Arizona State adds former Texas Tech, UCF defensive coordinator as analyst

Arizona State added longtime college football assistant David Gibbs as an analyst, a source tells On3.

A longtime defensive assistant in college football, he was most recently the associate head coach and defensive backs coach at Illinois. He’s previously made defensive coordinator stints at Texas Tech and Houston.

Gibbs is a 32-year veteran of the coaching industry, having spent 14 seasons as a coordinator in college football and nine seasons as a defensive backs coach for three NFL organizations. He was at Illinois from January to March 2024 before stepping away.

He was the co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach from 2021-23 at UCF, helping the Knights go 24-15 in his three seasons, including a berth in the 2022 American Athletic Conference championship game and three straight bowl appearances in two Gasparilla Bowls and one Military Bowl.

The Knights led the Big 12 in fewest passing yards allowed (196.7) last season and ranked fifth in the conference in scoring defense (25.8).

In 2019 and 2020, he was the secondary coach at Missouri where the Tigers’ defense in 2019 allowed the fewest first downs (195) of any FBS program while also ranking sixth nationally in pass defense (179.3 yards per game).

Arizona State enters Year Two of the Kenny Dillingham era. The Sun Devils named former Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt their starting quarterback, edging out former Georgia Tech and Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims.

Arizona State opens the season on Aug. 31, hosting Wyoming at 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1.