Tech grad, Ben Davis assistant returns home to coach 'flagship football program of IPS.'

Jerdson Gamble is taking on the football coaching job at Tech with a message to kids in the city.

“The big time is where you’re at,” Gamble said. “I think sometimes kids look to the township schools and think they have to be there to reach their goals. I want to make these guys think in the mindset of, ‘Where you’re at is the big time.’ That’s going to be my complete focus and shining star. Tech is the flagship football program of IPS.”

Gamble, 42, coached the past two seasons at Ben Davis, where he was the defensive line coach in 2021 for coach Jason Simmons and the junior varsity head coach and varsity linebackers coach in 2022. Prior to Ben Davis, Gamble spent one season as an assistant at Crispus Attucks.

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“Coach Simmons (now an assistant coach at Miami of Ohio) was a huge factor in helping me be prepared for this opportunity,” Gamble said. “Ben Davis is a center for football and everything they do is first class. That was the last part of grooming me to learn how to run a football program. They put me in position to help run a 6A program, knowing I was wanting to become a head coach. (Athletic director Heather) McGowan was also hugely influential on me. I was privy to a lot of decision-making and they spent a lot of time with me.”

Gamble has first-hand knowledge of Tech as a 1999 graduate of the school. After high school, he graduated from Earlham College and started coaching there before going on to coach at Kenyon College and later at Southern Oregon University. He also coached at the middle school level in Oregon prior to returning to Indianapolis for the first time since high school.

“It was just really all about coming home,” he said. “I had quite a few experiences, but since I left for Earlham I didn’t come back to Indy to live. But once I got that experience, I felt like it was time to come back. I’ve been growing as a coach ever since I left.”

Tech’s football history, from a win-loss standpoint, is spotty. Craig Chambers returned to Indianapolis after a successful four-year run at Marion, but led Tech to just a 9-21 season before returning to Marion. The Titans did go 6-5 in 2021 to mark the program’s first winning season since going 6-4 in 2012. Tech, which dropped to 1-9 last season, has never won a sectional and currently plays in a sectional that includes traditional power Warren Central.

Gamble knows all the history at Tech, but is also starting fresh with a new athletic director, Ed Buford, a former teacher and coach at Tech who was most recently assistant athletic director at Indianapolis Washington.

“We’ve been building our relationship the last few weeks,” Gamble said. “He’s a great guy who is really bought into doing this the right way. I was raised to make good decisions and do the right thing — not do things halfway. That’s how I want our program to be. The coaching staff and I will really be focused on the growth of building young men and integrating them into the culture of what it means to be an IPS student. I’m interested in Tech because I know the path and know what these young men need, which is to be a beacon and a servant leader. The wins will come if we can build the correct culture.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football: Tech hires Ben Davis assistant Jerdson Gamble as coach