There are a handful of head coaching vacancies in college football and a handful of West Virginia natives are being linked to some of those jobs, mostly at WVU.

According to Hunter Bailey of the Charlotte Observer, former West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson is not in play for the Morgantown job but is considered a finalist for the head coaching job in Charlotte. Bobby Petrino and interim coach Tim Brewster are also reportedly involved.

The Van, West Virginia native served two stints at WVU, where he served as defensive line coach on Rich Rodriguez’s staff from 2001 to 2007, then returned in 2013 to join Dana Holgorsen’s staff. After a year as an assistant, he was promoted to defensive coordinator and helped produce one of the more consistent units in the Big 12 and develop several NFL players.

When Dana Holgorsen left for Houston in 2019, Gibson was interested in being his successor before former AD Shane Lyons ultimately chose Neal Brown. Gibson then took a job as defensive coordinator at North Carolina State and was there the last six seasons.

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