Kevin Gilbride

Kevin Bernard Gilbride (born August 27, 1951) is an American football head coach.

He was a coach for twenty years in the NFL, spending seven of them as the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants, with whom he earned two Super Bowl rings.

Gilbride's coaching career began in 1974 as a graduate assistant at Idaho State University, where he served as linebackers coach for the 1974 season.

He was also the co-head coach for the Idaho State Bengals women's basketball in their inaugural year.

Gilbride joined the coaching staff at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts prior to the 1976 season as a linebackers coach.

He held that position for two seasons.

Following the 1977 season, Gilbride moved on to American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was the defensive coordinator for two seasons.

Gilbride was the head football coach at his alma mater, Southern Connecticut State, for five seasons, from 1980 to 1984, compiling a record of 35–14.

Gilbride served as assistant coach for the Rough Riders in 1986.

The team finished 7-9 but made the playoffs, where they lost in the eastern semi-final to the Montreal Concordes.

The next season they were 3-10 and failed to qualify for the postseason.

Gilbride was the passing game coordinator at East Carolina University in 1987.

The following season, he was promoted to offensive coordinator.

From 1989 to 2014, Gilbride served as an assistant with a number of NFL franchises, working as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

Gilbride began his NFL career as a quarterbacks coach for the Oilers.

In his first season, quarterback Warren Moon passed for over 3,600 yards with 23 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.

Following a solid year by Moon, the Oilers named Gilbride offensive coordinator for the 1990 season.

During his time with the Oilers, Gilbride ran a variation of the run and shoot offense.

The team finished in the top 5 in scoring each year with Gilbride as offensive coordinator.

The team scored 405 points in Gilbride's first season, including Moon passing for 33 touchdowns against 13 interceptions for over 4,000 yards.

Despite the offense finishing second in the league, the team finished 9-7, second in the division.

The next season, the Oilers finished 11-5 to win the division.

Gilbride's offense finished fourth in the league with 386 points, the fourth ranked offense in the league and second in yards.

The 1992 season saw Houston finish with a 10-6 record, second to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Gilbride's offense scored 352 points, good for sixth in the league.

In the classic 1992 AFC wild card game against the Buffalo Bills, dubbed "The Comeback" by Bills fans, the Oilers led 28-3 at halftime, but Buffalo scored 38 unanswered points to capture the victory.

During this season, Gilbride was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer.

He had surgery on December 10.

Injured quarterback Warren Moon, along with wide receiver coach Chris Palmer, stepped in as acting offensive coordinators.

After a 1–4 start, the Oilers won its final eleven games to finish the 1993 season at 12–4 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs.

The offense ranked fourth in the league with 368 points.

Gilbride's use of the run and shoot offense was criticized throughout the campaign by first-year Oilers defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who called the system the "chuck and duck."

In an episode of A Football Life chronicling the 1993 Oilers, Gilbride said of his experience with the punch, "Through all the things you've been fortunate to be part of, that you're proud of, this is the last thing you want to be considered attached to for the rest of your life, but it happened."

The Oilers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 28–20 in a home divisional round match two weeks later on January 16.

Ryan threw a punch at Gilbride on the sidelines after Cody Carlson committed a fumble instead of running out the clock with 37 seconds left in the first half and the Oilers leading 14–0 in a nationally televised 24–0 win over the New York Jets in the regular season finale at the Astrodome on January 2, 1994.

"Kevin Gilbride will be selling insurance in two years," Ryan said a few days after the incident.

From 1997 to 1998, he was the head coach for the San Diego Chargers.

Most recently, Gilbride served as the head coach for the New York Guardians of the XFL.

Gilbride attended Southern Connecticut State University, where he played both quarterback and tight end and earned a degree in Physical Education.

He then went to Idaho State University, where he earned a master's degree in athletic administration.