David Gibbs (American football)

David Alexander Gibbs (born January 10, 1968) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the defensive coordinator for the University of Houston, a position he has held since January 2013. Gibbs previously served in a similar capacity at the University of Minnesota and Auburn University, as well as an assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL) for the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans.

Playing career
Gibbs began his playing career at Auburn High School, in Auburn, Alabama, while his father was offensive coordinator at nearby Auburn University. Gibbs went on to attend the University of Colorado, where he was a four-year letterman at defensive back from 1986 through 1990. He was named to the Academic All-Big Eight team as a senior, leading the Buffaloes to the 1990 national championship under coach Bill McCartney.

Coaching career
After graduating from Colorado, Gibbs served as a graduate assistant at the University of Oklahoma and at Colorado. In 1995, he became the secondary coach at the University of Kansas under head coach Glen Mason. When Mason was appointed head coach at the University of Minnesota in 1997, Gibbs was hired as the Golden Gophers' defensive coordinator, the youngest coordinator in Division I-A at that time. Gibbs improved a Minnesota defense that had ranked last in the Big Ten in 1996 to one that was ranked eighth in the nation in pass and scoring defense by 1999.

From 2001 through 2004, Gibbs coached defense for the Denver Broncos, which by 2003 was rated the fourth strongest defense in the NFL. In 2005, he returned to Auburn to be defensive coordinator for Auburn University, where his defense ranked sixth in the NCAA in scoring defense and led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in sacks. Gibbs became defensive backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006.

Gibbs was hired as defensive backs coach by the Houston Texans in January 2009. Following the 2010 season, the Texans fired him along with defensive coordinator Frank Bush. After a one-year hiatus from coaching, he spent 2012 coaching defensive backs for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League (UFL).

Gibbs accepted the position of defensive coordinator at the University of Houston on January 15, 2013.

Personal
Gibbs is the son of Alex Gibbs, a longtime NFL assistant coach.