Unlikely as it may seem, the circle of life took a few backward revolutions when Tom Gilburg was out walking with his wife Joanne on Monday afternoon. If during his 81 years he has alternately been a football player and coach — as well as a husband, father and grandfather (notably to two players of considerable promise) — suddenly his phone was ringing and he was being whisked back over half a century, to when he was a young Baltimore Colt.

And three years into his career, he found himself playing for a head coach named Don Shula.

Shula, just 33 entering that 1963 season, was the youngest man to ever assume such a position in the NFL to that point. And sure, Gilburg, who not too many years later would begin a long, successful run as Franklin & Marshall’s head man, couldn’t help but think about that. Shula was a mere six seasons removed from a seven-year run as an NFL defensive back (1951-57). He had spent four of those seasons in Baltimore. Now he was being asked to coach some of the same guys with whom he had played.

But that was never an issue.

“He took over,” Gilburg said. “He was no-nonsense.”

The thing Gilburg remembers, above and beyond that, is Shula’s attention to detail — how those Colts were “probably the best-prepared football team I ever played on.” It surprises him not a bit, then, that Shula went on to become the winningest coach in NFL history, going 328-156-6 in 33 seasons. That he won two Super Bowls as coach in Miami, the first in 1972, when the Dolphins became the only undefeated team ever. And that he was celebrated upon his death Monday, at age 90.

“If it was third-and-seven on the 50-yard line, we knew exactly what defense our opponent was going to be in, and we knew what we were going to run,” Gilburg said. “If it was second-and-10 on the 20-yard line, he knew exactly what defense they were in, and we knew what play to call. It was amazing. And I know that (quarterback) John Unitas was there. He hardly ever had to check off.”

So there’s that. There’s always that. And as far as Shula’s no-nonsense side goes, Gilburg, a punter and backup offensive lineman, recalled that the team staged weigh-ins, every Thursday during the season: Players were fined if they exceeded their designated weight. Didn’t matter if you were a future Hall of Famer like offensive tackle Jim Parker or a flighty backup like running back Alex Hawkins; you paid for excess poundage.

Understand, however, that Shula leavened his toughness with humanity. In the summer of 1964, the Gilburgs’ infant son Scot was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, an abdominal blockage that prevents food from passing from the stomach to the small intestine, and needed surgery. The Colts were in training camp at Western Maryland (now McDaniel) College at the time, and Gilburg asked about returning to Lancaster to be with his family. Shula was quick to give his assent.

“So I went, and he had his surgery and I knew everything was good,” Gilburg said. “And when I came back it was like I never left.”

He played three seasons under Shula, the Colts going 8-6, 12-2 and 10-3-1 in that pre-Super Bowl era. They lost to the Browns in the 1964 NFL championship game and the Packers in overtime in the ‘65 playoffs, the latter despite the absence of Unitas and backup Gary Cuozzo because of injuries. Tom Matte, normally a running back, was pressed into service at QB, and Baltimore fell 13-10 on a disputed field goal by Green Bay’s Don Chandler. While the kick appeared to go wide, it sailed high over the uprights and was ruled successful. The league subsequently extended the uprights.

That proved to be Gilburg’s final game as a player. Traded to the Rams after that season, he chose instead to retire and launch his coaching career, first as an assistant at Hofstra, then at Lehigh. He landed at F&M in 1975 and spent 28 years there, going 160-112-2.

He said his own coaching style was informed by Shula, as well as former Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder, for whom Gilburg had been an All-American lineman, and his first pro coach, Weeb Ewbank. All three are Hall of Famers.  

“Probably the guy who had the most influence on me was my high school coach,” Gilburg said, recalling Mark Whittleton at Horace Greeley High in Chappaqua, N.Y. “Being a young guy, he impressed me that much. … He was known by all the players as ‘The Whip.’ He was another no-nonsense (coach).”

“The Whip”? Gilburg didn’t elaborate, and probably didn’t need to. And meanwhile the circle of life has continued to spin. Tom and Joanne have five children in all. One of them, Stacy, married a former Penn State/NFL player, Todd Rucci. Their older son, Hayden, is a tight end at Wisconsin. The younger one, Nolan, is a star lineman at Warwick who will be able to play for whatever big-time college program he chooses.

And Tom? He’s just going to keep on walking. Just putting one foot in front of the other. Just enjoying what is, and savoring what has been.