By Darin Hayes Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson once said something to the effect that good planning is laid to waste with one good punch in the mouth. This has some truth in reverse to the football contributions of Sid Gillman.
Sid Gillman was born on October 26, 1911, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A former All-Big Ten end at Ohio State, Gillman’s most significant impact was not as a player, but as a coaching visionary who ushered in the modern era of the passing game.
In the very first Chicago College All-Star game in 1934, legendary player Bronko Nagurski leveled Gillman, which set Sid’s mind on coaching as a safer, wiser career option in pro football. Gillman, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is quoted as saying: “The Big plays come from the pass. God bless those runners, because they give you the first down, give you the ball control, and keep your defense off the field, but if you want to ring the cash register, you have to pass.” This summed up the Gillman coaching legacy, which lasted 18 seasons in the AFL and NFL.
Sid’s LA and San Diego Chargers offense set the AFL’s offensive-centric style of play apart from the NFL’s 3 yards and a cloud of dust mentality in the 1960s. The Chargers even won the 1963 AFL Championship. After the merger, Gillman continued to succeed, earning the AFC’s 1974 Coach of the Year honors. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted Sid Gillman in the entry class of 1983.
Accolades and Accomplishments
College Career (Ohio State and Coaching):
- First-team All-Big Ten (1932) at End.
- Played in the inaugural Chicago College All-Star Game (1934).
- Compiled an overall college head coaching record of 81-19-2 (.804 winning percentage) at Miami (OH) and Cincinnati.
- Coached Cincinnati to three Mid-American Conference championships (1949, 1951, 1952).
- College Football Hall of Fame Inductee (1989).
Professional Career (Coach and Executive):
- Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee (1983).
- AFL Champion (1963) with the San Diego Chargers (defeated the Boston Patriots 51-10).
- AFL All-Time Team selection.
- AFC Coach of the Year (UPI/PFWA, 1974) with the Houston Oilers.
- First coach to win a divisional title in both the NFL (Los Angeles Rams, 1955) and the AFL (Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965).
- His Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers teams won five AFL Western Division titles in the league’s first six seasons.
- Credited as an architect of the modern passing attack, often considered the philosophical foundation for what later became the West Coast Offense and other sophisticated aerial attacks.
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