Houston DC David Gibbs, DBs coach Zac Spavital join Texas Tech staff
Former Houston defensive coordinator David Gibbs and defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator ZacSpavital have been hired at Texas Tech according a source.
Both officially reached their deals with the Red Raiders on Monday night per the source. Earlier in the day, Gibbs decided to leave Houston.
The addition of Spavital is a reunion between him and Kingsbury. The two worked together at Houston under then-coach Kevin Sumlin for four seasons.
Gibbs became interim coach for Houston after Tony Levine’s firing last month and led the Cougars to a stunning 35-34 victory Friday over Pittsburgh in the Armed Forces Bowl. Houston rallied from a 25-point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull out the win with a two-point conversion.
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Gibbs has been Houston’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons and leaves new Cougars coach Tom Herman, who will remain Ohio State’s offensive coordinator through Monday’s national championship game.
This season, Houston is 15th in scoring defense (20.6 points per game), 20th in total defense (343.4 yards per game) and 10th in turnovers gained (30) in the FBS. Before joining Houston, the 46-year-old Gibbs coached defensive backs for a season in the United Football League.
He was out of coaching in 2011 after he was fired as the defensive backs coach for the Houston Texans following two seasons. He also oversaw defensive backs for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2006-08 and was Auburn’s defensive coordinator in 2005.
Gibbs worked with defensive backs for the Denver Broncos from 2001-04 and was the defensive coordinator at Minnesota for four seasons prior to that. He coached the secondary at Kansas from 1995-96 and did graduate assistant gigs at Oklahoma and his alma mater, Colorado.
The son of NFL offensive line guru Alex Gibbs, he was a defensive back on the Buffaloes’ 1990 national championship team.
Spavital has been Houston’s defensive backs coach since 2008 and is also the Cougars’ recruiting coordinator. Before that, he was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma from 2005-07.
A Tulsa, Okla. native, the 32-year-old is a respected recruiter who played defensive back at Murray State and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.
