According to Hunter Bailey of the Charlotte Observer, NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson is a finalist for the head coaching job at Charlotte, along with Bobby Petrino and Tim Brewster.

Petrino (63 years old) was previously the head coach at Louisville (2x), Arkansas, Western Kentucky and most recently (2022) at Missouri State. He is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas.

Tim Brewster (64 years old) is the tight ends coach for Charlotte and is currently serving as interim head coach following the firing of Biff Poggi on November 18th. He has been coaching in college since 1989, but his only head coaching experience came at Minnesota from 2007 to 2010.

Last December, NC State did everything it could to prepare for exactly that scenario by giving Gibson a new three-year contract with an annual payment of $1.5. At the time of signing the new contract, Gibson was the highest paid defensive coordinator in the ACC and the ninth highest paid nationally.

While the subject of this article was the open head coaching position at Charlotte, it’s worth noting that it wouldn’t be shocking if Gibson was a finalist for the head coaching job at West Virginia, which opened up yesterday following the firing of Neal Braun.

While his name has already been linked to other HC jobs this cycle, I imagine Tony Gibson will be among those appointed by Wren Baker in the coming days.

A West Virginia native, Gibson was the Mountaineers DB coach from 2001-07 and DC coach from 2014-2018. https://t.co/WnaRkOtUHW

— Jordan Crammer (@JordanCrammer) December 1, 2024

Gibson has never been a head coach but has ties to West Virginia. Not only is it the state he was born in, but he also served two different stints as an assistant coach at West Virginia and served in a variety of roles there. His first stop was at West Virginia from 1999 to 2007, where he served as defensive coordinator (1999-2000) and defensive backs coach (2001-07). After spending time at Michigan, Pitt and Arizona, Gibby returned to West Virginia and was there for a second stint from 2013 to 2018. During this time he served as safety coach (2013), linebackers coach (14-18) and defensive coordinator (14-18).

Gibson has been in Raleigh since 2019 and led NC State’s defense to the top 25 nationally in total defense in 2021-2023.