University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Kyle Garland
June 15, 2020 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Kyle Garland had a big redshirt freshman indoor season for the Georgia track and field team, winning the SEC Indoor Championship in the heptathlon and being named SEC Men's Freshman Athlete of the Year. With Garland and teammates Johannes Erm and Karel Tilga, Georgia had three of the best multi-events competitors in the country.
It's quite possible that Georgia could have gone 1-2-3 in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoors and in the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoors, but then the coronavirus pandemic hit and suddenly the season was finished. A Philadelphia native, Garland has been home since March, training with his father, Keith, who has coached him since his early days in track and field.
During a recent Quick Chat, the 6-foot-5 multi-talented Garland talked about staying fit during a pandemic, playing multiple musical instruments, listening and connecting with people during these challenging times and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What have you been doing the last few months, either to stay fit or to keep sane and active?
Garland: I think a lot of it has been appreciating being around my family a lot more than I thought I would be this year, for one. I'm also keeping my base for training, so I've just been staying in shape. I haven't been doing anything too crazy, just keeping my body ready to go for when our season starts.
Frierson: As somebody that does so many different things in the decathlon, have you been able to do much of anything as it relates to your events?
Garland: Oh, definitely. Actually, when it comes to conditioning work I have a lot of stuff in my garage that I'm able to do. My dad had been my coach from the time I started track and field until I went off to college, so we do some stuff at home. There's actually a track, my high school track, that just opened back up not too long ago so I've been able to get on there and do some of the event work. It's been good and I've been able to maintain everything.
Frierson: How weird is it to have gone this long without a meet, especially at a time of year when you'd ordinarily have been very busy the past few months?
Garland: It has definitely been a little harder going without a meet, just because I'm so used around this time going from meet to meet to meet. It's been a little difficult but I'm getting through it any way I can. Being able to train at least is helping with that.
Frierson: Are you doing anything to stoke those competitive fires?
Garland: A little bit, yeah. Pretty soon, if I'm home for that much longer, I think my dad and I will contact some of my friends that are back home from different colleges and try to simulate a time trial, just for a little bit more competition and fun.
Frierson: What was it like learning and training with your dad as your coach for so many years?
Garland: It was actually a lot of fun and it actually drove me, I feel like, to be a better athlete through high school and stay more dedicated and motivated. Just having my dad in the house every day, I felt like I couldn't slack. I feel like everything I was doing was working towards getting better and at the time getting to this collegiate level, so I was working every day. Taking that attitude into college, my mindset was every day is a grind and nothing else really matters as of right now.
That's where my mindset's been and I've been able to drill that into my head just training with my dad every day. It helped a lot getting ready for college competition, for sure.
Frierson: I'm told that not only are you very into music, you can play four instruments. What do you play and have you been playing a lot during this coronavirus shutdown?
Garland: I used to play the violin, the drums, piano and guitar, so very versatile, and I also have a great musical ear, as well. Lately, I haven't been playing instruments as much but I've been listening to a lot of music. It's just really relaxing so lately I've been diversifying, I guess, my music tastes instead of just sticking to what everybody thinks young kids listen to these days.
I listen to a bunch of oldies from all different times; it's something that I love, it's like a passion for me.
Frierson: Of all the instruments that you played, was there one that was your favorite or that you were best at?
Garland: When I was playing violin that was my favorite just because it was something different for me, being a big guy. Not many people would have thought that's what I would choose to play. It was a lot of fun to play that instrument because it was different and not many people in my area especially were playing violin. It felt cool for me to be doing something that was different and allowed me to stand out.
At the school that I was at for high school and middle school, we were playing a lot of classical music, so when I came home in my free time I'd try to play songs that I would hear on the radio. I would try to play some of my favorite artists, specifically Michael Jackson. I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan so I would try to play some of his songs on the violin, playing around the house and for my family. It was a lot of fun.
Frierson: Have you picked up any new hobbies or reacquainted yourself with any old ones since everything got shut down?
Garland: What I find myself doing is actually playing basketball which is funny because a lot of people think just because I'm a taller guy, oh, you definitely play basketball. I actually haven't played basketball on a team since I was 6 years old. Just doing that is a lot of fun for me.
I have some friends from home and we'll go out in my backyard and shoot around and play games. That's something fun and that's probably a spot that if I wasn't doing track I would work on a little bit more. I guess when I have free time now I want to play ball a little bit.
Frierson: Did you have a favorite Philly team or player growing up?
Garland: I'm a Philly guy and Philly sports fans support all Philly sports. I'm not really a guy that will hop on a team just because they're getting a lot of hype or whatever. My team is my team and that's who I root for, so I'm always watching the Sixers and the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and all that.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Garland: It's probably not the most healthy option but fried chicken. I love fried chicken, like I'm a big fried guy, especially if my mom's making it. If she's making it, I'll eat fried chicken every day.
Frierson: Given the training that you do, particularly in normal times, do you eat almost constantly? Do you ever get tired of eating?
Garland: It's funny, I don't get sick of eating. I eat a lot a lot but just because I'm working out as much as I am, my metabolism is so high. I'll work out and then I'll eat and I'm still burning all those calories off, so it's just flowing through my body. It's like a machine so it doesn't feel like I'm eating too much or too little, I feel like I'm eating the perfect amount for what I need to do and what I want to accomplish.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Garland: I'd probably want to be really good at tennis or golf or something, one of those sports that not many people show recognition for but it takes so much skill to be really, really good at those sports. I'd want to master one of those sports for a day.
Frierson: How have you experienced everything that's been going on around the country following the death of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement? Are you feeling at all inspired by the protests that are happening and how it seems like maybe some changes are finally going to take place?
Garland: I definitely feel like this time has been good for a lot of different reasons. For everybody else, one, to become educated, people that aren't educated about all the issues that are going on. Two, for myself, to actually get time to really think about everything and process it.
I think with everything that's going on in my life, with training and all that, it's really hard to sit down and really process all that's going on and to really chew everything up and digest all of it in a proper way. Just being home and not really having much else to worry about and to just really think of everything, it allows me to be an outlet for many other people so that they can sit down and talk to me.
I'm open to listening and putting my ideas out there in any way possible. I know during this time it's very rough being a listener and being actively listening is something that plays a huge part in some change, being able to take in what other people are saying and accept it. You may not always agree with it but being able to do that in a very mature way is what I've been doing.
Just taking everything, processing everything and being an outlet for people to talk to has been huge for me.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Kyle Garland had a big redshirt freshman indoor season for the Georgia track and field team, winning the SEC Indoor Championship in the heptathlon and being named SEC Men's Freshman Athlete of the Year. With Garland and teammates Johannes Erm and Karel Tilga, Georgia had three of the best multi-events competitors in the country.
It's quite possible that Georgia could have gone 1-2-3 in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoors and in the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoors, but then the coronavirus pandemic hit and suddenly the season was finished. A Philadelphia native, Garland has been home since March, training with his father, Keith, who has coached him since his early days in track and field.
During a recent Quick Chat, the 6-foot-5 multi-talented Garland talked about staying fit during a pandemic, playing multiple musical instruments, listening and connecting with people during these challenging times and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What have you been doing the last few months, either to stay fit or to keep sane and active?
Garland: I think a lot of it has been appreciating being around my family a lot more than I thought I would be this year, for one. I'm also keeping my base for training, so I've just been staying in shape. I haven't been doing anything too crazy, just keeping my body ready to go for when our season starts.
Frierson: As somebody that does so many different things in the decathlon, have you been able to do much of anything as it relates to your events?
Garland: Oh, definitely. Actually, when it comes to conditioning work I have a lot of stuff in my garage that I'm able to do. My dad had been my coach from the time I started track and field until I went off to college, so we do some stuff at home. There's actually a track, my high school track, that just opened back up not too long ago so I've been able to get on there and do some of the event work. It's been good and I've been able to maintain everything.
Frierson: How weird is it to have gone this long without a meet, especially at a time of year when you'd ordinarily have been very busy the past few months?
Garland: It has definitely been a little harder going without a meet, just because I'm so used around this time going from meet to meet to meet. It's been a little difficult but I'm getting through it any way I can. Being able to train at least is helping with that.
Frierson: Are you doing anything to stoke those competitive fires?
Garland: A little bit, yeah. Pretty soon, if I'm home for that much longer, I think my dad and I will contact some of my friends that are back home from different colleges and try to simulate a time trial, just for a little bit more competition and fun.
Frierson: What was it like learning and training with your dad as your coach for so many years?
Garland: It was actually a lot of fun and it actually drove me, I feel like, to be a better athlete through high school and stay more dedicated and motivated. Just having my dad in the house every day, I felt like I couldn't slack. I feel like everything I was doing was working towards getting better and at the time getting to this collegiate level, so I was working every day. Taking that attitude into college, my mindset was every day is a grind and nothing else really matters as of right now.
That's where my mindset's been and I've been able to drill that into my head just training with my dad every day. It helped a lot getting ready for college competition, for sure.
Frierson: I'm told that not only are you very into music, you can play four instruments. What do you play and have you been playing a lot during this coronavirus shutdown?
Garland: I used to play the violin, the drums, piano and guitar, so very versatile, and I also have a great musical ear, as well. Lately, I haven't been playing instruments as much but I've been listening to a lot of music. It's just really relaxing so lately I've been diversifying, I guess, my music tastes instead of just sticking to what everybody thinks young kids listen to these days.
I listen to a bunch of oldies from all different times; it's something that I love, it's like a passion for me.
Frierson: Of all the instruments that you played, was there one that was your favorite or that you were best at?
Garland: When I was playing violin that was my favorite just because it was something different for me, being a big guy. Not many people would have thought that's what I would choose to play. It was a lot of fun to play that instrument because it was different and not many people in my area especially were playing violin. It felt cool for me to be doing something that was different and allowed me to stand out.
At the school that I was at for high school and middle school, we were playing a lot of classical music, so when I came home in my free time I'd try to play songs that I would hear on the radio. I would try to play some of my favorite artists, specifically Michael Jackson. I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan so I would try to play some of his songs on the violin, playing around the house and for my family. It was a lot of fun.
Frierson: Have you picked up any new hobbies or reacquainted yourself with any old ones since everything got shut down?
Garland: What I find myself doing is actually playing basketball which is funny because a lot of people think just because I'm a taller guy, oh, you definitely play basketball. I actually haven't played basketball on a team since I was 6 years old. Just doing that is a lot of fun for me.
I have some friends from home and we'll go out in my backyard and shoot around and play games. That's something fun and that's probably a spot that if I wasn't doing track I would work on a little bit more. I guess when I have free time now I want to play ball a little bit.
Frierson: Did you have a favorite Philly team or player growing up?
Garland: I'm a Philly guy and Philly sports fans support all Philly sports. I'm not really a guy that will hop on a team just because they're getting a lot of hype or whatever. My team is my team and that's who I root for, so I'm always watching the Sixers and the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and all that.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Garland: It's probably not the most healthy option but fried chicken. I love fried chicken, like I'm a big fried guy, especially if my mom's making it. If she's making it, I'll eat fried chicken every day.
Frierson: Given the training that you do, particularly in normal times, do you eat almost constantly? Do you ever get tired of eating?
Garland: It's funny, I don't get sick of eating. I eat a lot a lot but just because I'm working out as much as I am, my metabolism is so high. I'll work out and then I'll eat and I'm still burning all those calories off, so it's just flowing through my body. It's like a machine so it doesn't feel like I'm eating too much or too little, I feel like I'm eating the perfect amount for what I need to do and what I want to accomplish.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Garland: I'd probably want to be really good at tennis or golf or something, one of those sports that not many people show recognition for but it takes so much skill to be really, really good at those sports. I'd want to master one of those sports for a day.
Frierson: How have you experienced everything that's been going on around the country following the death of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement? Are you feeling at all inspired by the protests that are happening and how it seems like maybe some changes are finally going to take place?
Garland: I definitely feel like this time has been good for a lot of different reasons. For everybody else, one, to become educated, people that aren't educated about all the issues that are going on. Two, for myself, to actually get time to really think about everything and process it.
I think with everything that's going on in my life, with training and all that, it's really hard to sit down and really process all that's going on and to really chew everything up and digest all of it in a proper way. Just being home and not really having much else to worry about and to just really think of everything, it allows me to be an outlet for many other people so that they can sit down and talk to me.
I'm open to listening and putting my ideas out there in any way possible. I know during this time it's very rough being a listener and being actively listening is something that plays a huge part in some change, being able to take in what other people are saying and accept it. You may not always agree with it but being able to do that in a very mature way is what I've been doing.
Just taking everything, processing everything and being an outlet for people to talk to has been huge for me.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
Multi-Events
/ Track & Field
Multi-Events
/ Track & Field
Multi-Events
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