Gil Haskell (born September 24, 1943) is a former
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 wi ...
coach. A long-time assistant 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 served as the
offensive coordinator for the
Seattle Seahawks from 2000 to 2008. He began his career in the NFL as a ball boy with the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
while his uncle, William O'Grady, was a part owner of the franchise. Haskell grew up in St. Brendan's Parish in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
and graduated from
St. Ignatius College Preparatory in 1961. He played
college football played at
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...
and then was head coach at St. Ignatius from 1973 to 1977. Haskell then left for
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
(USC), spending five seasons there as an assistant coach. He broke into the NFL as a coach in 1983 with the
Los Angeles Rams, coaching special teams, running backs and tight ends for nine seasons. In 1992, he joined the
Green Bay Packers where he became part of
Mike Holmgren
Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is a former American football coach and executive. He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, where they won Super Bowls XXI ...
's staff for the first time as a running back coach and wide receiver coach. When Holmgren left Green Bay for the Seattle Seahawks in 1998, Haskell accepted the
offensive coordinator position with the
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...
. In 2000, he reunited with Holmgren in Seattle in the same role. He has indicated that he would like to be a head coach in the NFL and even launched a low key campaign for the
Oakland Raiders position when the Raiders fired
Norv Turner
Norval Turner (born May 17, 1952) is an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). An offensive assistant for the majority of his coaching career, he came to prominence as the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator during the ...
after the 2005 season. That position was eventually filled with the hiring of
Art Shell
Arthur Lee Shell Jr. (born November 26, 1946) is an American former professional football player in the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL), a Hall of Fame offensive tackle and a two-time former head co ...
.
On February 10, 2010 the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
announced that Haskell as the senior advisor to president Mike Holmgren.
Haskell and his late wife, Nancy, have four daughters: Paula, Patty, Jenny and Julie.
NFC Championship Game injury
In the 1995 NFC Championship game between the Packers and 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 divi ...
, Haskell was involved in a sideline collision where he was knocked backward and hit the back of his head against the carpet-covered concrete sideline of Dallas'
Texas Stadium
Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof (Cowboy ...
. Haskell was unresponsive for five minutes before he started to move, and was carted off in an ambulance. The impact of Haskell's head was enough to fracture the back of his skull and cause a contusion in the front of his brain. He was able to fully recover and was discharged from the hospital after less than 2 weeks.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskell, Gil
1943 births
Living people
Carolina Panthers coaches
Green Bay Packers coaches
Los Angeles Rams coaches
National Football League offensive coordinators
Seattle Seahawks coaches
San Francisco State Gators football players
USC Trojans football coaches
High school football coaches in California
Players of American football from San Francisco