David Gilbertson - Football Coach - University of Akron Athletics

David Gilbertson

Title:
Co-Pass Game Coordinator | Wide Receivers
Email:
dgilbertson@uakron.edu
Phone:
(330) 972-7466

Follow Coach Gilbertson on Twitter

David Gilbertson is in his second season as co-pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach for University of Akron head coach Joe Moorhead in 2023.

A second-generation coach in the Pac-12 Conference, Gilbertson comes to Akron after working five seasons at Oregon including his four as an offensive analyst.

Gilbertson, whose dad, Keith, was the head coach at California, Washington and Idaho during his career, came to Oregon from South Florida where he spent three seasons working on the offensive side of the ball.

Gilbertson spent the 2017 season at Oregon as an offensive graduate assistant working with tight ends and quarterbacks, before moving into an analyst role three seasons with a focus on tight ends and in 2021 mentoring the Ducks’ quarterbacks.

Gilbertson has been an integral part of Oregon’s success on offense over the last five seasons. The Ducks improved their win total over three consecutive seasons with Gilbertson on staff, while winning back-to-back Pac-12 Conference championships in 2019 and the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Ducks won seven games in his first season, before winning nine games in 2018 before a 12-win season with, a Pac-12 Championship and Rose Bowl title in 2019.

Gilbertson helped develop tight end Jacob Breeland into a weapon in the Oregon offense. Breeland finished his career ranked fourth all-time amongst Oregon tight ends with 1,225 yards receiving and became just the eighth Oregon tight end to surpass 1,000-career receiving yards.

Breeland earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors following his sophomore campaign in Gilbertson’s season as a graduate assistant. During his senior season, Breeland led all Pac-12 tight ends with six receiving touchdowns despite playing in just six games before suffering a season-ending injury.

In addition to working with Breeland and the other tight ends in 2017, Gilbertson helped coach Ducks’ quarterbacks including Justin Herbert. A four-year starter at quarterback, Herbert finished his career leading the Ducks to the Pac-12 title in 2019 before the San Diego Chargers selected him sixth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Gilbertson started his coaching career at South Florida, where he spent three seasons (2014-16) working with quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends.

In his first year on staff, Gilbertson coached quarterbacks and wide receivers as a graduate assistant. In year two, he served as the tight ends coach before ending his tenure with the Bulls as an offensive analyst working with quarterbacks in 2016. USF played in back-to-back bowls in 2015 (Miami Beach Bowl) and 2016 (Birmingham Bowl).

Over three seasons at USF, Gilbertson played an instrumental role in helping the Bulls increase their win total each season from four wins in 2014, to eight wins in 2015 to 11 wins in 2016. After ranking 119th (17.2 ppg) in the country in scoring in 2014, South Florida improved dramatically over the next two seasons ending the 2016 campaign fourth in scoring (43.8 ppg), fifth in rushing (285.31 ypg) and 11th in total offense (511.5 ypg).

During the 2016 season, Gilbertson helped coach American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year Quinton Flowers. The Bulls’ signal caller ranked in the top 20 nationally in 11 statistical categories, including seven top-10 rankings.

Flowers finished the season fourth in the country in yards per carry (7.73), tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns (18 – a USF season record), ninth in points responsible for (252) and points per game (19.4) and 10th in total offense (334.0 ypg). Amongst quarterbacks, he ranked No. 2 in the nation in rushing yards trailing only Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.

Including Flowers, Gilbertson coached three players at USF that earned All-American Athletic Conference honors. Wide receiver Andre Davis was an honorable mention pick in 2014, while tight end Sean Price claimed second-team honors in 2015. Both Davis and Flowers played in the NFL, with Davis suiting up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Flowers playing for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Gilbertson was a quarterback at Washington State, where he played for head coaches Paul Wulff and Mike Leach. He earned two letters and was a Pac-12 Conference all-academic honoree during his five years in Pullman before graduating in 2013 with a degree in communications. Gilbertson was the second member of his family to play for the Cougars, joining his grandfather, Keith Gilbertson Sr.

His father, Keith, was the head coach at Idaho from 1986-1988, at Cal from 1992-95 and at Washington from 2003-04. Gilbertson and his wife, Marcelina who played volleyball at WSU, were married in 2017.

1-8-22