National Football Foundation

The Big 8 Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 1989, Nebraska quarterback and co-captain Gerry Gdowski broke or tied 11 school records and earned a laundry list of honors while leading College Football Hall of Fame coach Tom Osborne’s Cornhuskers to a 10-2 record and a Fiesta Bowl appearance. He completed 71 of 136 passes for 1,326 yards, 19 touchdowns and only two interceptions for a school-record interception percent of 1.47 and passer rating of 177.3. Gdowski ran for 925 yards, breaking the position record of 826 set by Steve Taylor in 1988, and 13 touchdowns, tying Taylor's 1988 record. His four rushing touchdowns and 174 rushing yards against Iowa State were both position records, and his 74-yard scoring run against the Cyclones was the longest ever by a Nebraska quarterback and the longest run for a Husker in 1989. That performance helped him average 7.91 yards per attempt in 1989, breaking the old school record (minimum 100 attempts) of 7.81 set by Hall of Fame running back Mike Rozier in his Heisman Trophy-winning season of 1983. Gdowski's rushing and passing stats combined for a school-record 32 touchdowns and 204.6 yards per game.

A two-time Academic All-American and Academic All-Big 8 selection, Gdowski compiled a 3.56 GPA in accounting and is a member of Beta Alpha Psi. He began his career in coaching as a graduate assistant for his alma mater from 1991-93. Gdowski spent 18 years as a position coach and offensive coordinator at South Dakota State, New Mexico State and Ohio. He joined the coaching staff at Vanderbilt in 2014, coaching the tight ends and then the quarterbacks before being named offensive coordinator in 2019. After leaving Vanderbilt in December of 2019, he left coaching currently serces as a loan consultant at New American Funding.