Gary Gibbs (born August 13, 1952) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who previously served as the head football coach at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

for six years, compiling a record of 44–23–2. Gibbs spent the first half of his adult life at Oklahoma as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. He played for the Sooners as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

under

Chuck Fairbanks Charles Leo Fairbanks (June 10, 1933 – April 2, 2013) was an American football coach who was a head coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1972 and at th ...

and

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is an American former college and professional football coach. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the Natio ...

from 1972 to 1974. He began coaching in 1975 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 resp ...

under Switzer and was promoted to linebackers coach in 1978. He was promoted to

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

in 1981, and held that post through the 1988 season. He was known for coaching Oklahoma legend

Brian Bosworth Brian Keith Bosworth (born March 9, 1965), nicknamed "the Boz", is an American actor and former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A two-time Dick But ...

. In 1989, Gibbs was named head coach after Switzer was forced out following

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

sanctions and a number of highly publicized off-the-field issues involving the Oklahoma football program. Gibbs stayed as head coach at Oklahoma for six years, leading the Sooners to a record of 44–23–2 in that time. While he succeeded in his primary task—cleaning up the program's image—he was perceived as a coach who could not win big games. He went 2–15–1 against Oklahoma's biggest rivals,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and never won more than five (out of seven) games in the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

. Hobbled by NCAA sanctions during Gibbs' first two years, the Sooners were barred from bowl games, and were also banned from live television in his first year. More seriously, they were only allowed to give out 18 scholarships rather than 25. He wasn't able to field a team with a full complement of scholarships until 1994. Even so, discontent with his lackluster record in big games led Oklahoma to force his resignation after the season. Gibbs was the defensive coordinator at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

in 2000 and then at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in 2001. From 2002 to 2005, he was the linebackers coach for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. Gibbs was the defensive coordinator for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

from 2006 through 2008. Fired by the Saints after the conclusion of the 2008 season, Gibbs was subsequently hired by the Kansas City Chiefs as linebackers coach. On November 5, 2012, Gibbs was named defensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs after

Romeo Crennel Romeo Ashbey Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is an American former football coach. A long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Crennel served as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2005 to 2008 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012, as we ...

resigned from the position (though staying as head coach). Gibbs has a wife, Jeanne, and two children, Whitley and Jordan.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Georgia profile

LSU profile

Oklahoma State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Gary 1952 births Living people American football linebackers Dallas Cowboys coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches LSU Tigers football coaches New Orleans Saints coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football players Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches NFL defensive coordinators Players of American football from Beaumont, Texas