Fred Gillies Explained

Fred Gillies
Number:10, 5, 11, 66, 9
Position1:Tackle, Head coach
Birth Date:9 December 1895
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Death Place:Flossmoor, Illinois, U.S.
College:Cornell
Playing Years1:1920–1926, 1928
Coaching Years1:1928
Career Highlights:
Coachpfr:GillFr0
Nfl:2514893

Frederick Montague Gillies (December 9, 1895  - May 8, 1974) was an American football player and coach for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He graduated from Cornell University in 1918 and was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He appeared in 72 games, 51 of which as a starter, as a tackle for the Chicago Cardinals between 1920 and 1933, earning All-Pro honors in 1922. He coached the team in 1928, which was his final season as a player and only as a coach, to a 1-5 record.

Fred later married Blanche Wilder and adopted Theo Janet Howells, the biological daughter of Blanche's sister, Gertrude Wilder. Gillies also worked and volunteered for the Republican Party.In 1932, he was a survivor in a plane crash that took the life of aviator Eddie Stinson, the founder of Stinson Aircraft Company. Gillies suffered a leg injury, as a result of the accident, which left him in a leg brace for the rest of his life.