Gil Bartosh

Gilbert C. Bartosh (born May 21, 1930) was an American football player and coach.

Considered the greatest player ever to come out of Granger, Bartosh was dubbed the "Granger Ghost." He starred at Granger from 1945-48 before a four-year career at Texas Christian, where he played quarterback under coach Dutch Meyer and led the Southwest Conference in total offense his junior season in 1951, when he was also named an All-American. In 1952 however, he had to take a backseat behind Ray McKown. Bartosh was drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the 314th Pick (Round 27) of the 1952 NFL Draft, but never played in the NFL. He did play for the British Columbia Lions in 1955 (leading the team in touchdowns).

After suffering a shoulder injury during one of his practices he quit pro football and started his coaching career. Bartosh was head football coach at Milby High School, Houston, Texas, 1959-1961, winning two District Championships. In 1962, he became head coach at the newly opened Lee High School, Houston, Texas, serving there through the 1966 season. His '64 and '65 teams were zone champions. After a three-year stint as assistant at Rice, he became head coach at Odessa Permian HS in 1971. Bartosh guided Permian to a perfect 14-0 season in 1972, winning the Texas 5A state championship as well as the mythical high school football national championship along the way. He then left Permian for an assistant job under Emory Bellard at Texas A&M. In 1974 he succeeded Tommy Hudspeth as head coach of UTEP.

Bartosh was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

1. ^ U.S. Public Records Index, Vols 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
2. ^ Statesman.com: Central Texas' all-time greatest football players