says he feels the large size of the shoes he’s filling.

“That’s usually when I’m thinking about him on an emotional level, but then when I get around the boys, it makes everything all right,” he said.

Next season, Montgomery will lead a group of Hercules High seniors who were the last to be taught baseball by his father.

For the Record: An earlier version of this story misidentified the child in the second photo as his son Louis; it is his grandson Reggie.