In the midst of speculation that second-year Fort Valley State Head Football Coach Shawn Gibbs was the choice of Florida A&M Athletics Director Tiffany-Dawn Sykes to be the next head football coach of the Rattlers, it was announced Monday that he has renewed his contract with the Dishman Gibbs Wildcats.
FVSU Director of Athletics Dr.Renae Myles Payne announced that Gibbs will remain a Wildcat in a message posted on the FVSU X (formerly Twitter) page at almost 10 pm on Monday, January 15th.
“I am excited to announce that coach Shawn Gibbs officially renewed his agreement with FVSU. President Paul Jones, and I, in collaboration with the Fort Valley State Athletic Association, are happy to have Coach Gibbs leading our Wildcat football program,” Myles-Payne’s X statement read. The post told of Gibbs “reaffirming his commitment to our Wildcats in the face of opportunities elsewhere.”
Gibbs was a highly successfully running backs coach under head coach Rod Broadway at North Carolina Central (2003-2006), Grambling State (2007-2010) and North Carolina A&T (2011-2017). He then spent another four years under Sam Washington at A&T (2018-2021) before taking over as head coach at FVSU in 2022.
The former NCCU running back (1993-97) has led the Wildcats to 7-4 and 8-3 marks during his two years at the helm and into the thick of the race for SIAC champi- onships. His 2023 team scored a 23-10 win over CIAA representative Johnson C. Smith in the inaugural postsea- son Florida Beach Bowl in mid-December.
