Bio

Josh Gibson, an 11-year head coaching veteran, was hired in April 2021 as the head men's basketball coach at Defiance College. Since 2012, Gibson has served as a head coach at both the NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA levels.

Since coming to Defiance, the Jackets have produced two all-conference award winners, the 10th-leading scorer in program history, and 14 academic all-conference honorees through the 2023-24 season. 

Gibosn's last head-coaching position was at Division II Urbana (Ohio) University during the 2019-20 season. In April 2020, however, Urbana closed its doors and last season Gibson served as an assistant coach at Indiana University East, an NAIA program in Richmond.

Before arriving in Urbana, Gibson spent three campaigns in charge of the team at NAIA Lourdes University in nearby Sylvania, Ohio. In his final year, Gibson guided Lourdes to an 18-13 overall record – the second-highest wins total in school history – after going 7-22 just two seasons prior. Three of Gibson's players earned all-conference recognition as the Gray Wolves advanced to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championship tournament quarterfinals. Impressively, LU started five sophomores during that turnaround 2018-19 campaign and led the WHAC in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio while ranking among the top 15 nationally in five statistical categories.

Prior to Lourdes, Gibson became the third-winningest coach in Brescia University history with a 61-58 overall mark. In the 2014-15 season, he was chosen as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after guiding Brescia to the KIAC South Division championship, the only conference title in the program's history. Under Gibson, the Bearcats qualified for the 2015 NAIA Division II National Championship, the lone tournament appearance ever for the school. He also produced the program's first KIAC Player of the Year and Third Team All-American.

In 2015-16, Gibson's last year in Owensboro, Kentucky, Brescia was rated as high as 27th, the best in school history, in the NAIA Division II national poll. Two of his Bearcats earned First Team All-KIAC honors in his final season.

Before becoming a head coach, Gibson served as the director of basketball operations at NCAA Division I Murray (Kentucky) State University for two campaigns, including 2011-12 when the Racers went 31-2 overall, making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament after an opening-round, 17-point win over Colorado State University. He also has experience as an assistant coach at Tennessee's the University of the South and Maryville University, both NCAA Division III members.

A native of Murray, Kentucky, Gibson graduated from Murray State in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. He also earned his Master of Science in human development and leadership as well as a Master of Arts in United States history at MSU in 2005.

Gibson and his wife, Courtney, are the parents of four school-age children: Haley, Noah, Avery and Sawyer.

Josh Gibson Head Coaching Record
2012-13 (Brescia): 10-20
2013-14 (Brescia): 16-12
2014-15 (Brescia): 19-11, KIAC South Champs, NAIA National Tournament Qualifier, KIAC Coach of the Year
2015-16 (Brescia): 16-15
2016-17 (Lourdes): 7-22
2017-18 (Lourdes): 10-19
2018-19 (Lourdes): 18-13
2019-20 (Urbana): 8-21
2021-22 (Defiance): 11-11, 9-6 HCAC
2022-23 (Defiance): 7-18, 2-16 HCAC
2023-24 (Defiance): 1-23, 0-18 HCAC
Overall Record (11 seasons): 123-185
Record at DC (3 seasons): 19-52