Tony Gibson: "Those Guys Have A Lot To Live Up To"
NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson met with the media as the Wolfpack progresses through 2024 fall camp.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Gibson’s interview.
On fall camp...
This is mental toughness when you’ve got to go practice for 21 periods in that. It's good to toughen our guys up a little bit.
On converting Sean Brown to linebacker…
It's kind of an easy sell, as productive as we've had at linebacker over the last couple of years. Sean's a great football player. He's smart, and with his old position of free safety, he knows what we're doing linebacker. He's tied into us, so it was an easy transition for him to make the move. How can you argue or fight back on it when you say, “Hey, look what Payton Wilson just did." Now, I'm not comparing him to Payton — that's not fair to Sean — but he's got the ability to make a lot of plays. He can run. I’m looking forward to watching him grow as a linebacker in the next couple of weeks of camp.
On the depth at safety leading to moving Brown to linebacker…
We needed to fill some holes. We had some guys that graduated, guys that left, and guys that got injured, and we need to fill some spots. They were OKG’s: our kind of guys. That's what we look for: just plug-and-play types of guy. We feel good about it. It will help our younger guys right now keep growing and getting better within this game. We needed that depth when it came to breakdown.
On balancing building confidence for a high-caliber defense and not overexerting in the pursuit of reaching lofty heights…
We have a standard here on defense. We’ve been a top 25 defense for the last three years. Those guys have a lot to live up to. We don't hide behind it. I put it out there to them and then challenge them. "Here's what was built before you, and our goal is to be better than we were a year ago. Can we do that?" There's a lot of work that needs to be done, but I feel really good about these guys. They work hard. They understand our scheme. I told them in our first meeting: they're very fortunate. I know we're the only defensive staff in the ACC that has been together for five straight years, and I don't know how many in the country — I haven't studied that. They’re fortunate to have the same coaches for five straight years and to be in the same scheme. We're on year five with this thing, and our expectations will be the best defense of this league and in the country.
When he expressed those expectations…
The first meeting. It gets put up on the board: Here's what we've done over the last three years, and I continue to expect that that's what we're going to do here for this year as well and be four years in a row. If we don't meet those expectations, that's on me.
On building depth...
We've got guys like Caden Fordham and [Devon] Betty; those guys have played a lot of football: Davin Vann, Brandon Cleveland, Travali Price… We lost guys, but we feel good with the guys that are here right now as well. We've been building this thing again over a five-year period, and I don't expect this to dip at any time. We have to keep getting stronger and better every single day. Again, I like where we’re at with those guys.
On finding the right player to slot in at nose tackle…
If you look at NFL roster schemes defensively, the majority of the NFL plays three-down. Again, we've had a pretty good run of nose guards here that are playing at the next level, starting with Alim McNeill. You've got Cory Durden. Our expectation is going to be the same for Brandon Cleveland. He's going to be that next guy. Then, Chazz [Wallace] is obviously only here with us one year. I like the way he plays. We don't lie to these kids and say, “You're going to be playing all these different techniques.” You're a zero nose, and we need you to do these type of things and techniques. We just have to get the right guys that fit in, guys that aren't selfish.
On the unlimited number of on-field coaches for practice…
It helps. I don't put a lot of stock in that because, if you get too many chefs in the kitchen, too many guys talking... but we have a great group of young coaches, analysts, and GA’s that do a great job and understand our schemes. It's great for them to get that experience and be able to help them coach guys up.
If he worries about becoming predictable…
No, I don't worry about that. We do so many different things, and we're not going to stay stagnant. We're always going to study in the offseason and see new things that fit in with our scheme, but the base principles and techniques are the same, and that’s the important piece.
If players leaving give him a chance to find a new focal point of the defense…
You do that, and really, you do it with personnel. Position-wise, right now, I feel really good about our secondary. We're as deep as we've ever been. We've got a lot of really good players that are battling for spots and playing time. Our strength right now is probably our D-line and DB's. We've just got to keep bringing the linebackers along, and they'll be ready.
On how much he and the players enjoy fall camp…
This is the best time of football right here: fall camp, no classes. We get to focus in. There’s no hour limit, so it's all ball for 15, 16 days. This is my favorite time of the year. Fall camp and spring ball are my two favorite times, just getting these guys ready and watching them grow before we start getting into schemes, game planning, and things like that. I really enjoy this time, and the kids do as well.