Gerland took over as reserve team manager in 2001. During his time as reserve team manager, he would go on to manage players like Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller, Holger Badstuber, and David Alaba. His first training session was on 25 June 2001. His first match was a 3–0 loss to Eintracht Trier. They would go on to defeat the reserve team of 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SV Darmstadt 98 in the following two weeks. The reserve team kept eight clean sheets during the season including a 9–0 win against Borussia Fulda on 7 April 2002. They finished the 2001–02 season in 10th place.