By Gabriella Chernoff
Contributing Writer
“The distance between success and failure can only be measured by one’s desire.”
The words that Eric Gardner lived by and instilled into athletes during his 22-year baseball coaching career at Sunrise Mountain, but never lived through until his journey to becoming Liberty high school’s Athletic Director.
The position was something he had always dreamed about, but the process of achieving it was far from easy.
“I applied for eight different athletic director jobs, and it wasn't until Liberty that I finally got one,” said Gardner. “I've waited for this job for a long time, and I had a rough two years after I retired from baseball because I couldn't get hired.”
He was turned down by several schools within the Peoria Unified School District (PUSD), and some outside, including the one he spent 22 years coaching at. He explained that he was the runner-up in every instance, and it was hard to persevere and stay patient through the many, “Eric, you’re amazing, but we’re gonna have to go with the other guy,” phone calls he received.
Liberty happened to also be in search of a new athletic director amidst the discouraging calls, so Gardner sat down for an interview with Principal Shawn Duguid and a handful of head coaches.
“I’ll never forget the interview,” said Gardner. “Those guys were drilling me with questions about coaching. Not about being an administrator, but about coaching. And I think that I was able to have a conversation with them… And I left, like, I totally connected with these guys.”
Still, after an interview that felt different than any others he had done before, Garder was not confident he would get the role.
“Was I gonna get a job at Liberty, the biggest school in the district with the most successful athletic programs? No,” said Gardner.
But for Duguid? The decision was a no-brainer.
“It was obvious to me that all the head coaches in the room wanted him, which to me, spoke volumes,” said Duguid. Along with the coaches, he also felt Gardner was the strongest candidate, and everyone in that room’s shared opinion has since been proven right.
“I think going through that two year process taught me that idea of that quote, because I was seeing myself as failing every single time, but it was my desire to do this that kept pushing me and pushing me and pushing me,” said Gardner.
He received the call in the middle of a baseball game he was volunteer-coaching at, and says it was, “hugs and tears,” in the dugout.
“I was vindicated of my own thoughts,” said Duguid. “Because if somebody cries, you know that they're so happy and excited at the opportunity. I just knew he was going to do a great job.”
Gardner has done just that. In just his second year as an athletic director, he was an Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) Administrator Of The Year Finalist, up for the award against candidates with over 30 years of experience in the role. Liberty also won the AIA Director’s Cup for 2023-24, an award given each year to the Arizona high school with the greatest achievements in athletics, arts and academics.
Athletic directors in the PUSD are unique from those in other districts in the sense that they play an administrative role school-wide, beyond just the athletic department. Duguid expressed that it’s common for ADs to have tunnel vision and only worry about athletics, but that Gardner pours himself into the arts and academics just as much as he does Liberty’s athletic department; or the “three A’s,” as they call it.
Beyond accolades and awards, Gardner’s background as a coach has helped him establish deep, meaningful relationships with Liberty’s coaches that embody a sense of empathy and understanding that is hard to come by.
“I think that it works because I walked in their shoes for 22 years,” said Gardner. “So when they have a parent problem, I've had that parent problem. When they have an athlete that's going rogue, I've had an athlete go rogue. When they have coaches that aren't in alignment with them, I've had coaches that weren't in alignment with me. So those are easy conversations.”
Liberty Boy’s Head Basketball Coach Mark Wood has known Gardner for 25 years, and can attest to just how impactful and valuable he is in each and every facet of his job.
“He has a vested interest in serving as a bigger capacity, and as a result, creating an athletic program that is elite,” said Wood. “He listens to what you want, what you're passionate about, and tries to help.”
Gardner credits his wife, Heidi, and his father with being instrumental figures in how he got to where he is today, and how he approaches his life as a whole. He said that Heidi has been the, “behind the bench coach,” for 20 years, and taught him patience through his hiring process. She told him, “Let go and let God,” and he was better off because of it.
His father was an extremely successful businessman, who taught him many of the valuable traits that could have enabled him to be the same, but he channeled those qualities into his chosen career path instead.
“He gave me so many pointers throughout the years,” said Gardner. “I got to my North Star, and I wouldn't have gotten there without him.”
As Gardner enters his 27th year in education, he tells Heidi he’ll continue to work as long as he enjoys it. When his day to retire does come, he’ll, “walk away and just do life with her.” Until then, Gardner will continue making positive and meaningful impacts on everyone at Liberty, doing what he loves and what he had always envisioned himself doing.
“I'm the king of being the runner up,” said Gardner. “It wasn't until Shawn Duguid called me that I actually was a champion for once.”
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