George Randall Gibson (October 2, 1905 – August 19, 2004) was 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 ...

player and coach. He played

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 ...

as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

from 1926 to 1928. He was captain of the

1928 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team The 1928 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1928 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Clarence Spears, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–2 record and outscored their opp ...

and was named to the

1928 College Football All-America Team The 1928 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1928. The seven selectors recognized by the ...

. Gibson was a teammate and roommate of

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL), renowned for his strength and size. Nagurski was also a successful professional w ...

. The two are jointly honored as the namesakes of the

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its ince ...

training complex, the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex. While at the University of Minnesota, Gibson was a member of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

fraternity. Gibson was a professional player and coach in the early

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). In 1930, Gibson joined the

Minneapolis Red Jackets The Minneapolis Marines were an early professional football team that existed from 1905 until 1924. The team was later resurrected from 1929 to 1930 under the Minneapolis Red Jackets name. The Marines were owned locally by Minneapolitans John Dunn ...

as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. Later that season, he moved to the

Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won ...

. His career NFL coaching record was 3–10–1. Gibson was one of eleven All-American football players to appear in the 1930 film '' Maybe It's Love''. After his football career, Gibson earned his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Minnesota and became a geology professor at

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

, where he also coached the football team from 1934 to 1938. In 1936, Carleton went 6–1 with the only loss coming to

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. His coaching record at Carleton was 21–13–2. He later moved to

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

, where he was a geological consultant for oil companies. For his work in the field, Gibson was inducted into the Petroleum Museum Hall of Fame in 2001. Gibson died at his home in Midland, Texas on August 19, 2004, at the age of 98.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* * 1905 births 2004 deaths American football guards Carleton Knights football coaches Frankford Yellow Jackets coaches Frankford Yellow Jackets players Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Minneapolis Red Jackets coaches Minneapolis Red Jackets players Carleton College faculty Player-coaches People from Romulus, New York {{Amfoot-coach-stub