Suddenly, things are looking up again in Aggieland. In a move that surprised very few, North Carolina A&T on Friday announced the hiring of Shawn Gibbs as its next head football coach – just two days after dismissing Vincent Brown from the same position.
Gibbs comes back to NC A&T after spending three seasons as head coach at Division II Fort Valley State, where he compiled a 22-9 record.
To say that Gibbs is beloved among Aggie faithful – and welcomed back with open arms – is an understatement. He served as a faithful lieutenant to head coaches Ron Broadway (2011-17) and Sam Washington (2018-21) during one of the most triumphant runs in the history of A&T’s proud football program.
Gibbs will be formally introduced at a press conference on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 11:30 inside the A&T student center. Expect the Deese Ballroom to be packed with smiling faces.
“I want to welcome back Coach Gibbs to North Carolina A&T State University,” Earl M. Hilton III, NC A&T’s director of athletics, said in a statement. “We are excited for his return. A&T fans certainly have fond memories of the outstanding job he did coaching some of the best players in our school’s history while also maintaining a high level of respect from those same players. Shawn’s coaching history is very impressive.” [Read the complete release from NC A&T here].
Running Back U: A Legacy of Success with North Carolina A&T
Gibbs hails from Black Mountain. He played for Owen High School in the early 1990s and is still considered one of their most accomplished running backs (compiling 4,655 rushing yards in his career). He played at North Carolina Central from 1993-97 and got into coaching in 2002, serving as North Carolina A&T’s tight ends coach for a season.
He linked up with Broadway at NCCU from 2003-06, followed him to Grambling from 2007-10 and then joined Broadway’s staff at North Carolina A&T in 2011. Broadway retired from coaching after the 2017 campaign. Gibbs stayed on with his replacement, Sam Washington, until taking the head job at Fort Valley State.
Gibbs mentored multiple all-conference and 1,000-yard running backs during his decade with the Aggies, including Tarik Cohen, who would go on to the NFL after becoming the MEAC’s all-time leading rusher.
North Carolina A&T ascended to the top of HBCU football in the mid-2010s, finishing 10-2 in 2015, 12-0 in 2017, 10-2 again in 2018 and 9-3 in 2019. The school won or shared five MEAC titles from 2014-19.
Since Gibbs left, North Carolina A&T posted a 7-4 mark in Washington’s final season in 2022. Brown was brought in from William & Mary in 2023 as the school transitioned to the CAA. Brown’s first team went 1-10 and this past season posted a 1-11 mark, the only victory coming in overtime against D2 Winston-Salem State.
“Our task is simple. Rebuild our football program to what our alums and fan base deserve. A winner,” Gibbs posted on Twitter/X on Friday. “We will immediately work to build winners on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. We will teach the Aggie Football team to ‘Walk Like, Talk Like, Act Like Champions’ in everything we do.”
Gibbs’ Fort Valley State Turnaround
Gibbs took over for Maurice Flowers at Fort Valley State in 2022, when Flowers resigned to take the job at his alma mater, Johnson C. Smith. The Wildcats were coming off a 5-5 campaign.
Gibbs established his head coaching pedigree while leading the Wildcats to back-to-back eight-win seasons in 2022-23 – the first time in nearly 25 years that has happened at the Georgia D2. His 2023 Fort Valley State team beat Johnson C. Smith in the Florida Beach Bowl.
This year’s team finished 6-4, 6-2 in SIAC play.
“Coach Gibbs has been a mentor, a role model and advocate for our student-athletes, teaching them life lessons that will stay with them long after they leave the field,” Daphne Johnson, Fort Valley State’s interim athletic director, said in a statement. “The impact coach Gibbs has had on this program and the many young men and women who’ve had the privilege of working with him will be felt for years to come.”
Challenges Ahead in the CAA for NC A&T
While the campus surroundings, the stadium and the passionate A&T fan base will be familiar for Gibbs, the greater college football landscape around the program is vastly different than when he left. Even though only a few years have passed.
North Carolina A&T is no longer in the MEAC, having first moved to the Big South, then to the CAA in July 2023. The CAA, considered one of the stronger FCS conferences, put four teams in the 24-team playoffs this season, with Villanova and Rhode Island still alive after the opening round.
Richmond and Delaware will depart in 2025, but NC A&T will still be an outlier in the 14-team league with a strong northeastern U.S. footprint.
The transfer portal era and NIL have fundamentally changed the game at all levels. Players jump schools more often, and FBS programs swoop in more boldly to grab standout FCS players. Would a player of Cohen’s caliber have stayed at NC A&T his whole career under the current transfer and NIL system?
One of Gibbs’ first recruiting tasks could be to re-recruit current A&T standouts who have indicated their desire to enter the portal. For instance, running back Kenji Christian has rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in two previous seasons as an Aggie.
Regardless of what awaits, the vibe around the North Carolina A&T program right now feels better than it has in years. The Aggies believe they found their man, and quickly, to lead a football resurgence.
Brown, though highly acclaimed by his peers and, by all accounts, a great leader of men during his brief stint in Aggieland, never seemed like a good fit in Greensboro. As the losses mounted this season – including lopsided defeats to rivals like NCCU and South Carolina State – the pressure grew for A&T to make a change.
Although AD Hilton expressed his confidence in Brown during a Nov. 24 interview, things moved quickly over the past week to make a change. Brown was dismissed officially on Wednesday and Gibbs was brought in to restore Aggie Pride.
Upcoming 2025 NC A&T Schedule Highlights
Gibbs’ first game as A&T’s head coach will come against another HBCU on the rise. The Aggies will visit Tennessee State of the Big South/OVC on Aug. 30. Tennessee State went 9-4 this season under coach Eddie George, falling to Montana 41-27 in the opening round of the FCS playoffs.
North Carolina A&T’s non-conference slate in 2025 also includes a trip to Central Florida from Big 12 as well as games against North Carolina Central and Furman.
Gibbs is eager to get started.
“It is a dream come true for me to accept the position as head football coach at North Carolina A&T State University,” Gibbs said in a statement. “My family and I are thrilled to return home to Greensboro, a community with such a special place in our hearts.
“Thank you to Chancellor James R. Martin II, Director of Athletics Earl Hilton and the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to lead this prestigious and historic university’s football program. It is an opportunity I do not take for granted and a challenge I eagerly accept.”
