West Virginia Promote Tony Gibson to Defensive Coordinator

Sept. 1, 2012; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats coach Tony Gibson looks on prior to the game against the Toledo Rockets at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

With Keith Patterson off to join his old buddy Todd Graham at Arizona, West Virginia found themselves with a vacancy where they could least afford it – defensive coordinator. Instead of searching the land for Patterson’s replacement, the Mountaineers chose to stay at home and promote safeties coach Tony Gibson, who had been interim coach in Patterson’s absence.

In a mild sense of irony, Gibson, a West Virginia native, left Arizona prior to last season, in part to work with Patterson in Morgantown. The two had worked together before while at Pittsburgh in 2011.

Prior to Gibson’s stint at Pittsburgh, he spent 3 years at Michigan as part of Rich Rodriguez’ staff. Gibson was assistant head coach, as well as defensive backs and special teams coach. He was part of RichRod’s staff at West Virginia too, coaching defensive backs from 2001-7. He was a defensive coordinator at West Virginia Tech from 1999-2000.

Gibson has a tough task ahead, as the Mountaineer defense has been something of a disaster lately, although there were signs of life last year. Interestingly, Gibson’s hiring at the beginning of 2013 was not met with widespread approval – how will fans react to his promotion to defensive coordinator?