Joe Gilbert is in his first season as offensive line coach with the Carolina Panthers. Gilbert brings 37 years of coaching experience to the Panthers, including 12 years of coaching in the NFL. He comes to Carolina after spending the last five seasons (2019-2023) in the same role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In 2023, the Buccaneers' offensive line continued to succeed under Gilbert ranking 10th in the league with a 70.7 PFF Team Pass Blocking Grade. After making the switch from right tackle to left tackle, Tristan Wirfs finished the season as the fifth-highest graded pass-blocking tackle by Pro Football Focus (among players with at least 500 blocking snaps) and was named to his third Pro Bowl.
Gilbert helped the Buccaneers' 2022 offensive line withstand the loss of three starters from the season prior, while still maintaining the lowest sacks per pass attempt rate in the NFL (2.8 percent) and coaching tackle Tristan Wirfs to his second Pro Bowl selection in three seasons. The line protected for the NFL's second-ranked passing offense as Tampa Bay amassed 269.8 passing yards per game during the 2022 season.
In 2021, the Buccaneers continued to possess one of the league's top offensive line groups, allowing a sack on just 3.1 percent of passing plays, which led the league. Behind its offensive line, Tampa Bay finished the 2021 regular season first in passing yards per game (307.6), second in points per game (30.1), second in total yards per game (405.9), second in third-down percentage (47.1) and third in yards per play (6.06). Three different Buccaneers offensive linemen were selected to the Pro Bowl for their efforts – center Ryan Jensen, guard Ali Marpet and Wirfs. Wirfs was also selected as a first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press in just his second NFL season.
Under the direction of Gilbert and Assistant Head Coach/Run Game Coordinator Harold Goodwin, the Buccaneers also possessed one of the NFL's top offensive lines in 2020, ranking second in sacks allowed per pass attempt (3.4%) and fourth in fewest sacks allowed (22). Tampa Bay did not allow a sack five times during the regular season – tied for the second-most games without allowing a sack by any team in 2020. The Buccaneers offensive line also paved the way for running back Ronald Jones II to set a single-season franchise record with his 5.1 rushing yards per attempt. As a team, Tampa Bay ranked third in the NFL in points scored per game (30.8), fourth in passing yards per game (298.5) and seventh in total offense (384.1) during the regular season.
In his rookie season, Wirfs started all 16 games at right tackle for the Buccaneers, earning PFWA All-Rookie Team honors. He finished the season as one of just two right tackles to have played 750-or-more snaps in 2020 while allowing one-or-fewer sacks and fewer than 10 quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus statistics.
Throughout Tampa Bay's four-game playoff run to a Super Bowl LV victory, the Buccaneers averaged 378.5 total yards per game and 122.5 rushing yards per contest, while allowing one sack or fewer in three of the team's four postseason games.
Gilbert helped coach an offensive line that aided the Buccaneers in leading the league in pass offense at 302.8 yards per game in 2019. Additionally, Tampa Bay ranked third in the NFL in total offense (397.9 ypg) and tied for third in points scored (28.6 ppg). Gilbert helped develop then second-year guard Alex Cappa, who started all 13 games that he was healthy for in 2019, after playing in six games, with zero starts, as a rookie.
Prior to joining the Buccaneers, Gilbert coached the offensive line at the University of Arizona in 2018, where his unit helped the Wildcats lead the Pac-12 in rushing, while allowing the fourth-fewest sacks in the conference. Prior to his time in Tucson, Gilbert was a member of the Indianapolis Colts' coaching staff for six seasons (2012-17). He was the offensive line coach for three consecutive 11-win seasons (2012-14), during which the Colts ranked eighth in the NFL in points scored and 10th in total offense over that span.
In 2014, despite being forced to use 11 different offensive line starting lineup combinations, Gilbert's unit helped the Colts set franchise records in net yards (6,506) and net passing yards (4,894), while scoring the second-most points (458) in team history.
Before joining the professional ranks, Gilbert spent the previous 25 seasons on the collegiate level, including stops at Albany (1987-88), Pennsylvania (1989-90), Northeastern (1991-93), Maine (1994-99), Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (2000), Toledo (2001-03, 2007), UCF (2004-06), Houston (2008) and Illinois (2009-11). Over that time, he was instrumental in the development of future NFL players such as Nick Kaczur (Toledo), Patrick Brown (UCF), Josh Sitton (UCF), Sebastian Vollmer (Houston), Jon Asamoah (Illinois), Mike Flynn (Maine) and Jeff Allen (Illinois).
A native of Horseheads, N.Y., Gilbert went on to have an All-American playing career at Hamilton (N.Y.) College. He and his wife, Cheryl, have four children – one daughter, Madison, and three sons, Nicholas, Joseph and Timothy.
1987-88 | Albany - Graduate Assistant
1989-90 | Pennsylvania - Assistant Offensive Line/Recruiting Coordinator
1991-93 | Northeastern - Offensive Line/Recruiting Coordinator
1994-95 | Maine - Offensive Line
1996-99 | Maine - Offensive Coordinator
2000 | Mansfield (Pa.) - Head Coach
2001-03 | Toledo - Offensive Line
2004-06 | Central Florida - Offensive Line
2007 | Toledo - Tight Ends
2008 | Houston - Offensive Line
2009 | Illinois - Offensive Line
2010-11 | Illinois - Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line
2012 | Indianapolis Colts - Assistant Offensive Line
2013-15 | Indianapolis Colts - Offensive Line
2016-17 Indianapolis Colts - Assistant Offensive Line
2019-23 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Offensive Line
2024-pres | Carolina Panthers - Offensive Line
