Deonte Gibson Added to AF Academy Defensive Staff

© Andrew Dieb- USA Today Network

Air Force made a key addition to its coaching staff on Saturday after naming Deonte Gibson as the team's new defensive ends coach.

Gibson joins the Falcons from Youngstown State after spending two seasons as a defensive line coach while also serving as the Defensive Run Game Coordinator in 2023.

Gibson has risen quickly amongst the coaching ranks after a successful playing career at Northwestern.

A team captain during his time with the Wildcats, Gibson was a third-team All-Big Ten selection and finished his collegiate career with 15 sacks, finishing seventh in program history.

© Jeff Hanisch- USA Today Network

Following brief stops with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions without recording any stats, Gibson returned to Northwestern as a graduate assistant to begin his coaching career.

Gibson then worked at Eastern Illinois as the defensive line coach in 2019 and at Akron from 2020-2021 as the outside linebackers coach before finding himself at Youngstown State.

While there, Gibson led one of the top rush defenses in the FCS allowing a 10th-best 102.2 rushing yards per game.

In the process, Youngstown State found itself in the FCS playoffs for the first time since its championship game appearance in 2016.