Robert Nolan Gillespie (born November 2, 1979) is an American football coach and former player. Gillespie played 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) for two seasons in the early 2000s with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. 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 ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Early years

Gillespie was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1979.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2001 Roster
Robert Gillespie
Retrieved April 27, 2011. He attended Hattiesburg High School in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...

, and he was a standout high school football player for the Hattiesburg Tigers, rushing for 1,957 yards and twenty-six touchdowns, with another 700 yards receiving. As a senior in 1997, he was a SuperPrep high school All-American.

College career

Gillespie accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 80, 98, 99, 125, 138–140, 144, 148, 169, 181 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011. Spurrier would often rotate Gillespie in and out of games with the Gators' other tailback,

Earnest Graham Earnest Graham Jr. (born January 15, 1980) is an American former college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for the University of Florida ...

, and the two backs shared time at the position. In four college seasons, he totaled 1,854 yards rushing; he was also a sure-handed receiver out of the Gators' backfield, and became the second all-time Gators running back in career

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

s (96) and receiving yards (1,091). He was a team captain during his senior season in 2001, and the Gators defeated the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

56–23 in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

, and finished 10–2 and ranked third in both major polls. After his professional playing career was over, Gillespie returned to Gainesville and completed his bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science in 2005.West Virginia Mountaineers, Football, Coaching Staff
Robert Gillespie
Retrieved May 6, 2011.

Professional career

The Washington Redskins, then led by the former Gators coach Spurrier, signed Gillespie as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2002, and he played for the Redskins for a single season in . He also played for the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

in the

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

in .

Coaching career

South Carolina

Gillespie started his coaching career 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 ...

for the University of South Carolina under

Gamecocks A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

head coach Steve Spurrier in 2005, and he was promoted to running backs coach the following season.GamecocksOnline.com, Football
Robert Gillespie
Retrieved August 4, 2010.

Oklahoma State

After four seasons as a Gamecocks assistant, Gillespie accepted an offer to become the new running backs coach for

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

under from

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

head coach

Mike Gundy Michael Ray Gundy (born August 12, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Oklahoma State University. Gundy played college football at Oklahoma State, where he played quarterback from 1986 to 1989. ...

in January 2009. In his first season with his new team in 2009, the Cowboys led the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

in rushing offense.OKState.com, Cowboys Football, Roster
Robert Gillespie
Retrieved August 4, 2010.

West Virginia

In 2011, Gillespie became the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Moun ...

running backs coach at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

Tennessee

In 2013 Gillespie was named the running backs coach for the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

until parting ways mid February 2018

North Carolina

In March 2018, Gillespie was named as running backs coach at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

. He coached NFL running backs Antonio Williams, Michael Carter, and

Javonte Williams Javonte Williams (born April 25, 2000) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina Tar Heels football, North Carolina and was drafted by the Bron ...

during his tenure as the Tar Heels' RB coach. Carter (2019, 2020) and Javonte Williams (2020) posted 1,000-yard rushing seasons under Gillespie.

Alabama

In January of 2021, Gillespie was named as running backs coach at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

replacing Charles Huff, who left to become the head coach at

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Robert 1979 births Living people American football running backs Florida Gators football players Frankfurt Galaxy players Jacksonville Jaguars players Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches Sportspeople from Hattiesburg, Mississippi South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Washington Redskins players West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches