West Virginia Mountaineers Football: Defensive Staff Changes Finalized

As was previously reported by CBS Sports' Bruce Feldman, it was finally made official that Tony Gibson will indeed be the Mountaineer defensive coordinator. Gibson had been in charge of the safeties last season but will be moving over to take over the open linebacker position coach.

"Tony has worked in the Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and now the Big 12, and has coached against a lot of different schemes and offenses during his time at the major college level. He is more than ready to take this next step and coordinate our defense," Holgorsen said. "He is a great evaluator of talent, and Tony is a West Virginia guy who works hard to bring success and good things to this program. I know he will put every ounce of his energy into the job."  - Dana Holgorsen, WVUSports.com

With Gibson moving down to the linebackers, Joe DeForest will be back as a defensive position coach, taking over the safeties, which is what he was coaching at Oklahoma State before coming to WVU. DeForest will also remain the special teams coordinator. Damon Cogdell, who was hired without a definitive position in January, was announced to be taking over the defensive line position that became open when Erik Slaughter's contract wasn't renewed.

The only coach not changing is Brian Mitchell, who will still be coaching the cornerbacks.