Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Athletics Mourns Passing Of Coach Bob Gibson
May 04, 2015 | Football, General
Bowling Green State University legendary football coach Bob Gibson passed away earlier this year at 88 years old in his Ft. Myers, Fla. residence. Gibson was the head coach of the Falcons from 1965-67, compiling a career record of 19-9.
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Gibson also served as an assistant coach under Doyt Perry, including on the 1959 team which won the Small College National Championship with a 9-0 record. Gibson's 1965 team, in his first season as head coach, claimed the Mid-American Conference Championship with a 7-2 record, including a 5-1 record against league competition.
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Gibson was born April 6, 1927, the son of Robert and Marguerite Gibson of Youngstown, Ohio. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School where he excelled in football, baseball, and basketball. He joined the Navy just prior to the end of World War II and served eighteen months before enrolling at Youngstown University from 1946-1950, where he played baseball and was quarterback on the football team. In 1988, he was inducted into the Youngstown State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
His first coaching job came in 1950 at Leetonia High School, followed by East Liverpool High School from 1953-1955, where the team achieved their first undefeated season in the school's history. He accepted his first college coaching job in 1955 at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio. In 1959, BGSU won the National Small College Championship. After working as an assistant coach for nine years, Bob was named Head Football Coach at BGSU, replacing Doyt Perry. In his first season as head coach, the "Falcons" won the Mid-American Conference Championship title in 1965. After leaving BGSU in 1968, Bob held coaching jobs with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League, the Memphis Southmen and Charlotte Hornets in the World Football League, and the Detroit Lions and the N.Y. Giants in the National Football League. He retired from coaching in 1978, and moved to Sanibel Island, Florida, where he was a developer, small business owner, and a cattle rancher.
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A full obituary on the passing of Bob Gibson and his wife, Cynthia, can be found HERE.
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Gibson also served as an assistant coach under Doyt Perry, including on the 1959 team which won the Small College National Championship with a 9-0 record. Gibson's 1965 team, in his first season as head coach, claimed the Mid-American Conference Championship with a 7-2 record, including a 5-1 record against league competition.
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Gibson was born April 6, 1927, the son of Robert and Marguerite Gibson of Youngstown, Ohio. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School where he excelled in football, baseball, and basketball. He joined the Navy just prior to the end of World War II and served eighteen months before enrolling at Youngstown University from 1946-1950, where he played baseball and was quarterback on the football team. In 1988, he was inducted into the Youngstown State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
His first coaching job came in 1950 at Leetonia High School, followed by East Liverpool High School from 1953-1955, where the team achieved their first undefeated season in the school's history. He accepted his first college coaching job in 1955 at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio. In 1959, BGSU won the National Small College Championship. After working as an assistant coach for nine years, Bob was named Head Football Coach at BGSU, replacing Doyt Perry. In his first season as head coach, the "Falcons" won the Mid-American Conference Championship title in 1965. After leaving BGSU in 1968, Bob held coaching jobs with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League, the Memphis Southmen and Charlotte Hornets in the World Football League, and the Detroit Lions and the N.Y. Giants in the National Football League. He retired from coaching in 1978, and moved to Sanibel Island, Florida, where he was a developer, small business owner, and a cattle rancher.
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A full obituary on the passing of Bob Gibson and his wife, Cynthia, can be found HERE.
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