Sid Gillman
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Sid Gillman
b. October 26, 1911 - d. July 3, 2003
Years at Miami: 1944-1947
Alma Mater: Ohio State (1933)
Career Record: 200-129-9 (62.0%)
Sid Gillman is considered by many to be the “Father of the Modern Passing Game.” His principles and ideas were ahead of their time and are still widely used from the high school level to the NFL.
Before Gillman became a coaching legend, like most others, he was an assistant coach. He spent his early coaching career as an assistant at Denison University and then Ohio State. Eventually he became Stu Holcomb’s assistant here at Miami, and when Holcomb left Miami in 1944, Gillman was named the new head coach.
Gillman would spend four seasons at Miami accumulating a record of 31-6-1 (82.9%), culminating in an undefeated season in 1947. Over the course of his fifty plus years in coaching, Gillman had head coaching tenures with Miami University, the University of Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Rams, the San Diego Chargers and the Houston Oilers. Gillman is the only coach in both the College Football and NFL Hall of Fames.
Though he was successful as a coach, Gillman is more known for his innovations in the passing game. Gillman believed in forcing the defense to defend the entire field, both vertically and horizontally. He also employed five-man routes, which was uncommon at the time, to stress the defense and attack zone coverages. These principles were later used by Bill Walsh when he engineered his “revolutionary” and widely used “West Coast” offense.
Career Overview
Year | Team | W | L | T | % | ||
1934 | Ohio State University Assistant (Francis Schmidt) | ||||||
1935-1937 | Denison University Assistant (Tom Rogers) | ||||||
1938-1940 | Ohio State University Assistant (Francis Schmidt) | ||||||
1941 | Denison University Assistant (Tom Rogers) | ||||||
1942-1943 | Miami University Assistant (Stu Holcomb) | ||||||
1944 | Miami University | 8 | 1 | 0 | 88.9% | ||
1945 | Miami University | 7 | 2 | 0 | 77.8% | ||
1946 | Miami University | 7 | 3 | 0 | 70.0% | ||
1947 | Miami University | 9 | 0 | 1 | 95.0% | ||
Miami Totals | 31 | 6 | 1 | 82.9% | |||
1948 | Army Assistant (Earl Blaik) | ||||||
1949 | University of Cincinnati* | 7 | 4 | 0 | 63.6% | ||
1950 | University of Cincinnati | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.7% | ||
1951 | University of Cincinnati* | 10 | 1 | 0 | 90.9% | ||
1952 | University of Cincinnati* | 8 | 1 | 1 | 85.0% | ||
1953 | University of Cincinnati | 9 | 1 | 0 | 90.0% | ||
1954 | University of Cincinnati | 8 | 2 | 0 | 80.0% | ||
Cincinnati Totals | 50 | 13 | 1 | 78.9% | |||
1955 | Los Angeles Rams (NFL)* | 8 | 3 | 1 | 70.8% | ||
1956 | Los Angeles Rams (NFL) | 4 | 8 | 0 | 33.3% | ||
1957 | Los Angeles Rams (NFL) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 50.0% | ||
1958 | Los Angeles Rams (NFL) | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.7% | ||
1959 | Los Angeles Rams (NFL) | 2 | 10 | 0 | 16.7% | ||
Ram Totals | 28 | 31 | 1 | 47.5% | |||
1960 | Los Angeles Chargers (AFL)^ | 10 | 4 | 0 | 71.4% | ||
1961 | San Diego Chargers (AFL)^ | 12 | 2 | 0 | 85.7% | ||
1962 | San Diego Chargers (AFL) | 4 | 10 | 0 | 28.6% | ||
1963 | San Diego Chargers (AFL)^$ | 11 | 3 | 0 | 78.6% | ||
1964 | San Diego Chargers (AFL)^ | 8 | 5 | 1 | 60.7% | ||
1965 | San Diego Chargers (AFL)^ | 9 | 2 | 3 | 75.0% | ||
1966 | San Diego Chargers (AFL) | 7 | 6 | 1 | 53.6% | ||
1967 | San Diego Chargers (AFL) | 8 | 5 | 1 | 60.7% | ||
1968 | San Diego Chargers (AFL) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 64.3% | ||
1969 | San Diego Chargers (AFL) | 4 | 5 | 0 | 44.4% | ||
1970 | San Diego Chargers (General Manager) | ||||||
1971 | San Diego Chargers (NFL) | 1 | 9 | 0 | 10.0% | ||
Charger Totals | 83 | 56 | 6 | 59.3% | |||
1972 | Dallas Cowboys (Quality Control) | ||||||
1973 | Houston Oilers (NFL) | 1 | 8 | 0 | 11.1% | ||
1974 | Houston Oilers (NFL) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 50.0% | ||
Oiler Totals | 8 | 15 | 0 | 34.8% | |||
1975 | Oakland Raiders (Scout) | ||||||
1976 | Washington Redskins (Scout) | ||||||
1977 | Chicago Bears (Offensive Coordinator - Jack Pardee) | ||||||
1978 | United States International University (Athletic Director) | ||||||
1979-1980 | Philadelphia Eagles Assistant (Dick Vermeil) | ||||||
1982 | Philadelphia Eagles Assistant (Dick Vermeil) | ||||||
1983 | Oklahoma Outlaws (Admin.) | ||||||
1984 | Los Angeles Express (USFL) Assistant (John Hadl) | ||||||
1985 | Philadelphia Eagles Assistant (Marion Campbell) | ||||||
1987 | University of Pittsburgh Assistant (Mike Gottfried) | ||||||
NCAA Totals | 81 | 19 | 2 | 80.4% | |||
NFL Totals | 37 | 55 | 1 | 40.3% | |||
AFL Totals | 82 | 47 | 6 | 63.0% | |||
Professional Totals | 119 | 102 | 7 | 53.7% | |||
Career Totals | 200 | 121 | 9 | 62.0% | |||
| * denotes Conference Championship | ^ denotes National Championship | ||||||
| $ denotes AFL Championship | |||||||