LEXINGTON, Ky. – Marvin Gibson, who boasts 18 years of experience as a Division I track and field assistant coach with previous stints as an assistant at LSU, Oklahoma, and Clemson, will join Head Coach Lonnie Greene’s UK staff ahead of the 2023-24 season. Gibson will oversee women’s short sprints while recently hired assistant coach Darryl Anderson will oversee the men’s short sprints.

Gibson joins the Wildcats after spending 10 years as an assistant coach at Clemson between 2013 and 2023, where he coached 15 Atlantic Coast Conference champions and 33 All-American selections including five ACC Championship MVPs and three ACC records.

Gibson won three conference championships in his time with the Tigers, including playing a large part in helping the men’s program to their first conference title since 2004 this past spring where he coached ACC MVP Giano Roberts.

“It is a sincere pleasure for me to welcome coach Marvin Gibson, his wife Monica, and their daughters Maleah and Malana to Big Blue Nation and the University of Kentucky,” Greene stated. “Coach Gibson is one of the most successful coaches in the nation. He brings a worldwide recruiting base with him that will go a very long way in the SEC. He is a master at identifying and developing talent, and most importantly he understands how to nurture students to achieve both academic and athletic success at the same time. He fits directly into the vision we have here at the University of Kentucky. I am excited for him to get started serving our student athletes.”

In 2017, Gibson was named USTFCCCA Southeast Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“I would like to thank Coach Greene and the University of Kentucky for giving me this opportunity to coach with some of the best coaches at one of the best universities in the country,” Gibson said. “I’m excited about starting my journey as a Wildcat and looking forward to working with Coach Greene as he continues to cultivate the great tradition of track & field at the University of Kentucky – where athletes excel on and off the track.”

Before joining the Tigers, Gibson spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach in charge of sprints and hurdles for the men’s and women’s teams at the University of Oklahoma. In 2013, he coached the Big 12 Champion in the 110 hurdles, Tre’ Lathan. Gibson also coached All-Big 12 athletes in the 100, 200, and 4×100. He guided the men’s 4×400 relay to Second-Team All-America honors during the outdoor season.

Gibson’s career took off after assisting LSU’s sprints, hurdles, and relays program from 2005-11. He helped coach eventual 2008 Olympic silver medalist, Richard Thompson, multi-time NCAA Champions Xavier Carter and Kelly Willie, 2009 NCAA 100-meter gold medalist Trindon Holliday, and LSU hurdles record-holder Barrett Nugent. He also coached 12 Southeastern Conference champions winning a combined 19 SEC titles and 20 of his athletes were named All-SEC a total of 66 times.

Originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, Gibson earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from LSU in 1996 and coached at the high school level for seven years before later returning as a volunteer assistant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He and his wife, Monica, have two children, daughters Maleah and Malana.