Youngstown State University

A native Youngstowner who performed scholastically at nearby Woodrow Wilson High School, Gibson was referred to by former head coach Dwight “Dike” Beede as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever don a Penguin football uniform. He earned three letters in the grid sport from 1946 to 1949, helping the squad to a 23-9-3 overall ledger. In addition to his grid exploits, he also earned another letter as a member of head coach Dom Rosselli’s basketball squad, playing with them from 1946-47 to 1948-49. The fame that he had on the gridiron as a player was to be overshadowed by the fame he had as a coach, beginning on the scholastic level in 1950 at Leetonia H.S., later moving to East Liverpool H.S. and later, beginning his coaching tenure on the collegiate level as an assistant coach at Bowling Green State, beginning with the Falcons in 1956. He was named head coach of the Falcons in 1965, moved to the Canadian Football League in 1968 as the offensive backfield coach with the Toronto Argonauts, then joined the Memphis Southern of the World Football League in 1974 where he served under head coach John McVay, helping them to a 17-4 overall ledger. In 1975, he was named the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, a year later, joined the Detroit Lions as an assistant coach and later was an assistant coach with the New York Giants.