David Bibee is in his second season as the Mocs safeties coach. This is his second stint at UTC, having previously served as an assistant coach in 2006-07.
Bibee brings more than 40 years of coaching experience, including 36 at the collegiate level. He served as assistant coach at Ole Miss, North Alabama, two stints at Middle Tennessee, Austin Peay, Appalachian State, South Carolina, Tennessee Tech, Clemson, ETSU, along with the previous stint at Chattanooga.
In 2019, he guided Brandon Dowdell to first team All-Southern Conference recognition. His secondary aided the Mocs' SoCon leadership with 11 interceptions.
Bibee coached and signed more than 10 All-Americans, coached a Super Bowl MVP in former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown, coached the highest paid safety in the history of the NFL in Kevin Byard, and coached more than 20 NFL draft picks and signed more than 10 future NFL draft picks.
Bibee’s list of NFL players includes former Chattanooga cornerbacks Buster Skrine of the Chicago Bears and Chris Lewis-Harris, formerly of the NY Giants; a first-round selection by the Green Bay Packers in former Clemson cornerback and All-ACC Antwan Edwards; a second-round selection by the Cleveland Browns in former Clemson linebacker and All-ACC Rahim Abdullah; a third-round selection by the Tennessee Titans in former Middle Tennessee safety, All-American and All-Pro Kevin Byard; a fourth-round selection by the Indianapolis Colts in former Baylor School and UT offensive lineman Jacques McClendon; a fifth-round selection by the San Diego Chargers in former Clemson defensive tackle and All-ACC Adrian Dingle, a sixth-round selection by the San Diego Chargers in former Baylor School and UVA kicker Kurt Smith and a seventh-round selection in former Clemson safety and All-American Robert Carswell. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach and current Browns defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was a Bibee protegee as an Appalachian State cornerback.
He also coached Ooltewah native Sammy Seamster who originally signed with the Baltimore Ravens, as well as Rhea County native Josh Walker who inked with the Colts. His list of NFL draft picks also includes two fourth-round picks in former South Carolina tight end Stanley Pritchett (Miami) and wide receiver Marcus Robinson (Chicago).
His list of All-Americans coached includes former Chattanooga safety Chris Camacho, Middle Tennessee’s all-time tackles for loss leader Dennis Mix and Middle Tennessee’s four-time all-conference and ESPN Academic All-American Jeremy Kellem.
Bibee coached three all-time school interception leaders: All-American Rod Brooks (17 at North Alabama), All-American Robert Taylor (22 at Tennessee Tech) and Byard (19 at MTSU). Byard also holds the school’s interception return yardage mark with 377 and five touchdowns. He also coached Middle Tennessee’s James Griffin, a seventh-round NFL draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, who held the Blue Raiders' interception record until Byard.
Bibee’s coaching career began at Tennessee, where he served as a student assistant under Bill Battle. He moved on to the staff at Ole Miss in 1978, where he was placed in charge of the defensive scout teams on Steve Sloan’s first Rebels' staff.
He left Ole Miss to coach the defensive secondary and work as recruiting coordinator at North Alabama for one year before holding the same positions during his first stint at Middle Tennessee in 1980.
Sparky Woods, three-time coach of the year, hired Bibee at Appalachian State in 1984 to be his assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and secondary coach. Bibee helped the Mountaineers to compile a 38-19 overall record during that span with back-to-back Southern Conference titles in 1986 and 1987, as well as a first round play-off appearance in 1986 before reaching round two in 1987.
The Mountaineers ranked first, second and fifth nationally in scoring defense during his tenure. Bibee signed two SoCon Defensive Players of the Year in two-time All-American Rico Mack and All-American Avery Hall. He also signed All-American Bijorn Nittmo, who holds the school’s record for most field goals in a season and second-most career field goals.
Bibee joined Woods at South Carolina in 1989 as assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach. He was part of Mike Hennigan’s first coaching staff at Tennessee Tech in 1996, holding the posts of defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator for the Golden Eagles, and coaching alongside former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith.
Bibee coached outside linebackers and the secondary at Clemson in 1997-1999 under former Mocs headman Tommy West. He helped the Tigers to a Peach Bowl Berth in 1997.
From there, Bibee coached one season at ETSU before heading to the local high school ranks leading The Baylor School from 2000 to 2005. He guided the Red Raiders to the Division II state semifinals in 2000 and 2005. After the 2005 season, Baylor defensive lineman Jacques McClendon was elected Division II Class AAA Mr. Football Lineman of the Year.
Bibee’s first coaching stint at Chattanooga came in 2006 under head coach Rodney Allison. He joined Rick Stockstill’s staff in 2008 at Middle Tennessee taking charge of the Blue Raiders safeties and punt team for nine seasons.
Under Bibee’s guidance, Josh Davis became set the school record for career yards per punt, while safety Kevin Byard turned into one of the best to don the blue and white. Along with his record-setting career and subsequent All-Pro NFL career, Byard earned FWAA Freshman All-American in 2012, first-team all-conference pick in 2014 and 2015 and was a three-time Jim Thorpe Award candidate Byard is just the seventh player in MT history to top 300 tackles.
He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in health education and played football for the Volunteers from 1973 to 1976. That career included trips to the 1973 Gator Bowl and 1974 Liberty Bowl.
Bibee is married to the former Lisa Carter of Savannah, Tenn. The couple has three grown daughters, twins Ashlee and Allison, and Lindsay, and six grandchildren.
