gardner then served as coach at dupont manual high school in louisville, kentucky from 1908 through 1911. gardner was normally described in newspapers of the day as reserved, but sometimes he had a "wolf - like nervousness". one newspaper referred to him as "the 'indian' athlete". gardner had a feared trickery as a football coach. the director of harvard's hemenway gymnasium found him to be one of the strongest americans in 1911, conferred after a series of measurements and physical tests. gardner even outscored renowned boxers john l. sullivan, jack johnson, and james j. jeffries. gardner then became director of athletics at otterbein university. he then played on an all-star team in atlanta and while in indiana, gardner recruited another star—jim thorpe.