HORSEHEADS, NY (WENY) - Horseheads native Joe Gilbert is on the cusp of the biggest game in professional football, just 3 sleeps away from the championship game. It's been a long road in coaching to where he is now as the offensive line coach for Tampa Bay, and that road can be traced right back to the Southern Tier. 

Gilbert is a Blue Raider through and through, graduating from Horseheads High School. Joe's brother Nick was a high school coach, and his brother George played major college football at Tulsa, going on to win championships in the USFL. Joe cites both of his brothers as role models in his football journey. 

Gilbert says his time in Horseheads helped build the foundation for his championship work ethic. He says, "I think that the roots my parents gave me and being from Horseheads where it's a blue collar town, hard working people, grind it out every single day like my parents did, I think that's something I've never lost."

The work ethic really kicks in when Gilbert and his players are doing the work no one really sees. He says, "They don't realize all the work that goes into it from Monday to Saturday and the hours that you put in, the sacrifices you make away from your families, but you know that was part of growing up and knowing that's what I wanted to do and I've been very fortunate that it's worked out."

For Gilbert, playing in the championship has been a dream ever since his time in the Southern Tier. He says, "I think that's why you coach, that's why you play is you want to play in these big games. That's what you do it for. I remember playing football in the side yard as a kid in Horseheads wanting to be in this game." 

You can watch Gilbert and the Buccaneers take on the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday, February 7th on WENY-CBS, brought to you by Simmons-Rockwell Nissan.