NC State Athletics announced in a release that Tony Gibson has been elevated to defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Gibson came on as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach last season, bringing his 3-3-5 defense with him. The team moved on from former DC Dave Huxtable earlier this week. 

“I look forward to building our defense with Tony Gibson as the leader,” said head coach Dave Doeren in the release. “He has a strong vision for what we need to do on defense, and his knowledge of our personnel and recruits will help us design the structure of our defense around our talent.”

Tony Gibson has coached for 24 years, nearly half of them coming in two stints at West Virginia. This will be his third time taking over as defensive coordinator for a team. In his four years in that position for the Mountaineers, the defense twice ranked in the top 10 in the nation in takeaways per game. Athlon awarded Gibson with Big 12 Defensive Coordinator of the Year honors in 2016.

“I’m very honored and excited to be named the defensive coordinator,” Gibson said in the release. “I look forward to helping continue the growth of these young men and to be a part of a great staff here at NC State.”

Turnovers have been a problem area for NC State’s defense for a while. The last time the Wolfpack ranked in the top 50 in takeaways was five years ago, and the problem was even more pronounced this year, as NC State got its first turnover in conference play during the penultimate game of the season. Gibson inherits a young defense with great talent and a year of experience in his system, and now he will be able to run his system with play-calling duties.