Alexander Gibbs, Jr. (February 22, 1941 – July 12, 2021) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach who was a longtime

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He coached

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for over a decade before joining the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

of the NFL in 1984. He won two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

s with Denver. Gibbs was a well known proponent of the

zone blocking In American football, blocking or interference (or running interference) involves legal movements in which one player uses his body to obstruct another player's path. The purpose of blocking is to prevent defensive players from tackling the ball c ...

scheme and popularized its use while he was offensive line coach of the Broncos. Denver became famous at that time for its use of smaller and more agile offensive linemen and the success of its running backs, most notably

Terrell Davis Terrell Lamar Davis (born October 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2001. He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and ...

. Gibbs was to enter his first season on

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC Troja ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

staff as the assistant head coach and offensive line coach in 2010, but announced his unexpected retirement a week before the start of the NFL's 2010 regular season. In May 2013 he returned to the

in a consultant role for one year. Gibbs died at his home in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, on July 12, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Alex People from Burke County, North Carolina American football running backs American football defensive backs Davidson College alumni Duke Blue Devils football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Auburn Tigers football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Denver Broncos coaches Los Angeles Raiders coaches San Diego Chargers coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Atlanta Falcons coaches Houston Texans coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches 1941 births 2021 deaths