Report: Herm Edwards eyes Texas Tech’s David Gibbs to be next ASU DC
Dec 13, 2017, 4:13 PM | Updated: 4:13 pm
Houston interim head coach David Gibbs after the Armed Forces Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2015, in Fort Worth. Texas. Houston won 35-34. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)
(AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)
With Phil Bennett out of the picture as Arizona State’s defensive coordinator, Herm Edwards has a major position to fill on his staff.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman, a name he is looking at is Texas Tech’s David Gibbs.
Gibbs has been the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech since January 2015. He got started in coaching in 1995 as the defensive backs coach at Kansas. From there, Gibbs has had stops at Minnesota, Auburn and Houston in college football and time with the Broncos, Chiefs and Texans in the NFL.
His three years with Kansas City as the defensive backs coach from 2006-2008 were spent with Edwards.
As Feldman notes, Gibbs’ resume for turning around defenses as a defensive coordinator at Houston and Texas Tech is impressive.
Gibbs did strong work with the Houston defense. His 2013 unit forced an FBS-high 43 turnovers, as the Cougars led the nation with a plus-25 turnover margin. This past season, Gibbs was able to help Texas Tech turn a corner of sorts after a series of dismal defensive seasons. The Red Raiders improved to sixth in the Big 12 in yards per play allowed and led the league in turnovers forced (27), good for sixth nationally.
Gibbs has had one game of head coaching experience, the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl for Houston as the interim head coach filling in for the fired Tony Levine.
The 62-year-old Bennett was offered the defensive coordinator job by Edwards but turned it down, according to John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
