Beyond the Game Plan: Tony Gibson

By Chad Wylie, Special Contributor

RALEIGH, N.C. - There are many reasons that when Dave Doeren had a staff opening on the defensive side of the ball earlier this year, he decided to bring in Tony Gibson. The veteran coach brings many talents to the NC State coaching staff, but his recruiting acumen may be the most impressive.

While at Michigan, Gibson recruited Denard Robinson, a future Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. At Pittsburgh, Rushel Shell, then the top running back in the nation, committed to the program with Gibson as the primary recruiter. In 2018, his final year at West Virginia, Gibson was named one of the nations "hottest recruiters" by Street & Smith magazine.

This isn't a recent trend for Gibson, now entering his 23^rd year of coaching. He started forming his interpersonal skills and relationships with recruits when he was still a player at Glenville State, where he played defensive back.

"I credit my personality," Gibson said. "And my way to get along with other people and to be able to communicate with players and be a leader in that way. I would host recruits and show them around the campus while I was a player."

What makes Gibson successful as a recruiter transcends just how his football team performs.

"Being able to relate to different players, being a player's coach, and building relationships that are not just about football are my keys," Gibson said. "There is nothing that makes me happier than having a former player call me with life updates and knowing that he is living a successful life after football."

Gibson grew up in southern West Virginia, the son of a coal miner, and started playing football when he was seven. After a brief move to Pennsylvania, he returned to West Virginia for high school, where he played tailback and defensive end. Despite being offered several scholarships for baseball, Gibson chose football, committing to Glenville State, where he played all four years.

His head coach at Glenville, Rich Rodriguez, took note of his personal skills and ability to connect with his fellow players, and tagged him as a potential coach upon graduating. A month after his senior season ended, Gibson joined Rodriguez's coaching staff. He continued with Rodriguez at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona.

His greatest coaching successes came at West Virginia, where he was responsible for recruiting 72 players on two Big East Championship teams. In recent years, the Mountaineers have consistently been ranked first in the Big East total defense and scoring defense, and ranked in the top 25 nationally.

Now in his first year on Doeren's staff, Gibson believes that his success as a recruiter and coach will translate to helping the Wolfpack continue to build a dominant defense.

"The biggest jump for a player from high school to college is that college players really want it," Gibson said. "They want to be coached because they think that what you're saying is helping them get to where they want to be, which is the NFL. So, if I can show a kid what I have done for other players who have made it to the next level, then they will give maximum effort for me."

As a defensive coordinator at several of the nation's top programs, Gibson hopes to use that expertise to elevate into a head coaching role at the college level in the future. With his experience as a defensive tactician and dynamic recruiter, Gibson knows he can have success, because he knows how to get players to buy into his message.

"The personal relationship is the most important," Gibson said. "If a kid knows that you believe in him, you've got his best interests at heart and you care about him as a player and a person, then you've got him, and he's going to play his butt off for you."

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