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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Nutt's First Rebel Staff To Include Shibest
12/22/2007 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. - Houston Nutt continues to assemble his first Ole Miss football staff as he announced the addition of James Shibest here Saturday. The appointment is pending approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.
Shibest was a member of Nutt's Arkansas staff for the past eight seasons, where he coached special teams and had stints tutoring tights ends (2000-01, 2006-07) and receivers (2002-05). Prior to joining Nutt at Arkansas in 2000, Shibest had spent the previous eight seasons coaching in the junior college ranks.
"James Shibest is an excellent junior college recruiter with head coaching experience at the junior college level," said Nutt. "He is a good coach and a good special teams coach who has been with me for several years. I am excited about James joining us here at Ole Miss."
With the Razorbacks in 2007, Shibest coached All-American return specialist Felix Jones, who is third in the nation in kickoff returns with a 31.33-yard average. Jones returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2007 and returned at least one kickoff for a touchdown in each of his three seasons at Arkansas under Shibest.
Also under Shibest's watch in 2007 was All-SEC second team place-kicker Alex Tejada, who set a new single-season school kick scoring record with 108 points. The freshman finished the regular season 17 of 21 on the season in field goals, including a perfect 12 of 12 from 40 yards or less.
Shibest's tight ends, Andrew Davie and D.J. Williams, proved their worth in the Arkansas passing game as well as in the running game as blockers. Davie caught three touchdown passes on the season and Williams was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
A 17-year coaching veteran, Shibest officially joined the Razorback staff on Feb. 14, 2000, after a highly successful four-year stint as head coach at Butler County (Kan.) Community College. Shibest led the Grizzlies to a four-year record of 34-10 and back-to-back National Junior College Athletic Association national championships in 1998 and 1999, while being named NJCAA National Coach of the Year both seasons. 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 former Razorback Jermaine Petty, who earned first-team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association. Shibest led the Grizzlies to records of 7-4 in 1996, 4-5 in 1997, 12-0 in 1998 and 11-1 in 1999.
Shibest began his coaching career with two years as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State, coaching receivers in 1990 and running backs in 1991. In 1992, Shibest began his ascent through the junior college coaching ranks as the offensive coordinator at Independence (Kan.) Community College.
After coaching the Independence defensive secondary during the 1993 season, Shibest embarked on a two-year tenure as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks/receivers coach at Garden City (Kan.) Community College. There 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.
A native of Houston, Texas, Shibest had a standout collegiate career as a receiver at Arkansas, earning All-Southwest Conference honors in 1984 and 1986. He amassed a then-school-record 1,920 receiving yards on 97 receptions, including 10 for touchdowns. His career receiving yardage total still ranks fifth in the Arkansas record books.