NC State has moved on from cornerbacks coach George Barlow, NC State Athletics announced in a press release Saturday evening. Barlow coached corners for the Wolfpack for the past six seasons and served as assistant head coach for the defense since 2016.
“I appreciate George and his contributions to Wolfpack football,” said head coach Dave Doeren in the press release. “We wish him great success in the future.”
As Tony Gibson heads into his first year serving as defensive coordinator for the Wolfpack, he added two familiar faces to fill the staff’s defensive vacancies. Brian Mitchell and Joe DeForest, both of whom have prior experience working with Gibson, fill voids at cornerback and safety, respectively.
Brian Mitchell takes over coaching cornerbacks for the Wolfpack, coming to Raleigh after coaching at Virginia Tech for the past four years. Mitchell coached under Gibson at West Virginia and served as defensive coordinator at ECU prior to that. Mitchell coached two of his position group players to All-ACC honors in 2019 with honorable mention Jermaine Waller and first-teamer Caleb Farley. The Hokies amassed a reputation for stingy defense under retiring defensive coordinator Bud Foster, and Mitchell played a key role during his time in Blacksburg, known for developing players.
“It’s an honor and privilege to be joining Wolfpack Nation and the strong football foundation coach Doeren has in place,” Mitchell said in the press release. “I’m looking forward to helping in that development alongside defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.”
Joe DeForest takes over safeties coaching, moving across the country from USC. DeForest coached in Los Angeles for two seasons, serving as outside linebackers coach in 2019. DeForest had prior stints at Kansas, West Virginia and Oklahoma State coaching the secondary for 15 years. DeForest secondaries made three New Year’s Six bowls in that time.
“I am really excited to work for coach Doeren and to be a part of the NC State program,” DeForest said in the release. “Tony Gibson is a tremendous defensive coordinator and I can’t wait to work with him again. It’s also great to get back east, closer to my family.”
Staff changes appear to be done on the defensive side of the ball as Gibson shapes his defense. According to Doeren, Mitchell and DeForest were Gibson’s top choices, and their familiarity with him will ease the transition into the new scheme the staff introduces for the defense.
“We’re going to blow it up and start over and build this defense around our personnel that we have,” Gibson said on Early Signing Day. “I think that’s very important to these kids. Especially with the D-line, and [guys] that they recruited to come in and play four-down. How are we going to do three-down and fit them into the scheme? I assured all the kids and I assured all the families that it’s going to look totally different than it did a year ago.”
