Deonte Gibson Tabbed Defensive Tackles Coach for Cowboy Football
He comes to UW from Air Force
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Jan. 8, 2024) –University of Wyoming head football coach Jay Sawvel announced the addition of Deonte Gibson to the Cowboys coaching staff on Wednesday, as Gibson will serve as defensive tackles coach for the Brown and Gold.
“Deonte Gibson has an outstanding reputation of fundamental development of defensive linemen,” Sawvel said. “He is also an outstanding recruiter, and I am very excited to see him work with our defensive tackles here at Wyoming.”
Gibson comes to Wyoming after serving as defensive ends coach at Air Force last season. He helped a defense that averaged three sacks per game in the final four games. The Falcon defense led the conference allowing only 341.9 yards per game.
“I’m excited for this opportunity and watching this group we have on opponent scouts shows how much talent we have here at Wyoming in the defensive tackles room,” Gibson said. “Wyoming is always a gritty team with a lot of talent and potential and I can’t wait to get to know the guys and take them to the next level.”
Prior to Air Force Gibson spent time at Youngstown State, where he spent two seasons as defensive line coach. In 2023, he was tabbed YSU's Defensive Run Game Coordinator.
The Penguins had a great amount of success in 2023 winning eight games and advancing to the FCS Playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. The experience the defensive line featured made a big impact in the Guins' postseason run.
The defense held nine opponents to 111-or-fewer yards rushing in a game throughout the year and four times YSU held an opponent to under 155 yards passing in a game. Overall, the unit allowed just 102.2 yards rushing per game. The lowest per game total since 2012 and the second lowest since 1998 and ranked 10th in the FCS in rushing defense (102.2 ypg).
On seven occasions, the Guins held opponents to three-or-less third-down conversions and held Indiana State to no conversions on 10 tries. The Guins held Southern Illinois and Duquesne to under 100 yards passing.
Leading the defensive line was Dylan Wudke who was named second-team All-MVFC as well as defensive tackle Chris Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald led the unit with 36 total tackles and was one of four players on the team with five sacks. Wudke had five sacks and 34 stops in his final season. Fitzgerald, Wudke and Anthony Johnson started all 13 games while Andres Lehrmann started the first 11 with Hunter Allen starting the final two. Also finishing with five sacks were Johnson and Devin Lee while Allen, Deamontae Diggs and Dawan Martin had four sacks each.
In May 2022, he received an NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and worked with the Cleveland Browns during their offseason organized team activities in Berea under standout defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
The YSU defensive line was one of top units in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2022. The Guins had three All-MVFC selections as Wudke (second team), James Jackson (honorable mention) and Fitzgerald (honorable mention) each earned conference honors.
Wudke finished the season third on the team with 43 tackles, including 12 TFLs and five sacks. Fitzgerald was seventh on the team with 36 tackles, including 6.5 TFLs while Jackson had 17 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and four sacks. Other key playmakers up front on a deep and talented unit included Lehrmann (three sacks), Diggs, Johnson, Michael Voitus (three sacks), Allen (three sacks), Jaelen Crider (three sacks), Martin and Lee.
Entering the year, the roster had combined for 10 sacks in their YSU careers. In 2022, the group had an eye-popping 29 sacks while Jackson added a team-best six QB hurries. Other noteworthy improvements in a year’s time included points allowed per game (ranked fourth in the MVFC at 25.4), rush yardage defense (ranked third in the conference at 120.2), total defense (ranked fifth in the conference at 354.1) and tackles for loss (first in the conference at 74).
Gibson spent two campaigns at Akron serving as the outside linebackers and defensive ends coach for the Zips before joining the YSU staff.
Gibson served as the defensive line coach at Eastern Illinois in 2019. He coached second-team All-Ohio Valley Conference nose tackle Terrell Greer. A part of defensive staff that coached EIU to the sixth-most tackles for loss in school history (86), his defensive unit ranked No. 30 in FCS in total defense and No. 29 in FCS in team tackles for loss.
A 2015 graduate of Northwestern University, he worked as the defensive graduate assistant at his alma mater in 2017 and 2018, helping the Wildcats to the Big Ten West Division title and two bowl appearances for Pat Fitzgerald.
A four-year letter winner for Northwestern (2011-16), Gibson was a third-team All-Big Ten selection and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten pick. He served as a team captain as a senior and finished ranked seventh on NU’s all-time sacks list. As a player, Gibson experienced three bowl games – the Meineke Car Care Texas Bowl, the Gator Bowl and the Outback Bowl.
Following graduation, Gibson played professional football with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions in 2016.
A native of Cleveland Ohio, he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies in 2015 and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications in 2017, both from Northwestern. Gibson attended St. Edward High School where he served as team captain of the first state championship football team in school history.
Gibson and his wife Dominique were married in the March of 2020.