Running out the tunnel with his clipboard stashed in his right shoulder, he wears his black Warriors jacket into Murdock Stadium.

The players in their multiple stretching lines, in their practice jerseys and helmets on the ground laugh with each other.

“Here we go, get to your groups and spots,” El Camino College Warriors football coach Gifford Lindheim said to his players.

While on the field he’s pacing back and forth talking to each of the players groups and greeting other coaches, laughing and talking.

Lindheim, 52, is entering his ninth year as the football coach at El Camino College.

Since being hired in 2016, he’s helped the Warriors reach seven straight bowl games and reached the final four last season before falling to the Mount San Antonio College Mounties, 48-24.

Lindheim said that becoming a coach was a natural progression for him.

“I’d always worked with kids in different sports growing up. I knew I liked working with the youth and football,” he said.

This season, Lindheim moved to third place on the ECC football’s all time winning coaches list with a record of 55-37-0, after defeating the Mount San Jacinto College Eagles, 31-27, on Saturday, Sept. 27.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Lindheim attended University High School where he played football as a running back from 1987 to 1990.

He also played football in college, attending San Francisco State for five years, and moved on to play for the Madrid Bears, now known as the Madrid Osos.

After his playing days, he went on to coach at the high school level, the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III level, the Division I level and also the community college level.

“I was aggressive in my 20s because I didn’t have anyone to show me. I moved around a bit and you have to be assertive and make connections,” he said.

Gallery • 3 Photos

El Camino College Warriors coach Gifford Lindheim (center) interacts with players during practice on ECC's Featherstone Field at Murdock Stadium, Thursday, Oct. 2. Lindheim surpassed former Warriors coach Norm Verry's record (54-27-2; 1952-60) for third place on the Warriors all-time coaching wins, according to ECC Warriors Athletics, after defeating the Mount San Jacinto College Eagles, 31-27, earning his 55th win, Saturday, Sept. 27. (Taheem Lewis | The Union)

Lindheim and his wife Claudia have been married for 17 years and have two sons: Tyler, 15, who plays baseball, and Bradley, 13, who plays baseball and soccer.

Since 2018, he’s helped 176 football players play on the college level and out of those 176 players, 61 of them have played on the Division I level.

Lindheim said the recruiting process is a lot and that it can be difficult.

“It takes a lot of dedication. I’m constantly talking to coaches about their film and transcripts trying to market our players,” he said.

Warriors wide receiver Mark Baker is an out-of-state athlete whom Lindheim recruited from Barien, Washington, and Baker said Lindheim has welcomed him with open arms.

“Before I got here to ECC, he took my dad on a tour while I was at home. For him to take time out of his day to get my family to come was special,” Baker said.

He’s coached over 20 players who went to play professionally in the National Football League, including Colin Kaepernick, Steve Smith Sr., Brandon Marshall, David Mayo and ECC alumnus David Sills V.

The Union attempted to interview Kaepernick, Mayo and Sills, but did not receive responses.

Sills, who attended ECC in 2016, played quarterback under Lindheim. He threw for 1,636 yards and made 15 touchdowns during one season with the Warriors.

He went on to the University of West Virginia where he played three seasons as a wide receiver (2015, 2017, 2018) and averaged 132 receptions, 2,097 yards and 35 receiving touchdowns.

Sills went undrafted in 2019 and played for the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons.

ECC Athletic Director Abi Francisco said Lindheim has grown the program over the years.

“He’s inherited the program from coach Featherstone and in the past five years, we’ve seen the program really do well. Also the players he’s brought in and out of here that do well,” Francisco said.

With three games left on the season, Lindheim has his team with a (6-1) overall record and an undefeated (4-0) in the National-Northern Conference. The Warriors are also a No. 8-ranked team, according to the 3C2A.

Lindheim said when he recruits he looks for specific traits in players.

“I’m looking for players who want to work hard and want to earn it. I might lose a talented kid, but if they want to go somewhere else where it was promised, that’s not the kid I want on my team,” Lindheim said.

Editor’s note:

• Captions were updated Monday, Oct. 27