Harry T. Gamble (December 26, 1930 – January 28, 2014) 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 wi ...

coach and executive. He was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

at the

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

and

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and general manager of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

Early life and career

Gamble was born and raised in

Pitman, New Jersey Pitman is a borough in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 8,780, a drop of 231 from the 2010 census count of 9,011,Rider College Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...

, where he played offensive line. He later earned a master's degree and doctorate in education from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and was a player/coach at

Fort Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the ...

in 1953. He then served as head football coach at Clayton High School and

Audubon High School ''For the high school in Iowa with the same name, see Audubon Community School District'' Audubon High School is a comprehensive six-year community public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grades from Audubon, in Camd ...

and was named South Jersey Coach of the Year in 1960. In 1962 he joined the college ranks as the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are s ...

' line coach.

College coaching

He was the head coach of the Leopards Leopards from 1967 to 1970, compiling a 21−19 record. He then served as the head coach at Penn from 1971 to 1980, earning a 34−55−2 record. After the 1980 season, the school demanded he make changes to his coaching staff. Gamble refused and was fired. He was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles of 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) in 1981 as an unpaid assistant coach (he was still being paid by Penn) under Dick Vermeil. In 1982 he served as the Eagles' tight ends and special teams coach and also held administrative duties.

Executive

In 1983,

Marion Campbell Francis Marion Campbell (May 25, 1929 – July 13, 2016) was an American football defensive lineman and coach. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs from 1949 until 1951, where he was appropriately nicknamed " Swamp Fox" because of ...

replaced Vermeil as head coach and General Manager Jim Murray was fired. Eagles' vice president Susan Tose Spencer gave Gamble the opportunity of move to the front office. Gamble, who served as administrative assistant for coaching and player personnel in 1983 and director of football administration in 1984, took over many of Murray's duties and was promoted to general manager in 1985. He was the first person with a football background to serve as general manager since

Pete Retzlaff Palmer Edward Retzlaff (August 21, 1931 – April 10, 2020), known as Pete Retzlaff and nicknamed "Pistol Pete" and "The Baron", was a professional American football player and general manager. Early life Retzlaff played football at Ellendale H ...

in 1972. When

Norman Braman Norman Braman (born August 23, 1932) is an American billionaire car dealer, art collector, and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. Early life and education Braman was born in 1932 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the Cobbs Cre ...

purchased the team a couple of months later, Gamble was given the additional title of vice president. The following year, Gamble was promoted to president and chief operating officer – his third major promotion in 17 months and sixth in five years. Under Gamble, the Eagles became one of the most profitable organizations in sports and from 1988 to 1993 was one of the winningest franchises in the NFL, however they were unable to reach the Super Bowl. When

Jeffrey Lurie Jeffrey Robert Lurie (born September 8, 1951) is an American motion picture producer, businessman, and the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Early life and education Lurie was born to a Jewish family in Bos ...

purchased the team in 1994, Gamble was kept on but was not part of Lurie's inner circle. He resigned on March 30, 1995 become the National Football League's director of football operations. He retired in 1998.

Later life

Gamble spent his retirement as a league ambassador to Russia. He resided in

Haddonfield, New Jersey :''Not the fictional Illinois town from the Halloween film series.'' Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593,

with wife Joan. One of his sons, Tom, was also an NFL executive. Gamble died on January 28, 2014 at the age of 83.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamble, Harry 1930 births 2014 deaths Lafayette Leopards football coaches Penn Quakers football coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Philadelphia Eagles executives National Football League general managers National Football League team presidents High school football coaches in New Jersey Rider University alumni Temple University alumni People from Pitman, New Jersey