The Wildcats introduce their next head football coach. ‘Fort Valley’s future is bright.’
The Shawn Gibbs era at Fort Valley State University is officially underway.
Gibbs was officially introduced as the new Wildcats head football coach at a press conference on Thursday.
Gibbs, athletic director Anthony Holloman and former NFL star Tyrone Poole addressed the crowd of fans and players at the Christine and Willie C. Jones Amphitheater.
Holloman said it is a great day in the Valley to be able to introduce Gibbs to the community as the new head coach. This announcement comes after former coach Maurice Flowers stepped down in early January.
Poole, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots and former Wildcat, said he was excited to help introduce a new era at Fort Valley State.
“Once a Wildcat, always a WIldcat,” Poole said. “We are going to bring it back to the way it was when I was here. Coach Gibbs is going to help us with innovation. Fort Valley’s future is bright.”
Gibbs, a former assistant at North Carolina A&T, said the tradition is one of the biggest reasons he decided Fort Valley was the right fit.
“All the legendary coaches, legendary players, I think that Fort Valley State is a place we can win at and I look forward to the opportunity,” Gibbs said. “We got to get in there and get biggest, faster and stronger because we want to play a physical brand of football.”
The former North Carolina A&T running backs coach comes with 19 years of coaching experience, but this will be his first opportunity to be a head coach. In addition to his time at his alma mater, he has also coached at Grambling State and North Carolina Central.
Gibbs helped mold Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen during his time at North Carolina A&T. Under Gibbs, Cohen became the first-ever Deacon Jones Award winner for the best Black college football player in the nation. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Bears.
“It has been a long journey. I am extremely grateful for it,” Gibbs said. “I am more excited to get to go to work. People keep asking me how does it feel but it really hasn’t hit me yet.”
In his first year, Gibbs hopes to focus on instilling the little things into the team and the wins will come if they are able to set the standards early. His main goal? Getting Fort Valey back to the top of its conference once again.
“The chances of going to the NFL are slim. I want to encourage these guys if that is their dream, to pursue it,” Gibbs said. “We are all going to go professional in something. My goal is to help these guys become better people, better fathers, better husbands, leaders in the community. That is what makes a coach proud when you see them 20 years from now.”
