Gil Haskell (born September 24, 1943) is a former

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. A longtime assistant coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), he served as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

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 and nicknamed the 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 ...

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, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and graduated from St. Ignatius College Preparatory in 1961. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

where he graduated from in 1966. He then coached football and track and field at both Archbishop Riordan High School from 1966 to 1968 and St. Ignatius from 1969 to 1977 where he was head coach of the football team. Haskell was later recognized by the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame for his coaching contributions at both schools in 2018. Haskell then left for

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC), spending five seasons there as an assistant coach. He broke into the NFL as a coach in 1983 with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, coaching special teams, running backs and tight ends for nine seasons. In 1992, he joined the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

where he became part of

Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is an American former American football, football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator wit ...

'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

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. 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 The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

position when the Raiders fired Norv Turner 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 and coach. He played as an offensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL) for the Oakland / ...

. On February 10, 2010, the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, 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. Th ...

. 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 NFL 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 St. Ignatius College Preparatory alumni Coaches of American football from California