NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson is named head coach at Marshall

N.C. State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson was named head coach at Marshall on Sunday, shortly after Thundering Herd coach Charles Huff’s hiring was announced at Southern Miss.

Gibson, 52, will take his first head-coaching job in college and return to his home state, where he served two stints at West Virginia over the past two decades. The terms of Gibson’s deal were not immediately disclosed.

"We could not be happier to welcome Tony Gibson home as our 32nd head coach at Marshall University," school President Brad Smith said in a statement. "Coach Gibson has led some of the top programs on the national level, but in the end, his heart desired to return to the mountains from which he came.”

Gibson’s hiring was announced less than an hour after Huff was named coach at Southern Miss. Huff coached Marshall to a 31-3 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt championship game on Saturday night. Marshall (10-3) won seven straight games for its first 10-win season since 2015.

Gibson coached defensive backs at West Virginia under Rich Rodriguez from 2001 to 2007. He returned in 2013 under Dana Holgorsen as safeties coach, then became defensive coordinator a year later and stayed until Holgorsen left at the end of the 2018 season. Gibson spent six seasons at N.C. State. He had other assistant coaching stints at Pitt and under Rodriguez at Michigan and Arizona.

N.C. State's defense ranked near the bottom of the ACC this season, allowing 30.5 points and 385 yards per game. The Wolfpack's best season under Gibson was in 2022, when it tied with Louisville for the fewest points allowed at 19.2 per game and was second in yards allowed at 327.

"My family and I are excited to start this journey, but we all thank you for your support and the wonderful memories," Gibson wrote to the N.C. State community in a post Sunday on the social media platform X.

Gibson, who is from Van, West Virginia, graduated in 1994 from Glenville State, where he played defensive back.

"We have recruited a proven coach that aspires to be at Marshall and to sustain the success we have come to appreciate and expect," athletic director Christian Spears said in the statement. “We can't wait to get started with him and his staff."

Marshall associate head coach Telly Lockette will serve as interim coach in the Independence Bowl against No. 19 Army (11-1) on Dec. 28 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

One of Gibson's first tasks will be replenishing Marshall's roster. The Thundering Herd signed only 11 recruits in the recent early signing period.