Gerry Gdowski

Gerry Gdowski (born August 9, 1967) is an American former college football quarterback for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and later a college football coach.

A relative unknown from a national perspective coming into the 1989 season, Gdowski put together a seasons that earned him numerous accolades. His performance running the Cornhusker offense led to multiple awards, including being named the Big Eight football conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Gdowski broke or tied 11 school records at Nebraska. His NCAA passer rating was 177.3 points, a school record, and was better than the Jim McMahon’s 1980 NCAA record of 176.9 at that time, except that Gdowski averaged 12.4 attempts per game and the NCAA minimum was 15.

Early life Gdowski was born in Kearney, Nebraska on August 6, 1967. He later attended high school at Fremont Senior High in Fremont, Nebraska, and was selected as the 1985 Nebraska high school athlete of the year. He earned an all-state selection for football twice, and also in basketball his senior year. He also won 8 gold medals in 3 state track meets. He was also an honors student, earning the valedictorian of his senior class.

College career Following high school, Gdowski accepted an in-state scholarship offer to play quarterback at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In the fall of 1986, he led the Husker freshman team in rushing, passing, and total offense. As a sophomore backup in 1987, he was third on the quarterback depth chart. Playing in 6 games, he threw for 8 yards on a single completion on two attempts, and rushed for 131 yards on 18 attempts with 2 touchdowns. Backing up starter Steve Taylor during his junior season, Gdowski played in 7 games, passing for 64 yards on 8 attempts, and rushing for 155 yards on 17 attempts with 2 touchdowns. In 1989, Gdowski was a CoSIDA Academic All-American, National Football Scholar Athlete, and Academic All Big Eight in 1988 and 1989.

Statistics

In the classroom, Gdowski also excelled at Nebraska, earning multiple scholar athlete awards.

NFL draft Drafted in the eighth round by the New Orleans Saints, Gdowski did not make the final team roster and was cut.

Coaching career After graduating from Nebraska, Gdowski worked with the quarterbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers in a graduate assistant capacity at Nebraska from 1991 to 1993. He then moved to South Dakota State University, where he served as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for two seasons. In his third season with the program, Gdowski was promoted to offensive coordinator. The following season, he moved to New Mexico State, where he served as the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator from 1998 to 2002. Gdowski served as their assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for 2003 and 2004. The following year, he left for Ohio University, where he was the quarterbacks coach from 2005 to 2007. In December 2019, Gdowski and Vanderbilt defensive coordinator Jason Tarver were both let go by the university.

Personal life

Gdowski was born in Kearney, Nebraska and his parents are Gerry Gdowski Sr. and Carol Gdowski. The family moved to Fremont, Nebraska in 1979.

Gdowski and his wife, Sam, have three sons - Isaac, Tommy, and Luke. He is the cousin of Tom Gdowski, who played defensive tackle for Nebraska in the early 1980's.