12-13-24
For the first time since 2021, a new era dawns for Marshall football as. the team welcomed head coach Tony Gibson to the fold on Thursday afternoon.
Since his coaching debut in 1996, Gibson served as a defensive coach for all of his previous eight teams, making for Gibson’s first head coaching opportunity of his career. The hiring proved to be an emotional one for the Mountain State native who grew up just 69 miles southeast of Huntington.
“First off, I will tell you, I’m not a soft person. I feel like I am a pretty tough guy,” Gibson said. “I will break down at some point, so bare with me…hell, that didn’t take long.”
Hailing from Van, West Virginia, Gibson credits his formative years in Boone County as a reason for how he became the coach he is today.
“At 14 years old, my brother and I, we lived in Boone County by ourselves in a trailer,” Gibson said. “When we were together there, it made us stronger, it made us believe (in) who we are. We had to work hard to get out of there, to get out of a small coal mining town and go to Glenville State to play football.”
Prior to his time as a defensive back for the Glenville State Pioneers, Gibson’s career trajectory also formed from his coaches on the Gilmer County High School football team.
“Honestly, the high school coaches, Steve Bradley being one of them, Eddie Hendricks, those guys poured so much into me to keep me on track,” Gibson said. “Because of those guys, I said at that point: ‘I’m going to be a coach because of the impact that they had in my life.’”
This was a sentiment echoed by Gibson when speaking with Athletic Director Christian Spears.
“We do ask a series of questions, and one of them was a simple one. Why Marshall? Why now? And, what does it mean to you to be the head coach at Marshall?” Spears said. “Here’s what he said: ‘It’s a chance to honor every coach that helped me along the way.’ This is someone who never forgot his roots and the people that poured into him to help him get to where he is.”
For the past five seasons, Gibson served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for North Carolina State, and although the newest leader of the Herd spent his recent years out of state, he found time to return to the place he calls home.
“When I saw coach Gibson in the hallway of the Shuey Building the other day, it was much different than the last time that he and I got to see each other, which was a 30-degree, rainy night on Huntington High’s field while Huntington High and Cabell Midland were playing and we were both trying to get coffee,” Grant Traylor, Associate Athletic Director of Communications said.
“The reason that I tell you that story is this: because coach Gibson and I were sitting there, we’re soaked, we’re cold, but he looked at me and he looked at the atmosphere that night for the Battle for the Shield and he said ‘You know what? I love this. This is home,’ and it’s great to have coach Gibson coming home,” Traylor said.
Emphasizing his West Virginia roots throughout the press conference, Gibson seeks to keep that theme with his coaching hires in the coming season.
“I’m going to hire Marshall people, guys that played here. I’m going to hire people on our staff that have West Virginia ties,” Gibson said. “They have blood in the bricks and understand what it means to represent the Thundering Herd.”
After the conference, the new head coach expanded on his thought process by saying, “It’s a unique situation. They want West Virginia people here in roles, but also, they’re going to say they think they want to to West Virginia people because I’m one of them.”
“So, it’s a slick slope sometimes with that. But again, to do this in my home state with the people I love in this state, it’s a dream come true,” Gibson said.
To conclude his introduction to the Thundering Herd, the man who started his speech by poking fun at himself ended on a similar note.
“To Christian, and I forgot to mention this earlier but one last thank you: thank you for scheduling Georgia as my first game as a head football coach.”