Tarrant was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1921 and attended Woodlawn High School in that city. He played college football at Howard College of Birmingham (now known as Samford).[1] He was selected as a Little All-American in 1940 and transferred from Howard to Tennessee in 1941.[2][3] He was declared ineligible in 1942, served in the Army for three years, and never played at Tennessee.[4]
Tarrant played professional football for the Miami Seahawks of the All-America Football Conference in 1946. He appeared in four games, one of them as the Seahawks' starting quarterback. He completed five of 12 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown.[1] He was rated as the best passer in the team's training camp, and a specialist in the "running jump-pass", but a leg injury kept him out for much of the season.[5] He was released by the Seahawks on October 28, 1946.[6]
In 1948, he became the head football coach at Phillips High School and later at Banks High School, both in Birmingham. He joined the Auburn coaching staff in 1962.[4] He served as the supervisor of Auburn's athletic dormitory. In 1963, he accepted a position as the principal of the Gibson School in Woodlawn, Alabama.[7]
