Claude L. Gilbert (born July 10, 1932) is an American former

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 ...

coach. He served as head football coach at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

from 1973 to 1980, and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

from 1984 to 1989, compiling a career record of 99–56–3.

Early life and education

Born in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, Gilbert graduated from

Bakersfield High School Bakersfield High School (BHS) is a public four-year high school located in Bakersfield, California, United States. Opened in 1893, Bakersfield High School serves grades ninth through twelfth within the Kern High School District. Notable alumni ...

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

in 1950. He went to

Bakersfield College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 22,000 students each semester or 31,000 annually, and offers Associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community C ...

for a year and played on the football team before serving in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

for the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He returned to Bakersfield College, then transferred to

in 1956 and lettered in football for two years with the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference (MW) at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football B ...

Coaching career

Gilbert was an assistant football, wrestling, and track coach at

Tulare High School Tulare ( ) is a city in Tulare County, California. The population was 68,875 at the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, eight miles south of Visalia, California, Visalia and sixty miles north of Bakersfield, Calif ...

Tulare, California Tulare ( ) is a city in Tulare County, California. The population was 68,875 at the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, eight miles south of Visalia and sixty miles north of Bakersfield. The city is named for th ...

from 1959 to 1960. After serving as assistant to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

coach

Don Coryell Donald David Coryell (October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986. W ...

for six seasons, Gilbert succeeded him as head coach in 1973. He compiled a 61–26–2 record and won three conference titles, ranking second in Aztec victories and winning percentage only to Coryell. They finished 10–1 in both 1976 and 1977. 1977 also saw the Aztecs crush

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

's Florida State team 41–16, and finish ranked 16th in the nation. During a transition from relying on junior college transfers to recruiting high school students, the Aztecs went 4–8 in 1980 and fired Gilbert in a controversial move. Gilbert later became head coach at his alma mater,

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, from 1984 to 1989. He compiled a 38–30–1 record, including a pair of consecutive 10–2 seasons in 1986 and 1987. Gilbert was fired from San Jose State following the 1989 season after signing 21 junior college transfers, against orders from administration to limit scholarships offered to such student-athletes. Gilbert sued San Jose State for wrongful termination in 1990, but a state appeals court dismissed the lawsuit in 1992. Gilbert returned to San Diego State as defensive coordinator under

Ted Tollner Alfred Theodore Tollner (born May 29, 1940) is a former American football player and coach. He had served as the head coach at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1983 to 1986 and San Diego State University (SDSU) from 1994 to 2001, ...

in 1995, and oversaw consecutive eight-win seasons, which was not achieved until 2010 and 2011. Gilbert was inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame in 2004, and into the Spartan Stadium Ring of Honor in 2006.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

San Diego State bio (archived from 1999)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Claude 1932 births Living people Bakersfield Renegades football players Frankfurt Galaxy coaches San Diego State Aztecs football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches San Jose State Spartans football players Bakersfield Renegades football coaches High school football coaches in California High school football coaches in New Mexico Junior college football coaches in the United States United States Air Force officers United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from Bakersfield, California Military personnel from California Bakersfield High School alumni