Coby Gipson is driven, focused, and determined, which will likely spell doom for Howard Payne’s opponents. He is not, however, naive. He understands the challenge facing the Yellow Jackets in the American Southwest Conference in 2025.

“You have to operate on the fact that pressure is a privilege, and you talk about the gauntlet we face with our schedule in 2025, where 60 percent of our games are against elite universities. But we are like-minded with those universities,” Gipson said. “I think that gets overlooked and isn’t discussed enough. We are all on the same mission as universities.”

Everyone has a purpose in life, and Gipson believes he is meant to build college football programs. After all, it’s all he’s done since he began his coaching career.

“I’m not interested in riding the coattails of a 20-year successful blue blood college football program,” Gipson said. “I want to be someone who comes in, lays a foundation, and puts a really nice house on that foundation. To me, success is maximizing your capabilities.”

Gipson’s career includes stops at Grace Community High School in Tyler, where he was offensive coordinator for the Cougars 2011 squad that made it to the TAPPS state semifinals. He was the head coach for five years at Bishop T.K. Gorman High School, leading the Crusaders to three straight playoff appearances, an area and regional championship, and an appearance in the 2014 TAPPS state semifinals.

He entered the collegiate ranks in 2017 when he was named assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Howard Payne under Braxton Harris. His most recent stop was at Lamar, where he was an integral member of Peter Rossomando’s staff, building the Cardinals into a contender in the Southland Conference.

“I do not mean this disrespectfully to anyone when I say this, but building a program is who I am as a coach,” Gipson said. “My first coaching job was with a high school team just starting a program. I was part of a high school team that went 0-10 and was in the state semifinals three years later. I was part of the rebuilding here at Howard Payne, and we had a rebuilding process at Lamar because we were at the bottom.

“(Building a program) is what I enjoy, and that’s what drives me. That’s what gets me up in the morning. People always mention how we’re fighting an uphill battle when it comes to resources compared to who we play. Absolutely! Let’s go! That’s what I want to do because guess what? Life is the exact same way. There are very few people that don’t struggle to get to the top in life, so that’s what I want to be a part of.”

Howard Payne is a different university than when Gipson was an assistant coach in 2017 and 2018. Both dorms have been renovated, and the university built a $2.5 million Don Newberry Welcome Center in 2022. Gipson notes one will see ongoing construction projects around campus under the guidance of HPU President Dr. Cory Hines.

“There’s constant construction going on here. One of the things I loved about Lamar is that I could give a campus tour and point out the resources being poured into the student-athlete experience,” Gipson said. “I do not know that was the case when I was previously at Howard Payne, but now, Dr. Hines invests in the student-athlete experience by providing the best facilities and resources.”

While Gipson understands the challenges facing the Yellow Jackets in 2025, winning games remains paramount. He also knows where HPU will be picked in this year's ASC preseason rankings.

“Winning is huge because when you win, you teach people that no matter what they said or where they picked you in the preseason standings, none of it matters,” Gipson said. “When you control only what you can control, you ultimately do things nobody else believed you could.”

Gipson believes the sky is the limit for the Yellow Jacket football program, and that process begins with the team’s offseason workouts.

“We’re looking forward to great challenges and stepping on the field with the elite teams in the nation. We believe we can be one of those elite teams as well. Is it a process? Absolutely, but these guys did that in their morning workout today,” Gipson said. “They poured everything they had into it. We’re going to do the exact same thing tomorrow and start stacking days because that’s how we’ll get to where we compete for conference championships, be a factor on a national level, and earn a spot in the Division III playoffs. We’re here to execute a plan, and we’re here to do it every day.”