53 Facts About Sid Gillman

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

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.

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

Sidney Gillman was born on October 26,1911, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to a Jewish family.

Sid Gillman's father was an Austrian immigrant who was in the movie theater business.

Sid Gillman attended North High School, and was elected captain of his high school football team in his senior year, and played on a state all-star team.

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

Sid Gillman was an All-American at end in 1932 and 1933.

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

Sid Gillman played in the first Chicago All-Star Game with the college all-stars playing against the NFL champion Chicago Bears, where he was flattened by Bears legend Bronko Nagurski.

Sid Gillman played piano in small bands during his college years to make extra money.

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 was a college football assistant coach for eight years before becoming a head coach.

At his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction, Sid Gillman stated that Schmidt made a "definite contribution to [Sid Gillman's] life".

Sid Gillman learned "situational substitution" from Blaik, while teaching an innovative option blocking system to his players.

Lombardi would use Sid Gillman's blocking scheme to great effect as coach of the Green Bay Packers' championship teams.

Sid Gillman used film study and player grades at Cincinnati, and was once admonished by the NCAA for having the players review film during halftime of a game.

At the time he left Cincinnati, it was written that Sid Gillman had a forceful, confident and determined personality; was impatient with mistakes, the hardest working coach, a perfectionist, aimed to succeed at the highest level; and could run up the score like Schmidt.

Sid Gillman became a professional head coach for the first time with the Los Angeles Rams in 1955, after the team had declined in wins the previous two seasons.

Van Brocklin and Sid Gillman had clashed over tactics in 1957, and Van Brocklin would at times override Sid Gillman.

Sid Gillman 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 used the length and width of the field, and would stretch the field with the potential long pass, which opened up the middle of the field to runs and shorter passes.

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 was enraged beyond words, but could not undo the transaction.

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, and have another 123 yards receiving.

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.

Sid Gillman left the Chargers nine games into the 1969 season due to a hiatal hernia only to come back to coach the first ten games of the 1971 season.

Sid Gillman resigned as head coach and executive vice-president in November 1971, with general manager Harland Svare finishing out the year as coach.

Sid Gillman served as a quality control coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 1972.

In March 1973, Bud Adams hired Gillman to serve as executive vice president and general manager of the Houston Oilers after head coach Bill Peterson won one game in his inaugural season as coach.

In 1974, Sid Gillman hired Bum Phillips to serve as defensive coordinator.

Sid Gillman was awarded the AFC Coach of the Year by UPI after the season before electing to move back to the GM position while Phillips was promoted to head coach.

The contract that Phillips had signed with Sid Gillman had a clause that gave him final approval of the moves that Phillips wanted to make, but this clause was asked to be removed by Phillips in a meeting between him and Adams when Sid Gillman was out of town, which was accepted.

Later, with the support of Adams, Phillips had Sid Gillman barred from being able to attend practice or be in the locker room.

In 1977, Sid Gillman was hired as offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears.

However, Sid Gillman resigned after the year when his ideas about opening up the offense was rejected.

For four months of 1978, Sid Gillman was the coach of the football team at United States International University; one of the coaches he hired was Tom Walsh, who would coach the team when Sid Gillman left in early 1979.

At this point in his career, Sid Gillman was the measured buffer between Jaworski and the hard-driving intense Vermeil.

Sid Gillman taught Jaworski and future Hall of Fame receiver Harold Carmichael their signature "meet me at the corner" play.

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, where John Hadl was the coach and future Hall of Famer Steve Young was the quarterback.

Sid Gillman later did work for the Eagles as a quarterback coach in 1985 before serving as an unpaid consultant to the University of Pittsburgh football team in 1987, earning a game ball after Pitt upset Notre Dame.

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 has received the following awards and honors, among others;.

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.