Chris Gilbert, one of the foundational stars of Texas Longhorns football, passed away Monday at the age of 79. A trailblazer in every sense, Gilbert helped define an era in Austin, setting records and standards that still echo through the program today.
While the University of Texas did not disclose a cause of death, the Houston Chronicle reported Gilbert had battled Alzheimer’s disease for an extended period.
Gilbert’s legacy is etched deep into the fabric of college football. As National Football Foundation president Steve Hatchell put it, “Chris Gilbert was a transformative figure in college football whose excellence helped define an era at Texas.” And that’s no exaggeration-Gilbert was the first player in NCAA history to rush for over 1,000 yards in three straight seasons, a feat that turned heads in the late '60s and still commands respect today.
From 1966 to 1968, Gilbert racked up 3,231 rushing yards for the Longhorns, becoming the program’s all-time leading rusher at the time-by nearly 1,500 yards. That mark has since been surpassed, but he still sits sixth on the all-time list, a testament to just how far ahead of his time he was.
Gilbert wasn’t just productive-he was electric. At 5-foot-11 and 176 pounds, he wasn’t the biggest back on the field, but he was a nightmare for defenders.
As former Arkansas defensive lineman David Cooper once said, “Gilbert is like a rabbit. I don't think it's possible for one man to bring him down.”
That quickness and elusiveness made him the heartbeat of the Longhorns’ offense.
His final season in 1968 was a significant one-not just for Gilbert, but for Texas football as a whole. That year, offensive coordinator Emory Bellard unveiled the Wishbone offense, a formation that would go on to revolutionize the college game.
Lining up alongside Ted Koy and Steve Worster (who passed away in 2022), Gilbert rushed for 1,132 yards and 13 touchdowns, helping Texas claim a share of the Southwestern Conference title. It was a new era of offense, and Gilbert was at the center of it.
He finished eighth in the 1968 Heisman Trophy voting, a year when USC’s O.J. Simpson took home the award.
But Gilbert’s impact extended beyond awards and accolades. His 96-yard touchdown run against TCU in 1967 still stands as the longest in Texas history-a record untouched for nearly six decades.
Though he was selected in the fifth round of the 1969 NFL Draft, Gilbert never played a down of professional football. Instead, he pivoted to a different kind of success, building a career in business in Houston. In 1968, he founded a Texas summer camp that remains open today, another enduring piece of his legacy.
Gilbert was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and was part of the Texas Hall of Honor’s 1978 class. But beyond the numbers and the honors, Gilbert’s story is one of pioneering excellence. He helped usher Texas football into a modern era, and his name still resonates in the halls of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Chris Gilbert didn’t just run the ball-he ran into history.