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STAFF
HOKIES
HISTORY
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MEDIA
REVIEW
BEAMER
#HardSmartTough
#Hokies
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JAMES SHIBEST
SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR & TIGHT ENDS
@CoachShibestVT
THE SH I BEST F I L E
Experience:
28th season, 2nd at Virginia Tech
Hometown:
Houston, Texas
High School:
MacArthur (1983)
College:
Arkansas (1987)
Playing Exp:
Arkansas (1983-87)
Family:
Wife – Dianna, Son – James John III,
Daughter – Jordyn Grace
COACH I NG H I STORY
Year
School
Position
2016-17 Virginia Tech
Special Teams Coordinator/
Tight Ends
2012-15 Memphis
Special Teams Coordinator/
Tight Ends
2008-11 Ole Miss
Special Teams Coordinator
2006-07 Arkansas
Special Teams/Tight Ends
2002-05 Arkansas
Special Teams/
Wide Receivers
2000-01 Arkansas
Special Teams/Tight Ends
1996-99 Butler County CC (Kan.) Head Coach
1994-95 Garden City CC (Kan.) Offensive Coordinator/
QBs/WRs
1993 Independence CC (Kan.) Defensive Backs
1992 Independence CC (Kan.) Offensive Coordinator
1990-91 Oklahoma State
Graduate Assistant
BOWL GAMES COACHED ( 1 1 )
2016 Belk
Virginia Tech
2015 Birmingham*
Memphis
2014 Miami Beach Memphis
2009 Cotton
Ole Miss
2008 Cotton
Ole Miss
2007 Cotton
Arkansas
2006 Capital One Arkansas
2003 Independence Arkansas
2002 Music City
Arkansas
2001 Cotton
Arkansas
2000 Las Vegas
Arkansas
*Joined VT prior to bowl game
PROMI NENT PUP I LS
K
Jake Elliott
D5-2017 – Cincinnati
2014 & 2015 American Athletic Conference Special
Teams Player of the Year
P
Tom Hornsey FA-2015 – Dallas
2013 Ray Guy Award Winner, Consensus All-America
selection, 2013 American Athletic Conference Co-
Special Teams Player of the Year
TE
Bucky Hodges D6-2017 – Minnesota
Tech’s all-time leading receiver at tight end
RB Felix Jones
D1-2008 – Dallas
2007 Southeastern Conference Special Teams Player
of the Year
Cowboys, Steelers (2008-13)
WR Mike Wallace D3-2009 – Pittsburgh
Steelers, Dolphins, Vikings (2009-15)
BOWL GAMES PLAYED ( 3 )
1986 Orange
Arkansas
1985 Holiday
Arkansas
1984 Liberty
Arkansas
COACH I NG H I GHL I GHTS
• Regarded as one of the nation’s top special teams
coaches, enters his second season serving as special teams
coordinator and tight ends coach at Virginia Tech.
• Joined the Hokies after working with current Tech head
coach Justin Fuente at Memphis.
• Presided over the resurgence of Tech’s special teams
units in 2016 as the Hokies hearkened back to the heyday
of Beamer Ball by blocking a punt and three field goals,
while returning both a punt and a blocked field goal for
touchdowns.
• K Joey Slye led all ACC kickers and set a single-season
Tech record for a kicker with 118 points in 2016, as he hit 20
of 27 FGs (74.1%) and converted 58 PATs.
• Slye also set a Tech single-game record with 21 points in a
39-36 win at Pitt (10/27/16) as he tied an ACC record with
six made FGs in the contest. He also led the ACC with 73
touchbacks on kickoffs.
• Also tutored Tech’s tight ends in 2016 as Bucky Hodges
thrived in a hybrid TE/WR role, setting career highs with 48
catches for 691 yards, while tying a career mark with seven TDs.
• Brought 25 years of coaching experience with him to
Blacksburg, including 12 seasons as a special teams coach
in the Southeastern Conference at both Ole Miss and
Arkansas.
• His special teams units at Memphis were among the
nation’s finest the past two seasons. His 2015 squad ranked
seventh in the country in overall special teams efficiency via
Football Outsiders, while his 2014 unit was the best in the
FBS according to ESPN.
• Memphis kicker Jake Elliott was named the American
Athletic Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year
Award with in both 2014 and 2015.
• Memphis was the only collegiate program to have a
semifinalist for both the Ray Guy Award and the Lou Groza
Award in 2014.
• A three-time Groza Award semifinalist, Elliott connected on
76.9 percent (60 of 78) of his FGs the past three seasons
under Shibest with eight makes from 50 or more yards,
including a school-record 56-yard FG at South Florida
(11/16/13).
• Elliott established Memphis records in 2015 with 23 made
field goals and 132 points. He connected on 82.1 percent
(23 of 28) FGs and nailed all 63 of his PATs.
• Special teams coverage units coached by Shibest haven’t
allowed a kick return or punt return TD over the past six
seasons. His squads ranked among the nation’s top 10 in
net kickoff coverage three of the past five years. The Hokies
ranked 12th in that department in 2016, allowing 17.9 yards
per return.
• Was part of a Memphis staff that guided the Tigers to a 10-
win season in 2014, the first time the school had registered
double-digit victories since 1938.
• Memphis ranked fourth among FBS squads in punt
coverage in 2014, allowing opponents only a 2.77 yards per
return.
• Memphis wide receiver Keiwone Malone concluded his
collegiate career with a school-record 83 punt returns for
716 yards, a figure that ranked as the fourth-highest tally in
school history.
• In 2013, Shibest coached the nation’s best punter, Tom
Hornsey, who earned the Ray Guy Award and was honored
by the American Athletic Conference as the league’s Co-
Special Teams Player of the Year.
• Hornsey ranked seventh nationally in punting in 2013,
averaging 45.2 yards per punt. He also landed 46.8 percent
(29 of 62) of his punts inside the 20.
• Memphis led Conference USA in kickoff coverage with a net
average of 42.6 yards in 2013.
• Freshman tight end Alan Cross led Memphis with five TD
catches in 2012 and was named to the All-Conference USA
Freshman Team.
• Spent four seasons at Ole Miss, where he coached an
NCAA statistical champion, four All-SEC honorees and two
freshman award winners highlighted Shibest’s special teams
accomplishments.
• Tutored the top two kick returners in Ole Miss history in Mike
Wallace and Jesse Grandy.
• In 2011, the Rebels ranked second nationally and led the
SEC in punt returns with a 15.6-yard average.
• Kicker Joshua Shene wrapped up his career at Ole Miss
second in career scoring (310), field goals (57), field goal
attempts (75), PATs made (139) and PATs attempted (142).
• In his first season with the Rebels in 2008, Shibest was
honored as the Special Teams Coordinator of the Year by
FootballScoop.com.
• Shibest groomed running back Felix Jones into the SEC
Special Teams Player of the Year at Arkansas in 2007.
• Spent eight seasons as Arkansas (2000-07), where he
coached special teams and had stints tutoring tight ends
(2000-01, 2006-07) and receivers (2002-05).
• Led Butler County (Kan.) Community College to a four-year
record of 34-10 and back-to-back National Junior College
Athletic Association (NJCAA) championships in 1998 and
1999.
• Named the NJCAA Coach of the Year both seasons, and he
also earned Jayhawk Conference Coach of the Year honors
in 1996 and 1998.
• During his tenure at Butler County, Shibest coached 19 NJCAA
All-Americans and 34 NCAA Division I signees, including Ricky
Hall who registered 12 touchdowns for Tech in 1998-99 as a
receiver and return man.
• Led the Grizzlies to records of 7-4 in 1996, 4-5 in 1997,
12-0 in 1998 and 11-1 in 1999.
• In two seasons at Garden City (Kan.) Community College
he helped the Bronc Busters to a 10-1 record in 1994 and
a 9-2 mark in 1995 with an offense that ranked sixth in the
NJCAA.
PLAY I NG H I GHL I GHTS
• Prep All-American receiver at Houston’s MacArthur
High School earned All-Southwest Conference honors
at Arkansas in 1984 and 1986, amassing a then-school-
record 1,920 receiving yards on 97 receptions, including
10 touchdowns.