 Giddings in 1965 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 16, 1933 Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 27, 2023 (aged 89) Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1953–1954 | California |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1957–1959 | Monrovia HS (CA) |
| 1960 | Glendale CC |
| 1961–1965 | USC (assistant) |
| 1966–1967 | Utah |
| 1968–1973 | San Francisco 49ers (assistant) |
| 1974–1975 | The Hawaiians |
| 1976 | Denver Broncos (director pro scouting / assistant OL) |
| 1979–1985 | Newport Harbor HS (CA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 9–12 (college) 13–18 (WFL) |
Mike Giddings (November 16, 1933 – July 27, 2023) was an American football player, coach and scout. He played college football for the California Golden Bears. Giddings began his career as a coach in 1957 at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, California, leading them to the CIF finals.[1] In 1960, he was head coach at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California. A year later, John McKay hired him at assistant coach at the University of Southern California (USC), where he was a staff member of the 1962 USC Trojans football team, which won a national championship.
Giddings served as the head football coach at the University of Utah from 1966 to 1967, compiling a record of 9–12. From 1968 through 1973 he was the linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL), coaching future Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dave Wilcox, Skip Vanderbundt, Frank Nunley, and others. The 49ers won the NFC West three times while Giddings was there and Wilcox went to the Pro Bowl every year. After his time with the 49ers, Giddings was the head coach of The Hawaiians of the short-lived World Football League (WFL), in 1974 and 1975.[2] In 1976, Giddings was the NFL's first pro player personnel director
In 1977, Giddings created an NFL talent evaluation and analytics company called Proscout, Inc., which is now owned and run by his son Mike Giddings Jr.[3] Among the first clients of Proscout were Don Shula, Paul Brown, and Bud Grant.[4]
Giddings and Proscout are considered to be a pioneer in independent scouting and NFL analytics and created terms used in the NFL to this day, according to NFL analyst Charles Davis, who told a small group of scouts that Giddings "created the language we all use."[5]
Mike Giddings died from complications of a stroke in Newport Beach, on July 27, 2023, at the age of 89.[6]
Head coaching record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Redskins (Western Athletic Conference) (1966–1967) | |||||||||
| 1966 | Utah | 5–5 | 3–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1967 | Utah | 4–7 | 2–3 | 4th | |||||
| Utah: | 9–12 | 5–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 9–12 | ||||||||
References
- ↑ "Wildcat Bees Face Covina". Daily News-Post. Monrovia, California. September 25, 1957. p. 12. Retrieved August 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com
. - ↑ Dunn, Richard (July 20, 2023). "Dunn: Mike Giddings shares his Hawaiian tales". The Orange County Register. Irvine, California. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-giddings-61931b28
- ↑ "Mike Giddings, Millennium Hall of Fame". Daily Pilot. November 17, 1999. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
- ↑ Turney, John (May 2, 2023). "State Your Case: Why Mike Giddings Is HOF Worthy". Talk of Fame Two. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
- ↑ Turney, John (August 1, 2023). "Remembering Mike Giddings and How He Helped Change the NFL". Talk of Fame Two. Retrieved August 2, 2023.