Staff photo.
Coaches and brothers Doug Gann, left, and Lee Gann, right, meet at home plate with a pair of officials to exchange lineups and review field rules before the start of a Homewood-Mountain Brook baseball game in February 2017. The brothers’ father also coached multiple sports for Berry High School as well as Homewood High School.
The Gann family has built a legacy when it comes to sports in the Birmingham metro area.
Gerald Gann’s coaching career spanned more than 40 years. He coached baseball, basketball and football teams at various stops, including Berry, Homewood, Hoover and John Carroll Catholic high schools.
Doug and Lee Gann, Gerald’s two sons, have followed in their father’s footsteps to successful coaching careers of their own. Doug served as baseball coach at Homewood for 15 years before becoming the school’s athletic director. Lee has been the baseball coach at Mountain Brook for more than 20 years.
Both brothers said coaching was a natural decision as a career choice.
“I knew early on that I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps, despite my mother wanting me to do something else,” Doug said. “One of the many things that I admired about my father was the way he treated people and how he cared for his players, even to this day. The respect of the game and preparing for competition was something that was instilled in me from an early age. I'm sure there are children who wouldn't want to play for their fathers, but I thoroughly loved my experience.”
Lee said sports have always been a part of their lives.
“All we had ever done was play sports,” he said. “We were always on a field or in a gym. Those were our playgrounds. Even before we played ball, we were at our dad’s games. That is what we did for fun.”
While both brothers were coaching, they had plenty of chances to coach against each other, making for a unique experience.
“Our dad always taught that it wasn’t about who you were playing or coaching against. It was about the next game. Whether I was coaching against my brother or someone else, I wanted to win. We are both competitive and wanted the same thing,” Lee said.
Doug said he never wanted to lose to his brother, especially in their younger days.
“With me being the older brother, I never wanted to lose to my little brother when we were growing up. I definitely didn't want to lose playing against each other in college,” he said. “When we coached against each other, though, I didn't think of it as me versus him; it was the next game and it wasn't about us.”
The sibling rivalry has changed in recent years with their own sons added into the mix. Lee said his son Curt, a 2020 graduate of Mountain Brook, has already said he wants to continue the family tradition of coaching and has helped with the Spartans baseball program. Doug’s son Tripp will graduate this year from Homewood High School, but he does not plan on going into coaching.
“I'm very thankful I was able to work where my children went to school. Since Tripp is the last one, I'm a little sad but also excited for him and his future. I feel like he had a great experience in the classroom and the playing fields,” Doug said.
Even being a third-generation Gann to walk the halls of Homewood High did not pressure Tripp, he said.
“I didn't feel any added pressure,” Tripp said. “I knew that my grandfather coached there as well as my dad, but I didn't want that to take away from me being myself. I thoroughly enjoyed my high school experience.”
Lee said coaching against his nephew, with Mountain Brook and Homewood being in the same area the last two seasons, had been interesting.
“Of course I wanted Tripp to do well, but I wanted our team to win,” Lee said. “He batted .500 against us, so he did play well and was a tough out every time, but we did go 4-0 against them.”
