Jack Gilbreath [Football '16]
Jack Gilbreath graduated from Vian High School in 1957, where he actively played football, basketball, and baseball. He was an All-Conference fullback for the football team and helped earn a conference championship as a member of the baseball team.
Through the efforts of his high school football coach, Bennie Kiger, Gilbreath and three of his teammates enrolled at Connors State in the fall of 1957. Gilbreath started for his two years as an Aggie, as running back and punter for the football team, as well as a starter on the baseball team.
After graduating from Connors in 1959, he enrolled at Northeastern State University, then College, where he received his Bachelor’s in Industrial Arts in 1964 and his Master’s in Education in 1971. Gilbreath began his teaching and coaching career shortly after, starting in Shidler, Oklahoma. During his career, he also coached and taught in Catoosa, Panama and Wagoner, retiring in 1994.
After a short retirement, Gilbreath returned to the life of teaching and coaching for the Arkansas City, Kansas, school district in 1995, where he remained until his final retirement in 2004.
Gilbreath has been a member of the Oklahoma Coaches Association for the past 52 years, where he served on the Board of Directors. In 1978 he coached the North All-State Team. He was named Region III Track Coach of the Year, and was the Oklahoma Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1984-1985, and in 2009, was named to the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame.