Rookie Head Coach Shawn Gibbs is Hardly New to This

Fort Valley State’s New Man In Charge Brings Decades of Experience to the Job

By Bill Zimmerman

It’s no surprise that Shawn Gibbs, in taking the helm of the Fort Valley State University football program in his first stint as a head coach, is putting the focus right out of the gate on team achievements rather than himself.

And that it all feels familiar – the same.

Assuming the role for the first time, of course, carries a lot of emotions: Pride in your work, a sense of responsibility, a mix of apprehension and confidence – maybe relief in reaching a lifetime goal.

Gibbs is use to being a workhorse, given his experience as a running back and background as a longtime assistant coach whose rushing proteges include Tarik Cohen, Mike Mayhew and Marquell Cartwright.

“For me, right now, it’s not feeling any different,” said Gibbs, a third-generation HBCU graduate.

For ABC co-anchor Robin Roberts, the Boeing Red Tails Classic (Sept. 4, 7pm ET on ESPNU) is more than just a matchup of two Historically Black College and Universities. The game honors the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, the legendary group of African American pilots—including her father—that served in WWII.

Despite his world changing in so many ways – a place where he’s never lived before, a new campus after 11 years as an assistant at North Carolina A&T, a new roster of young men – Gibbs devotes his attention to the sameness of a busy offseason that remains intact from one role to the next.

“The work is the same,” he said. “I’m focused with getting us ready for the season, with recruiting and with getting guys doing what they’re supposed to be doing. I’ve been doing that a long time.”

Perhaps those emotions will evolve once he’s on the sidelines for Fort Valley’s season opener and the birth of his head-coaching career. What happens Sept. 4 in the 2022 Boeing Red Tails Classic in Montgomery, Alabama, will forever be the first result recorded on his personal win-loss record.

Yet Gibbs realizes his attention belongs with the team. Immersing himself in the Wildcats program, he devotes some of his attention to a big-picture issue: helping his new players seek out what motivates them and how that comes from within.

Preparing for a high-profile season opener – the Boeing Red Tails Classic kicks off at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT Sept. 4 live on ESPNU – should lend some common ground to his locker room, he said, while respecting the fact that any roster is dotted with a mix of personalities.

“I don’t think anyone will have a lot of success if all their motivation is external,” Gibbs said. “It has to come from within. The way kids are in today’s world, thinking about image and branding, they care about those things. If it’s important to you to make a name for yourself on a national stage, if that game doesn’t get you going, then I don’t know what will.

“I tell the guys that everything is about preparation – all that motivation and pregame hype goes away after the first play, then you have to rely on all that work you put in during the summer. Effort and technique, that’s when that stuff matters.”

Gibbs’ awareness of the need to shape not just football players but young men who become college graduates earns appreciation from his new boss, Athletic Director Dr. Anthony Holloman.

With a mix of academic and athletic roles throughout his career, including at Tuskegee and now at Fort Valley State, Holloman sees in Gibbs the ability to help players succeed in competition and in life. The unmistakable energy in Holloman’s voice as he stresses the importance of a balanced approach to coaching student-athletes reflects his confidence in Gibbs.

“Some of the things that football does for young men are give them structure and help them build mental toughness,” Holloman said. “I think those are things that you have to have to be successful in life after football.”

With an appreciation for Gibbs’ priority of helping his players build character, Holloman sees the no-nonsense approach as a good fit for the players Gibbs has inherited, as they were pointed in a similar direction by previous coach Maurice Flowers.

Holloman also appreciates Gibbs’ experience with three HBCU powers: North Carolina Central, Grambling and North Carolina A&T. The coach’s career path has helped him build credibility by connecting the dots on the purpose behind the detail-oriented commands being given: Responsibility, regardless of the actions or tasks anyone is handling.

“That’s something he wants them to glean from what he asks them to do,” Holloman said. “He has a quiet confidence, and I think our young men are learning from that and embodying it. He knows what it takes to win and what it takes for them to be successful.

Fort Valley State running back Emanuel Wilson becomes the latest in a long line of talented rushers to benefit from Shawn Gibbs’ coaching. “We know we’ve got a big-time running back,” Gibbs said of Wilson.

BIGGER THAN THE GAME

“These young men are believing in him and his philosophy. And they’re embodying his character.”

Given the time Holloman has spent at Tuskegee, it’s no surprise his voice rises when he discusses the meaning behind the Boeing Red Tails Classic, a game that owns an irrefutable distinction.

“For our university to have a chance to play in the Red Tails Classic is something I hold dear, because I know what it means,” Holloman said, “and I know what it means to our young men. They will give extra effort because they will be around that pageantry and learn that history. And we’ll try to instill that same character in them.”

The opportunity to honor the tradition of the Tuskegee Airmen lends a chance for the Wildcats to maintain some perspective on the athletic challenge of facing an opponent with one of the winningest programs in the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Gibbs said.

“The history that Tuskegee has had, not only as a university but as a community, and things they have done for this country are amazing,” he said. “I really respect the traditions and the history at Tuskegee.”

Perhaps foremost among the school’s rich background is its ties to the Tuskegee Airmen. The U.S. Army Air Corps contracted with the university in 1941 to help train America’s first Black military aviators because it had a proven civilian pilot training program at its airfield – and its graduates performed highest on flight aptitude exams, according to the school’s website.

About 1,000 pilots trained at Tuskegee, and the Red Tails’ skill led to one of the lowest loss rates during World War II while escorting bombers on tactical missions. Even such a high success rate couldn’t prevent 66 Tuskegee Airmen from perishing in the war, according to the National WWII Museum.

With such a record of national service in mind, the inevitable phrase “bigger than the game” surely will carry significance on Sept. 4.

“That’s a big part of it, to represent our community and spotlight what the Tuskegee Airmen were all about, and what HBCUs are all about, and try to bring some light to it, educate more people about it,” Gibbs said. “It gives our kids an opportunity to learn more and more about it as well.”

Having been involved with big games such as the Celebration Bowl during his time at North Carolina A&T, Gibbs understands how important it can be for a team in such a spotlight to properly channel its collective energy. He’ll be watching to see how his team responds at Tuskegee.

“We’ll have a new scheme and a new way of doing things,” coach Shawn Gibbs said enthusiastically of his defense this season at Fort Valley State.

“It can be a bad thing sometimes. Guys go out and get fatigued real quick because they’re a little too hyped – you have to respect the game and understand your opponent,” he said. “Like any other game, it’s business.”

The voice of Rod Broadway, one of Gibbs’ mentors and a coaching legend at North Carolina A&T, carries a tone of appreciation similar to Holloman’s. Broadway watched as Gibbs evolved from someone who didn’t think much of climbing the coaching ladder all the way to head coach into someone who could see how the various responsibilities coaches fulfill can lead to a championship environment.

“That’s self-discovery on his part, and it comes from paying his dues and putting in the time doing the work,” said Broadway, whose 59 coaching wins at NC A&T is second all-time.

“He got to the point that he saw he’s capable of doing this. He knows how a good program is run and he’s quite capable of doing that. He’s got the complete package: knows how to recruit, work with administration, coach, and manage people, not just dealing with players but building relationships.”

Broadway’s voice picks up speed when he talks about Gibbs’ knowledge of the game as well as HBCUs in general. Surely his family’s longtime example of graduating from college, generation after generation, plays a role in that. Yet Broadway also often saw how well networked Gibbs is in HBCU circles. And it’s not just that he knows people, but that he’s respected by those who get to know him.

“He’s a Black college historian. He was my encyclopedia,” Broadway said. “Anything I needed to know, I could ask him, because he knows all that stuff. Just ask Gibbs.”

And that makes the Boeing Red Tails Classic a fantastic setting for Gibbs’ debut. Until game week arrives, Gibbs focuses his team lessons on the game. Ask him about his players, and he’s as animated as a proud new parent.

With Fort Valley needing to turn to a new quarterback, and its top wide receiver Shemar Bridges departed for the NFL, Gibbs will naturally rely on running back RB Emanuel Wilson and an offensive line – the first group he mentions when asked about the roster – that boasts plenty of returning lettermen.

“Wilson’s got a lot of experience,” Gibbs said of the 6-foot-1, 220-pound junior who averaged 119 yards per game last season and earned second-team All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors. “He’s been playing since he was a freshman.

“We know we’ve got a big-time running back,” Gibbs said of Wilson. “Some guys behind him can play too, and we recruited some guys we think can help as well. But when you have that bell cow, that gives you comfort.”

Defensively, senior safety Tyler Moore returns from a second-team All-SIAC season to lead a defense that has a lot of returning players, Gibbs said.

“We’ll have a new scheme and a new way of doing things,” he said, with energy in his voice as he discussed the experience that’s back on defense. “We’ve all got to adjust, figure out the best way to make it work.”

Longtime writer and editor Bill Zimmerman has more than 25 years in journalism and newspapers.

Wildcats coach Shawn Gibbs spent the offseason preparing his team like he would any offseason, he said, feeling comfortable that running back Emanuel Wilson provides an offensive star who Gibbs refers to as a “bell cow” in Fort Valley State’s game plans.