| Interview - UNC-P Coach Jamie Gibbs |
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| Written by Marty Bartram |
| Tuesday, 21 November 2006 01:35 |
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Jamie Gibbs was named the new head wrestling coach for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke in July 2006. Gibbs previous coaching job was as the head assistant coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he was head assistant coach. UNCP Athletic Director Dan Kenney stated that UNCP conducted a nationwide search for “someone with passion for and experience in college wrestling” and “who has a genuine concern for the student-athletes he would work with.” Coach PJ Smith, who retired this year after 25 years as the head coach at UNCP, said, “Jamie comes from a top notch program, and I believe he will take our program to the next level. Not only does he know wrestling, but he is an excellent recruiter as well." I caught up with Coach Gibbs towards the end of November just prior to the Pembroke Classic and after media day. Q - MB: Coach, Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. Let’s begin with some basics like age marital status, etc. A - JG: I turned 30 in November. I am single but am in a serious relationship. My girlfriend moved with me from Iowa to North Carolina. Q - MB: What specifically brought you to North Carolina and what would you say is one of your goals as the head coach? A - JG: The opportunity to be a Division II head coach was definitely it. Combine that opportunity with the fact that it is at a school with a successful program, a wrestling tradition, and that has tough competition and this was an opportunity that I could not miss. Now that I am here I do not regret it a bit. My goal is to turn successful individuals into a successful team, which means success at all ten weights. Q - MB: How do you like North Carolina? A - JG: I don’t miss the winters and I love seeing the sun so the weather here is a bonus. The biggest adjustment as far wrestling is learning where the talent is within the state so we know where to seek it out. As far as statewide differences go, in Iowa wrestling was much more important to school administrators. At my last school the coaches were full time paid employees with no other duties and there were six paid assistants. Q - MB: What do you think about college and high school wrestling in North Carolina? A - JG: I have a positive outlook for wrestling in North Carolina, it appears to be growing and I believe the talent level is on par with the rest of the nation, if we lack anything it may be that we just do not have the depth of talent as some other states yet. I am learning how this impacts recruiting. I have to learn the state of wrestling in North Carolina, geographically, in order to help us focus on where to look. Q - MB: Coach, I am starting to see the beginnings of a trend where success in college wrestling often comes to the wrestler who may not have achieved all of his goals in high school. What do you make of that? A - JG: I think that there is something to it. We definitely look at a kid who may not have started wrestling until high school and still managed to be a state qualifier or placer. He still has a lot of wrestling ahead of him and is probably very willing to learn. Another example is the high school three-sport athlete who was successful in high school among single sport competitors. If we get that kid into our program where he can focus solely on wrestling we believe he can reach the top. Q - MB: UNC-P has a reputation for running quality camps for wrestlers during the summer. This past summer the campus hosted a Chertow camp along with its annual developmental camps. Do you have plans to continue summer camps next year? A - JG: We are definitely going to bring Ken Chertow back one at least one more year and continue to run the UNC-P youth camps. As long as I am here we will continue to strive to provide high quality camps every year. Q - MB: What do you think your toughest contests will be in the Division II East Region this year and which schools do you see finishing at the top? A - JG: The University of Pittsburg-Johnstown, Mercyhurst College and Shippensburg University will probably be towards the top again and of course, we expect to be in the hunt as well.
Also, one of our top returners this year is Adam Dedmon at 125. He is a returning academic all-American. Some other guys that we expecting big things out of is our 174-pounder, Justin McEntire, and our 165-pounder, J.J. Davis. We have 20 returners and about 15 freshmen, but I think we have some freshmen that are going to be challenging for some varsity spots. I really believe we have a handful of all-Americans in our room. I really believe that. We have got a top 20 team here and I am really looking forward to the season and these next couple of weeks to see where we are at, fix some things and then peak in March. |
