BYU sports have always been a family affair. Bryan Kehl now sacks quarterbacks like his older brother Edwin. Head basketball coach Dave Rose watched his nephew Mike drain 61 three-pointers as a senior and Justin Su'a pitched for the Cougar baseball team 20 years after his father, Murphy, was named an All-American third baseman.

The Collies (football), Reids (basketball), Nixs (softball), Bekkers (swimming), Cosgraves (gymnastics) and numerous others have, and continue to, carry on the BYU athletic family tradition. One of the newest names added to the Cougar sports family: Gantt. Ed and Jared, father and son, coach and player, - teacher and student, carry the BYU family tradition on ice.

Having a dad as your coach is not the easiest task, especially at the collegiate level, and especially when you are a freshman. But Ed is used to treating his son as any other player and Jared knows that anything but special treatment and favors are coming from Dad.

"I think that there are two things that make coaching your son tough," said Ed Gantt. "The most difficult is not to be too critical. He is my son and so I tend to notice him more than others. The second is just letting him be another player on the team and not holding him to a higher or lower standard than any of the players."

Jared, the baby-faced 18-year-old, has learned that the hockey standard at BYU is high. He is competing with a 26-year-old law student, 24-year-old married seniors and many players that have much more experience in hockey and life. Most players can sit around and talk about their mission experiences, but Jared, along with the other freshman that comprise the "baby-line," can only dream of future mission experiences.

"He has coached a lot of my teams growing up, but here there is a little more pressure because there are a lot of good players," Jared said. "I think that he is trying to treat me as one of the guys, and so that he does not play favorites, he has to be a little harder on me."

Coach Gantt has never had a problem favoring his own son on the ice, but being able to separate the coach and dad role has been difficult.

" There are times when I have had an assistant coach or teammates that have come to me and told me not to treat him as tough as I do. I have told my assistant coaches that when I stop being a coach and start being a dad, is when they need to step in," Ed Gantt said.

Coach Gantt's job has been relatively this year because his son's talent has earned him the respect of the other players. Jared knew that he would have to work extra hard to get playing time as a freshman, but his work ethic and tenacity has dispelled any rumors of favoritism from dad.

Jason Griffiths is glad that his dad is not the coach, but he has seen that coach Gantt treats and talks to his son just like any other player.

Although most athletes would not prefer to have their dad, grandpa or any other family member as a coach, the Gantts enjoy the time they get to spend together on the ice and find their situation a blessing more than a problem.

"My favorite part would be that it is pretty easy to talk to him about stuff on and off the ice." Jared said.

At the collegiate level it is rare to see a son play for his dad in any sport, but coach Gantt loves to see how his son has grown more as a person than a hockey player.

"My favorite thing about him being on this team is that I get to watch him grow into manhood," coach Gantt said. "I get to watch him earn the respect and admiration of guys who are older and more experienced than him. It is tremendous to see that I have been able to raise a young man that is able to earn the respect of others on his own terms."

The Cougars are off to a 7-1-1-1 start this year, one of their best starts in history, and much of the credit can be given to the Gantt's.

"I think that it is a dream come true for the coach to have his son be able to play at this level, and for him to be able to be his coach," said assistant coach Douglass Kimball.

Copyright Brigham Young University 28 Nov 2007