Former K-State head football coach Vince Gibson passed away.

Former K-State head football coach Vince Gibson has passed away at the age of 78 at his home in Kenner Tuesday morning.

My sympathy goes out to the entire Gibson family as we lost one of our great coaches and ambassadors. I came to know Coach Gibson when as a young boy in Montgomery, Alabama I somehow finagled my way into being allowed to be the Blue Team manager for the annual Blue and Gray All Star game.

Coach Gibson was the closest I came to experiencing NCAA football and he made that experience a special one for me…I even was allowed to handle the headsets on the sideline at the game…a big honor for someone just 15 and wild for football.

Coach was from Alabama and was born in Birmingham. He played college football at Florida State in 1954 and 1955.

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at South Georgia Junior College in 1956. Gibson coached with and became good friends with Bobby Bowden, who made sure he referenced Gibson while speaking at the BCS National Championship Breakfast, sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes last Friday. Two great characters for sure. Gibson became an assistant at Florida State in 1959 before moving to Tennessee as defensive coordinator in 1964.

Gibson got his first head coaching position at Kansas State, where he served from 1967-1974 before becoming the head coach at Louisville from 1975-1979,

Gibson was the Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1970 at Kansas State. Gibson is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Coach was gregarious and fun. He became known for his gambling style as a coach and earned the moniker “Vegas Vince.” His two wins over LSU were quite memorable. One came against an Orange Bowl-bound Tiger team. I am sure he was a lot like Les Miles.

He loved purple and insisted that all K-State fans wear it to the games…no one would in those days especially since before Coach went to K-State the team had gone two years without winning a single game. Before he coached his last Blue-Gray Game he gave me a K-State jersey which I kept until it was too thread bare to wear.

Winning at K-State wasn’t even in the conversation with seasons of 0, 0, 3, 2, 0, 2, 1 and 2 wins in the eight previous seasons before he arrived.

Vince said, “We Gonna Win…I don’t think K-State people realize what a great school they have and the potential it offers in the competitive area of collegiate football. Don’t let anyone tell you that this is an impossible job because of the losing tradition here. Now is the time when Kansas State can become a legend in the annals of collegiate football. But let me assure you, this job is not for the timid, the skeptic or the lazy.”

A memorial service is set for next Tuesday, January 17 at 4 p.m. at Christ the King Church, 1001 West Esplanade Avenue in Kenner.