Shawn Gibbs was excited to return home Wednesday as he was officially introduced as the newest North Carolina A&T football coach.
Gibbs, who served in various roles for the Aggie football program prior to a successful two-season stint as Fort Valley State’s head coach, says he will continue to uphold the motto of one of his mentors, former A&T head coach Rod Broadway.
“Coach’s saying is, ‘We’re going to make chicken.’ When you go to KFC, you’re not going for a quesadilla or a burger,” Gibbs explained.
And how will A&T make that chicken?
“The recipe on the field is pretty simple; We’re going to have a disciplined football team that doesn’t beat itself. We’re going to play fast, physical. We want a confident team that’s aggressive and plays with a chip on their shoulders,” he said. “We want to have an edge. A controlled edge, but an edge nonetheless.”
Gibbs addressed two important questions at his press conference: the transfer portal and North Carolina A&T’s financial status as the lowest-ranked Coastal Athletic Association program in terms of funding.
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— N.C. A&T Athletics (@NCATAGGIES) December 19, 2024
“Transfers are needed, but the biggest challenge is keeping our guys out of the portal. So, I think we have to create an environment where they want to stay here, but we also have to be active in the market and offer things that make it attractive for them to stay here,” he said.
Gibbs added that A&T’s football money woes, “It’s something we must work on to improve. I’m a product of Black colleges, and we’ve always had to find a way to be great less. We’re going to work to get everything we need. We’re not going to make any excuses. We have way more than a lot of people have. It’s about players. On Saturdays in the fall, it’s 11 football players on the field and that’s what we’re going to do; find the best football players and go from there.”
Gibbs replaces Vincent Brown, who was fired following a 2-21 record over two seasons. He mentioned that A&T was the home of champions, hall of famers, and football professionals and that any young athlete’s dreams could come true in Greensboro.
“Anything you want to do, it’s already been done by an Aggie,” he said. “Hall of Fame – Elvin Bethea. General Manager – Brad Holmes. All-pro – Tarik Cohen. Anything you want to do, you can do it right here at A&T.”
