Mike Gottfried

Who is Mike Gottfried?

Mike Gottfried is a sportscaster and former American football player and coach. Gottfried is currently a college football color analyst and color commentator for ESPN. He served as the head football coach at Murray State University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Kansas, and the University of Pittsburgh, compiling a career college football record of 76–55–4. Gottfried played college football at Morehead State University as a quarterback from 1962 to 1965. Before moving to the college coaching ranks, he coached high school football in Ohio, tallying a mark of 50–19–1. Gottfried is the uncle of Mark Gottfried, the current head men's basketball coach at North Carolina State University.

Gottfried's autobiography, entitled Coach's Challenge: Faith, Football, and Filling the Father Gap and co-written by Ron Benson, was released on September 11, 2007. Gottfried and his wife, Mickey, founded Team Focus in 2000. It is a cost-free community outreach program aimed at young men without fathers. The program goal is to give opportunities for all team members to be "motivated, encouraged, and challenged". Mike felt drawn to start Team Focus because he lost his father at age eleven, and understood the difficulty and hardships young men without fathers feel. There is also a group for females called G.I.R.L.S. Network.