TRI-PARTISAN: Hiring Tony Gibson As DC Is The Right Move For NC State

Each week I submit a Tri-Partisan column to WRALSportsFan.com, and here is today's feature where I tell you why naming Tony Gibson the new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach was the right move by Dave Doeren.

NC State's season came to a crashing end on Saturday night with a 41-10 home loss to rival North Carolina, and while Dave Doeren stated in the postgame press conference that he needed some time to reflect before making any staff changes, that ended up being less than 48 hours.

Early Monday morning the school released a statement that defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable had been relieved of his duties. That opened the door for a new voice to command the Wolfpack defense for the first time in seven seasons, given Huxtable arrived in Raleigh with Doeren in 2013.

“Moving forward defensively, I’ve decided we would like to go in a different direction,” said Doeren in a prepared statement.

While Wolfpack fans speculated that former assistants Clayton White or Ryan Nielsen could replace Huxtable or that Doeren might look to coaches who have previously worked with him like Pitt defensive line coach Charlie Partridge or SMU defensive coordinator Kevin Kane, it ultimately turned out that the new guy was already in the Murphy Center.

Wednesday afternoon the school announced that Tony Gibson, the team's co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, is taking over as the new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, and this is definitely the right move for the Wolfpack program.

Doeren made the decision prior to the 2019 season to switch to a 3-3-5 defense, and Gibson played a major role in implementing the scheme. It was the base defense Gibson utilized during his five seasons as defensive coordinator at West Virginia, and he knows all the intricacies of the “3-3-Stack.”

Previously State played 4-3 and 4-2-5 defenses under Huxtable, so following the 2019 season Doeren could have elected to return to those fronts. If he is committed to the 3-3-5, however, then Gibson is the man for the job. Huxtable was tasked with serving as the primary play-caller this year, and it just didn't work. Some of that could have been due to injuries and youth, but after a 4-8 season, changes are going to be made. The hope for NC State is that Gibson will be more comfortable in that role, and Doeren seems confident the assistant is deserving of the opportunity. Click the link to read the rest of the story: LINK