The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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34 ■ THE WOLFPACKER for a place he felt could win and found it in Raleigh. It's only an added bonus that he has worked in the area before — spending six years in Durham as Duke's offensive coordinator — and that he has plenty of family close by. "My wife is from High Point, my dad lives in Durham, my brother is the offen- sive coordinator at Duke," he said. "While we didn't grow up here, this is a lot like home for my family now." New safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, like Roper, is a 23-year veteran of coaching. Also similar to Roper, he's moving closer to family with the switch to Raleigh — coincidentally, his daughter had moved to the Cary area within the last year before Gibson took the job. Though that's an added bonus, it wasn't solely about location for the longtime West Virginia assistant and former defensive co- ordinator. He explained that he was in a unique situation because his contract at WVU still had time left on it. "I didn't really have to settle for a job," he said. "I went to the national coaches convention and had some great opportuni- ties. When I was leaving the convention, Coach Doeren hit me up. The thing that was unique about it was I didn't know any- body on the staff. It just kind of came out of the blue. "He explained what the job entailed and what I'd be doing, and I thought this late in the process it's hard to turn down a job like NC State. It's in a great league, it has great traditions and they've been winning the last few years." Though Gibson has coached linebackers since 2014, the 18 years prior to that were spent working in the secondary. The move to linebackers was actually his call after he was promoted to the Mountaineers' defen- sive coordinator. He was quick to note he "always had my eyes back there" on the secondary. The next landing spot was more about fit than what position he would coach, but he's excited to be working with safeties once again. "I think that there's obviously a lot of pressure on the secondary in college foot- ball, and I wanted to accept that challenge and try to get them better," he said. "Hope- fully we can get over that hump and get these guys better. "The one thing I don't want to do is be the weak link of this team or this defense." Pair Of Up-And-Coming Assistants Added To Offensive Staff New offensive line coach John Garrison — a former Nebraska standout center that coached for the Cornhuskers from 2008-14, followed by stints at UNLV and Florida At- lantic — was the lone new coach who had a pre-existing relationship with Doeren. Both also share a love of fishing. "I see all these pictures in his office as far as fishing goes," Garrison noted. "So whatever spot he has, I definitely need to go to it. He definitely has some good secret spots." Garrison's predecessor Dwayne Ledford had started the "Band of Brothers" theme up front, and Garrison had actually used that mantra when he was at Nebraska. "I'm no stranger to it," Garrison stated, "but there has been a change and we need to create our own identity as it goes." His real theme will be his charges lining up with a hand in the dirt and getting after somebody. Running the football has always been in Garrison's blood, whether it was blocking for 2001 Heisman Trophy-win- ning quarterback Eric Crouch at Nebraska, or coaching offensive lines that helped NU running backs Rex Burkhead and Ameer Abdullah rush for more than 1,000 yards. Garrison's Florida Atlantic front sprung star running back Devin Singletary for 1,348 yards and 22 touchdowns last year. "Every place that I have ever been, es- tablishing the running game has been com- pletely critical," Garrison said. He is looking forward to working with key returning players such as redshirt ju- nior guard/center Joe Sculthorpe, junior right guard Joshua Fedd-Jackson and red- shirt junior right tackle Justin Witt. "There is a great foundation there over the years," Garrison said. "We have some work to do. We have three guys who gradu- ated this past year that have played a lot of football for us. "We have younger guys that have to step up." Meanwhile, Todd Goebbel first served as the wide receivers and special teams coach at Marshall from 2005-09, and then returned to the Thundering Herd program in a variety of roles from 2015-18. In be- tween, he was head coach and offensive coordinator at Division II program Ohio Dominican from 2010-14. Making the move to NC State to serve as the Pack's tight ends coach/special teams coordinator has proven to be a smooth ad- justment. "There are a lot of great people," Goeb- bel said. "It is a very organized and an ef- ficient organization. It is very detailed with really good people. "It's not just getting a good coach, it's getting the right fit. That's the thing I'm really excited about — these guys fit our culture." ■ Doeren Former West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson will share those duties with Dave Huxtable at NC State, in addition to overseeing the Wolfpack safeties. PHOTO BY DALE SPARKS/COURTESY WEST VIRGINIA New offensive line coach John Garrison, who played and coached at Nebraska, takes over a position group that lost three starters from last year's team. PHOTO COURTESY UNLV ATHLETICS