Gary Gibbs (born August 13, 1952) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player who previously served as the head football coach at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

for six years, compiling a record of 44–23–2. Gibbs spent the first half of his adult life at Oklahoma as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. He played for the Sooners as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

under

Chuck Fairbanks Charles Leo Fairbanks (June 10, 1933 – April 2, 2013) was a football coach who was a head coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1972 and at the Universi ...

and

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Le ...

from 1972 to 1974. He began coaching in 1975 as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

under Switzer and was promoted to linebackers coach in 1978. He was promoted to

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

in 1981, and held that post through the 1988 season. He was known for coaching Oklahoma legend

Brian Bosworth Brian Keith Bosworth (born March 9, 1965), nicknamed "The Boz," is an American former football linebacker and actor who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A two-time Dick Butkus Award winne ...

. In 1989, Gibbs was named head coach after Switzer was forced out following

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

sanctions and a number of highly publicized off-the-field issues involving the Oklahoma football program. Gibbs stayed as head coach at Oklahoma for six years, leading the Sooners to a record of 44–23–2 in that time. While he succeeded in his primary task—cleaning up the program's image—he was perceived as a coach who could not win big games. He went 2–15–1 against Oklahoma's biggest rivals,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and never won more than five (out of seven) games in the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

. Hobbled by NCAA sanctions during Gibbs' first two years, the Sooners were barred from bowl games, and were also banned from live television in his first year. More seriously, they were only allowed to give out 18 scholarships rather than 25. He wasn't able to field a team with a full complement of scholarships until 1994. Even so, discontent with his lackluster record in big games led Oklahoma to force his resignation after the season. Gibbs was the defensive coordinator at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 2000 and then at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in 2001. From 2002 to 2005, he was the linebackers coach for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. Gibbs was the defensive coordinator for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

from 2006 through 2008. Fired by the Saints after the conclusion of the 2008 season, Gibbs was subsequently hired by the Kansas City Chiefs as linebackers coach. On November 5, 2012, Gibbs was named defensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs after

Romeo Crennel Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is a former American football coach, who was the senior advisor for football performance for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Cre ...

resigned from the position (though staying as head coach). Gibbs has a wife, Jeanne, and two children, Whitley and Jordan.

Head coaching record

References

External links

LSU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Gary 1952 births Living people American football linebackers Dallas Cowboys coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches LSU Tigers football coaches New Orleans Saints coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches National Football League defensive coordinators People from Beaumont, Texas