Don Gambril (1989) - Hall of Fame - Long Beach State University Athletics

Don Gambril

Induction:
1989

When then-athletics director Fred Miller decided in 1967 that he wanted to pull the 49er athletics department into the "big time", he went after three coaches... Jim Stangeland in football, Jerry Tarkanian in basketball and Don Gambril in swimming. Gambril was at Long Beach State for only four seasons, but his teams were a force in the Pacifc Coast Athletic Association and in NCAA meets. Gambril's Long Beach teams always had a strong international flavor, which is a tribute to his world-wide reputation. Gambril was the head coach of the U.S. Olympic team in 1984 after serving as an assistant in 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980. Gambril left the 49ers in 1971 to become head coach at Harvard. He was also the head coach at the University of Alabama for two decades.