Brandon Gibson and his dad, John, don’t talk about a lot of things. When both of them visited Ashland University, John was impressed with the campus and the football team, and told Gibson that this was where he would be going to college. And that was pretty much it. Gibson didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

“Everything happens for a reason, right?” Gibson replied when asked whether he regretted coming to Ashland or not.

It’s a saying that has brought Gibson to the point he is at now. Coming out of his academic junior year at AU, Gibson is at the top of the list for starting positions on the offensive line of the Eagles football team. His grades are bet- ter than they have ever been his whole college career and he is also slowly beginning to have a good relationship with his father, after years of problems.

Coach Doug Geiser is proud of how Gibson has come along in all areas.

“I see all my guys as my sons,” Geiser said. “There is a pride factor as you see their success and their confidence grow. They stick their mind to it and have a good plan and work hard.

My enjoyment and my pride is seeing the light go on with that and that happened last spring, seeing the kid go from wondering in my mind whether he’ll ever get it to seeing him produce and grow and succeed; it’s a feeling I can’t describe.”

In order for things to be better

now, they had to be worse before. Gibson’s family moved around a lot and he lived in and experienced many places, including Texas and Michigan. In 1999, when Gibson was nine, his family was dealt a huge blow when John’s brother, Gibson’s uncle, Jerry Jose (J.J.) committed suicide. He had been diagnosed with

schizophrenia shortly before. Not even a year later, in 2000, Gibson’s mom, Sheere, gave birth to a daughter. She was a still born. Gibson can remember crying and looking over and seeing his father on his knees crying. And then out of nowhere, much to the doctor’s astonishment, the tiny baby girl started breathing. “We always said J.J. was there for her,” Gibson said. The baby girl was named

Jaclynn Jonet, in honor of J.J. Life came full circle however in 2001, when Gibson’s grandfather, John’s dad, who also suffered from schizophrenia, killed himself. His name was Jerry Jose, as well. Gibson was waiting at his grandfather’s house for him to come home when the police showed up and told him the news. He was 11 years old.

Gibson played football in fourth grade and started out tentative on the field. He was scared to get hit and scared to hit others. John decided that Gibson needed to start taking things seriously. He laid out a list of workouts that Gibson needed to be doing: push- ups, sit-ups, etc. Gibson was sup- posed to write down how many of each work out he had done on a piece of paper, but he always just made up numbers and didn’t do them.

Gibson’s uncle, John’s other brother, Jason, was very good at basketball and got Gibson interested in it. Gibson would be in the gym shooting hoops, but his father wanted him out running hills and weight lifting. John was good at football in his youth and had been told that he could be looked at by college scouts, but he ended up dropping out of high school. All he wanted was for Gibson to follow in his footsteps. But Gibson wanted to do other things, and had other heroes at the time.

“I look up to my uncle [Jason] more than anyone else in the world,” Gibson said.

The tensions in the family were intense. Whenever Gibson got in trouble during his middle school and early high school years, he would call Jason to come help him out, not that this kept his dad from knowing where he was or what he had been doing.

“When I went to my friends’ houses he would get their addresses and phone numbers,” Gibson said. “I’m pretty sure he tracked my car. Partying or drinking would have been a huge problem for me.”

Gibson had problems anyway without trying to party or drink.

“My dad would tell me to work out, I would play basketball instead,” Gibson said. “It caused huge problems. I always called my uncle to get me out of trouble and take me to the gym.”

Gibson was playing both football and basketball his freshmen year of high school, but just wasn’t excelling in football like he was in basketball. Sophomore year, however, Gibson finally realized that he was bigger than most of the boys out on the field, and suddenly wasn’t intimidated. He began to do better in football, which was a blessing, because his uncle got a job in Florida and took it.

“My uncle left me, so then basketball wasn’t for me anymore,” Gibson said. “My whole life, he taught me how to play, then he wasn’t there for me at the most important time in my life.”

Gibson quit basketball his junior year. His senior year, he started making himself actually be part of the football team. “I worked really hard at football because I realized I could go to college for this,” Gibson said. “I started trying hard, started getting better and loving football because it was my way out. I had average grades; I wouldn’t get scholarships for grades.”

Gibson was recruited by Ashland but pushed them off for a while. His dad wanted him to go to a Division I school and he wanted that too. Gibson was slated to go to Miami University but at the last minute, they offered his scholarship to another player. After his dad saw Ashland University, Gib- son was signed, sealed and delivered.

Gibson’s freshman year wasn’t an exciting new adventure. He was red-shirted [when athletes don’t play for the first year], so he started drinking. John, like most parents, didn’t like this at all and it caused tension between father and son.

“That would always cause arguments,” Gibson said. “It was a pretty horrible relationship…I don’t know what to say about that.”

Gibson might have had a poor relationship with his father at the time but he began to find himself along the way. He met his three best friends, who were also on the football team, and began hanging out with them every minute of every day.

“We were always at each other’s sides,” Gibson laughed. “We would all meet in each other’s rooms and look at Playboys in the early morning before lifting. We said it would boost our testosterone.”

Boys will be boys, right? This seemed to be the motto Gibson was living by his freshman year. During spring ball, Gibson was playing tackle and starting to get noticed by the coaches. He didn’t care.

“I was still drinking about five days a week,” Gibson said, “and I was do- ing horrible in school. I got put on academic probation and almost got kicked out because I had a 1.6 [G.P.A.].”

After Gibson was let off of academic probation, everyone thought his grades would improve. He was coming into his academic sophomore year and playing second string offensive line. But Gibson still wasn’t happy or willing to take care of himself.

“I lost 50 pounds because I didn’t care if I played or sat on the bench,” Gib- son said. “I cared about the team winning but didn’t care about me playing. I got kicked out of school and lost all my [scholarship] money.”

When John found out Gibson had been kicked out of school, he was furious and made Gibson move out of his house. Gibson lived with his at-the-time girlfriend over winter break and began laying out an appeal process. He worked on it all winter break and wrote it all by himself. It ended up being a good thing.

“My appeal went through and I came back to school,” Gibson said. “It made me grow up. It was life and death…I was so nervous about my life.”

Gibson had reason to be nervous. Like a lot of students, Gibson was going through an adjustment period. While his was harder than some others, Geiser feels that it was a necessity.”There were maturity issues that needed to happen,” Geiser said. “It was normal growing up stuff that Brandon [Gibson] had to go through.” By the end of his academic sophomore year, Gibson’s grades were improving mainly because he finally had the guts to change majors.

“[I was going for a] major in business and I hated it,” Gibson said. “Now business management is my minor and my major is sports communication. Really, I just grew up. I realized that football wasn’t always going to be there for me as a way out, so I…needed to find a career that I liked and make good money.”

And that’s when Gibson started doing well in football again.

The first spring scrimmage of the season, Gibson walked out on the field, livid at the world. He and his father had gotten into a fight the night before, and his girlfriend wasn’t speaking to him. He knew the techniques, the plays and the calls of the game, but he had yet to harness the confidence or determination to play. His circumstances that day changed that.

“I wasn’t nervous on the field,” Gibson said. “I was furious. I want- ed to kill everyone. From that day on, I realized it doesn’t hurt to be good. It’s not hard to be good for me, I have the athleticism and intelligence…once I realized I was good at it, it made me work harder.”

Gibson’s all around improvement was not only because he had grown up, but also because at the end of his academic sophomore year his family received a new addition in the form of a baby girl. Gibson beams every time he talks about his little sister, Alex.

“Me and her, we are as tight as a baby and a 20 year old can be,” Gibson said.

The Gibson family has become closer and happier thanks to their little bundle of joy. “We call and talk like normal people,” Gibson said. “When I get to go home now, I’m so happy; it used to be ‘okay, I see my dad and step-mom,’ but now it’s just so amazing when I get to see [Alex]. I’m in love with that little girl for real.”

Gibson started every game his athletic sophomore year and his grades improved visibly. Everyone noticed.

“I would love to see him graduate with a 3.0; that’s doable,” Geiser said. “And playing wise, without sounding cliché, I want to see him reach his potential and I think that’s to be an all-league play- er. That’s an ability he has and… now he needs to just go play. That would confirm what I think he is made of.”

Gibson is made of a lot and has come a long way in only three years. It will be exciting to see what he will do with his last two.