On first look, West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson may not have seemed like an obvious candidate when NC State was searching for a new assistant following the departure of safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Ted Roof. If they didn’t want to reshuffle the coaching staff, which had everybody else on that side of the ball returning, the Wolfpack needed a new safeties mentor.
Gibson, a 23-year coaching veteran, had served as West Virginia’s defensive coordinator the last five years while he focused on linebackers positionally.
However, his entire career before that had been spent specializing in the secondary. He explained that mentoring the linebackers specifically was simply due to being the defensive coordinator and wanting to get “the full feel of the defense.”
But Gibson did not know NC State seventh-year head coach Dave Doeren or anyone on the Wolfpack staff, so it still wasn't an obvious fit.
Yet, Doeren was exactly whom Gibson received a call from at the Football Coaches Association Convention in early January.
“I was in a unique situation because I had years left on my contract [at West Virginia] and didn’t really have to settle for a job,” Gibson admitted. “I went to the national coaches convention and had some great opportunities. When I was leaving the convention, Coach Doeren hit me up. I didn’t know anybody on the staff, it just kind of came out of the blue.
“He explained what the job entailed, what I’d be doing, and I thought this late in the process it’s hard to turn down a job like NC State — it’s in a great league, has the great traditions of NC State and with the way they’ve been winning the last few years.”
West Virginia, where Gibson had logged a total of 13 years as an assistant over two different stints and experienced great success, played mostly a 3-3-5 defense under the veteran mentor. The Wolfpack isn’t expected to switch its alignment to that, but Gibson noted the back end of it is not that different from NCSU’s 4-2-5 base defense.
“It’s very similar with the nickel and what we called our spur [at WVU] — different names, but everything else is the same,” he explained. “You can do a lot more coverage wise with five DBs in the game, you can play some more man, different kinds of zones and have better athletes, better personnel for matchups.
“Secondary is what has kind of been my deal for the first 18 years of coaching, that’s what I worked with before the last five — but I never strayed too far from the secondary. … I like it back there. I think that there’s obviously a lot of pressure on the secondary in college football, and I want to accept that challenge and try to get them better.”
Gibson, who will also hold the title of co-defensive coordinator in Raleigh, noted his defensive philosophy is centered on “being aggressive” and mixing things up against quarterbacks, so that they can’t dictate the tempo of a game. He also said that when he’s coaching this fall, he plans to do so from the sideline, which is where he’s spent most of his career and is able to look his players in the eye during the heat of the battle.
However, when he’s looking at his players on the sidelines, Gibson joked he never wants to be looking level with one of his athletes.
“I’m only about 5-8, so I say if I ever have to look eye to eye or down on a guy, I don’t want him,” he laughed. “I always want to look up at him.”
That shouldn’t be a problem at NC State. Every scholarship safety on the spring roster except for converted nickel Tanner Ingle — a 5-10, 186-pound athlete who showed as a true freshman he’s a hard hitter — checks in at 6-1 or taller and most are at least 200 pounds. But that’s not to say Gibson would have a problem coaching an undersized player.
Despite being listed at just 5-11 and 222 pounds, David Long Jr. starred on Gibson’s WVU defense at Will linebacker the last two years and earned second-team All-America laurels each season before declaring for the NFL Draft after his redshirt junior campaign. Gibson said the 2018 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year was the best player — out of 21 future pros and 25 all-conference nominees — he’s ever coached.
To put Long’s size in perspective, Gibson’s lone returning starter from last year he inherits among the NC State safeties, Jarius Morehead, is listed at 6-1, 220 pounds. Morehead, a 26-game starter, has unsurprisingly distinguished himself as a leader among the position already, but Gibson sees a lot of talent and promise in the group he takes over.
“They’re big, and that’s always good,” the coach said. “You look for [size in recruiting], but everybody looks for it. … I think our guys right now are long and athletic, can cover and can do some things I’m excited to get out there and work with.
“[Size] is an advantage for a DB with these tall wideouts and all that. You want to be able to match up … you don’t want a 5-8 DB on a 6-4 wideout.”
In the grand scheme of things, size doesn’t mean everything on the football field — Long proved that under Gibson. However, it can be an important trait, and Gibson is looking forward to utilizing it in his safeties in Raleigh.
“All those guys are guys I’m excited to get out and work with … just to see how we can help,” he said. “Maybe there’s something I can bring that’s a little different than what some of the other guys have brought. Hopefully we can get over that hump and try to get these guys better because the one thing I don’t want to do is be the weak link on this team or this defense.
“Coming in here, I think there’s been a lot of negative stuff with the secondary. That’s a challenge and I’m a competitive guy, so I want to make sure we get that cleaned up.”
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