25 Facts About Sid Gillman

Sidney Gillman was an American football player, coach and executive.

Sid Gillman played professionally for one season in 1936 with the Cleveland Rams of the second American Football League.

Sid Gillman was inducted as a coach into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Sidney Gillman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to a Jewish family.

Sid Gillman played college football at Ohio State University under coach Sam Willaman, forming the basis of his offense.

Sid Gillman was a team captain and All-Big Ten Conference end in 1933.

Sid Gillman debated between pursuing a pro football career and entering coaching upon leaving college, with the Boston Redskins offering him a contract while Willaman wished to hire him as end coach at Western Reserve University.

Sid Gillman played one year in the American Football League for the Cleveland Rams.

Sid Gillman became an assistant coach at Denison University, Ohio State University, and was an assistant coach to Earl Blaik of Army, then head coach at Miami University and the University of Cincinnati.

Sid Gillman returned to professional football as a head coach with the Los Angeles Rams, leading the team to the NFL's championship game, and then moved to the American Football League, where he coached the Los Angeles and San Diego Chargers to five Western Division titles and one league championship in the first six years of the AFL's existence.

Sid Gillman's greatest coaching success came after he was persuaded by Barron Hilton, then the Chargers' majority owner, to become the head coach of the AFL franchise he planned to operate in Los Angeles.

Sid Gillman had much to do with the AFL being able to establish itself.

Sid Gillman was a thorough professional, and in order to compete with him, his peers had to learn pro ways.

Sid Gillman crafted a game plan, "Feast or Famine", that used motion, then seldom seen, to negate the Patriots' blitzes.

Sid Gillman's plan freed running back Keith Lincoln to rush for 206 yards.

Sid Gillman was one of only two head coaches to hold that position for the entire 10-year existence of the American Football League.

Sid Gillman approached NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1963 with the idea of having the champions of the AFL and the NFL play a single final game, but his idea was not implemented until the Super Bowl was played in 1967.

In July 1983, at age 71, Sid Gillman came out of retirement after an offer from Bill Tatham, Sr.

Sid Gillman agreed to serve as Director of Operations and signed quarterback Doug Williams, who later led the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII.

Sid Gillman then served as a consultant for the USFL's Los Angeles Express in 1984.

Don Coryell, the coach at San Diego State University when Sid Gillman was coaching the San Diego Chargers, would bring his team to Chargers' practices to watch how Sid Gillman ran his practices.

Coryell went on to coach in the NFL, and some of his assistants, influenced by the Gillman style, included coaches Joe Gibbs, Ernie Zampese, Tom Bass, and Russ A Molzahn.

Sid Gillman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983, and into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

On January 3,2003, Sid Gillman died in his sleep at age 91.

Sid Gillman was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.