Brandon Chatmon, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Expectations high for West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson in Year 2

A baptism by fire.

Tony Gibson’s first season as defensive coordinator at West Virginia can be represented by those simple words. It was a rollercoaster ride that caught him off guard in many ways yet showed his willingness to adapt and mold the future.

“There was a lot of unknown. What you don’t understand coming into it is how much different it is from position coach to a coordinator,” said Gibson, who had been a defensive coordinator at West Virginia Tech but never at a Power 5 school. “Playing well at times and playing not so well at times, the roller coaster of it all. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sleep a lot better in year two.”

Year 1 brought plenty of highlights, including strong showings against eventual Big 12 co-champions Baylor and TCU, yet also brought some head-scratching moments, namely subpar showings against Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

Yet it was the 37-34 road win against Texas Tech that ended up changing the destiny of the Mountaineers defense. The Red Raiders racked up three touchdowns, 294 yards and 8.17 yards per play in the first half en route to a 21-10 halftime lead against WVU, forcing Gibson to review his plan of attack.

“We came out in the second half, we turned them loose and our kids liked it, you could see they liked it,” Gibson said. “I thought, ‘We have something here.’”

The Mountaineers amped up the pressure, bringing blitzes and leaning on man-to-man coverages while holding Tech to one touchdown, 13 points and 5.65 yards per play in the final 30 minutes as WVU rallied to win on a last-second field goal from Josh Lambert.

“You could definitely tell the difference,” linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski said of Gibson’s second half approach. “More attacking, more aggression definitely set us apart from previous games. From then on it was like, that’s how we’re going to play. Just let it all out.”

West Virginia flew home from Lubbock, Texas, with a victory and a new defensive mindset.

Just ask Bryce Petty. The Baylor quarterback felt the wrath the following week as Gibson’s defense held the Bears to 4.03 yards per play while sacking Petty four times in the signature performance of his first season in charge. Gibson decided to attack Art Briles' team, attack one of college football’s top offenses over and over again.

“The kids take on the personality of a coordinator or head coach,” Gibson said. “They like putting pressure on the quarterback, they like man coverage. When you play base coverage, that’s how they play (passive). When you’re blitzing, I think that gets them excited. When I’m aggressive with our play-calling, the kids seem to play better. ”

The numbers don’t lie.

From that point forward, West Virginia's defense was among the Big 12’s best and most aggressive defenses. The Mountaineers led the Big 12 in third-down conversion percentage (27.9) while finishing top three in points per drive (1.78, 3rd), yards per attempt allowed (6.73, 3rd), punt percentage (44.8, 3rd) and percent of opponent plays for negative yards (38.7, 2nd) despite facing a conference-high 535 plays during that span.

The players love the aggressive approach and the demands of playing for Gibson.

“He’s one of the most consistent coaches we’ve had,” safety Karl Joseph said. “He’s a fun coach to play for, he’s aggressive. He gets disappointed in us a lot, and I like that because it means he cares and knows what we are capable of. It doesn’t take him yelling at us; he can just give us that disappointed look and we know we need to step up.”

Long-time assistant coach Tom Bradley was at Gibson's side, giving him a veteran to lean on during his first year as a defensive coordinator. Bradley, who spent 32 years at Penn State, including 12 as defensive coordinator, brought extensive experience as an assistant head coach/defensive line coach last season before leaving in January to run UCLA’s defense. Some credited Bradley for WVU’s success despite the fact his background in the 4-3 defense didn’t match up seamlessly with the 3-3-5 system of Gibson and the Mountaineers.

“Tony Gibson was the guy that called the shots last year,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. “We love Tom around here and know he’s going to do a good job on the West Coast (but) it’s his (Gibson’s) defense and his defense exclusively.”

Gibson’s opportunity to silence all doubters arrives in the fall. Expect Year 2 to be full of aggression as Year 1’s learning experience will be seen in 2015.

“That’s our mindset now,” Gibson said. “We want to be aggressive, we want to dictate tempo of games, we don’t want to let the offense do that to us, that’s when you get on your heels.”

A defense full of veterans with a steady defensive coordinator brings heightened expectations. But Gibson isn’t shying away from them. He invites them.

“There are a lot of expectations now, and I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said. “We should be really good. And if we’re not, I’ll take that responsibility on me.”

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