Can Mizzou produce more interceptions under new cornerbacks coach David Gibbs?

If there was a statistic for dropped interceptions, Missouri would have been among the nation’s leaders in 2018.

Numerous times throughout the season, the Tigers appeared to have a takeaway in hand but were unable to force the turnover.

“We watched a lot of film on last year,” cornerback DeMarkus Acy said. “We had a lot of opportunities we’d like to have back.”

Enter David Gibbs.

Missouri’s new cornerbacks coach came to Columbia after being Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator the last few seasons. Gibbs specializes in takeaways and his teams at Houston and Tech led the nation with a combined 140 takeaways from 2013-17.

Gibbs is a longtime friend of Mizzou football coach Barry Odom’s and reached out to him after losing his job at Tech, when the school fired coach Kliff Kingsbury. Odom joked recently that Gibbs has the “magic touch” when it comes to takeaways.

A Colorado graduate, Gibbs played for the Buffaloes with defensive coordinator Ryan Walters father, Marc, who was a quarterback on the team. Gibbs played in MU’s infamous Fifth Down Game in 1990 against the Buffs, in which the visitors were accidentally awarded an extra down in a drive that was used to win the game, and led to a national championship. Gibbs had a sense of humor with the game when meeting with reporters on Tuesday.

“Mizzou got screwed in that game,” Gibbs said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

Gibbs has some familiarity with Missouri’s cornerback room, as he recruited Acy and Christian Holmes when he was Texas Tech. Acy said Gibbs is a different kind of coach than Walters and described him as a perfectionist.

“He’s really direct,” Acy said. “Really straight to the point and detailed.”

In addition to improving Missouri’s turnover margin, Gibbs is hoping to take some stress off Walter’s plate now that MU’s defensive coordinator won’t have to coach the entire secondary. Walters is entering his second season as defensive coordinator and at 33 years old, he appreciates having a familiar face who knows the pressures that come with his position.

Walters coached against Gibbs when he was at Memphis and Gibbs was at Houston. Walters was left impressed with how Gibbs’ defenses played.

“It’s hard to be a coordinator and coach all four, five (positions) now,” Gibbs said. “For them to play as good as they did last year, for Ryan to do that, I tip my hat off to him. It’s hard.”

At Texas Tech, Gibbs coached against a lot of high-powered offenses, including Oklahoma, TCU and Texas, which he said made him a better coach. Gibbs said the Big 12 taught him how to prepare for incredible quarterbacks such as Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Aside from a few NFL stints, which included the Chiefs from 2006-08, and numerous college jobs, Gibbs was also Auburn’s defensive coordinator in 2005, which he said helped prepare him for what he’s going to face in the Southeastern Conference.

“Unless your defensive players are as good or better than the offense, you’re in for a long Saturday,” Gibbs said. “The truth is, when you line up on Saturdays, you’re not as good as the offense. All the good athletes play on offense. That’s what they do.”

Gibbs will have almost six months to prepare Missouri’s cornerbacks for the upcoming season, so it will be some time before his impact on the defense will be seen.

When asked on Tuesday if his magic touch with takeaways will continue in Columbia, Gibbs smiled and gave a non-committal answer.

“We’re going to find out,” he said.