Gibbs Keeton returns to hometown of El Paso to revive UTEP Miners soccer

In retrospect, Gibbs Keeton is a bit taken aback by the audacity that launched his career.

That path that led the 2001 Montwood grad back to El Paso to become the fourth women's soccer coach in UTEP's history truly began one day in grad school at Texas Tech when he needed to interview "someone in a field we were interested in."

Keeton's graduate school instructor, then-Texas Tech senior women's administrator Dr. Judi Henry, lined him up an interview with first-year Red Raider soccer coach Tom Stone, who in 2007 was working to turn around what had been a poor Big 12 program.

Filled with a brashness and confidence that both Keeton and Stone marvel at now, Keeton marched in and began an inquisition.

"My boss said I've got this really sharp guy in grad school, he wants to interview you for his thesis," said Stone, who has since become Tech's all-time winningest soccer coach and sent four other Tech assistants before Keeton to head coaching jobs.

"Sure, I'd love to meet him. He starts to talk to me about soccer, absolutely grills me: 'Why do you play that system? Do you really think that will be successful? How will that work in college?' Oh my gosh, who is this guy? He was interested in the way we played, he didn't think it was very good."

A unicorn in Lubbock

Keeton's memory is the same.

"To my naivety, I drilled him and he's not a guy you drill, he's a guy who is going to fire right back," Keeton said.

In this case, even though Stone disagreed with the entire line of questioning about his "box" system — a system Keeton is now a disciple of — he did turn out to be a guy you drill.

"It was almost like finding a unicorn in Lubbock, Texas," Stone said. "There is not a huge coaching fraternity or sorority here in Lubbock.

"I met Gibbs and it was like, 'Holy moly, this guy is in my backyard, I have to get him on my staff.' He's young, he's hip, he's clever, the kids loved him. He left, I told Judi, 'I found my volunteer.' He's great."

From there a career was launched that is becoming increasingly unique. In an era when coaches jump from program to program building a broad resume, when Keeton moved into his new office in the Helen of Troy Complex in December, it marked his second college working address.

At his first address, the John Walker Soccer Complex in Lubbock, he worked his way up from graduate assistant to volunteer assistant to second assistant to first assistant and recruiting coordinator to associate head coach. That climb up the ladder mirrored the climb of the Red Raiders, who flourished into a premier power-conference program and coach factory.

"The definition of working your way up the later," said former Tech assistant Todd Schulenberger, now the head coach at Washington State. "You have to love people who are committed and dedicated to 1) building your resume at one spot, and a great spot at Texas Tech; then 2) learning under Tom Stone and everyone else who was there.

"I love seeing people work their way up and he did it all at one spot. Congrats to him."

Roots in El Paso

His long tenure at Tech was a contrast to growing up, where he moved around in a lifestyle typical of a coach's son. Keeton's father Durwood played in the NFL for three years in the mid-70s and later coached football at UTEP for two years (1977-78).

At Navarro Junior College Durwood met a native of Durango, Mexico, Alice Moreno, and they married in 1972. Gibbs was born in El Paso in 1983.

Durwood Keeton, who is currently moving from Lubbock to El Paso — the fifth time he's moved to El Paso — was a long-time head of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes in El Paso. He moved his family back here from the Dallas area when Gibbs was a sophomore and that was the point when Gibbs gave up football to concentrate on soccer and cross country at Montwood.

Durwood said that was always more his son's calling.

"He's a soccer nerd," Durwood Keeton said. "He started playing YMCA soccer in El Paso when he was 5. He talks about soccer stuff all the time, he'll be watching a game saying, 'That's not going to work.'

"He really loves soccer, he follows soccer, he's a student of the game. He studies and watches what they do, he keeps notes on competition for next year."

Gibbs Keeton continued his playing career at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, but after one year there transferred across town to Paradise Valley Community College. After two years at Paradise Valley, and some time playing for the Arizona Saguaros of the Premier Development League, he went to Texas Tech in 2004 to complete his undergraduate degree and get his master's.

Home in Lubbock

He had no idea Lubbock would be home for 18 years.

"The thing in Lubbock, every friend I met in college graduated and left," Keeton said. "I had two college friends I met who stayed in Lubbock.

"That was a trend of my social group, everyone else left but soccer kept me there. There are progressions to being in Lubbock — being in Lubbock as a grad student, then a young professional. I met my wife, I started a family there and Lubbock is amazing for a young family. I had no idea it would ever happen. I would have hedged all my savings that I wouldn't be in Lubbock for 18 years."

Lubbock ended up being a charmed spot for Keeton, who at one point was set up on a blind date with a former Oklahoma State cheerleader by a friend. Keeton and his date ended up at a dartboard, something she had no special aptitude for.

Her first throw was a bull's eye. "She looks at me, What just happened?" Keeton recalled. That's the story of how he met his wife Sydney, the mother of soon-to-be 5-year-old Sophie Jae and 3-year-old Cruz.

Keeton's first big coaching job in Lubbock was FC Dallas West Texas' 10-year-old boys in 2008 and he was with that group until they graduated high school, which ended up overlapping with his getting on the payroll at Texas Tech in 2012. That was easier double duty than it sounds, especially for a man who for a while thought coaching youth club teams could be a calling.

"The way the world lines up is just crazy," Keeton recalled. "I was a young head coach and I'd practice the sessions we were running with the girls team with the boys team. I had all blue-collar boys and I could run the exact same session I'd run with the girls.

"With the age differences and the abilities, I was essentially practicing my craft multiple times and it was all coming around in a full cycle. To say there is a faith connection, of course there was, but it was crazy to be a young head coach and have things fall into place the way they did."

A player's coach

Another thing his boys youth team and his college women's soccer team had in common was they related well to their young, hungry coach.

"He's going to be a player's coach," Schulenberger said, and variations of that phrase were repeated by everyone who knew him in Lubbock.

"With Gibbs it starts with how much he cares about those kids," Stone said. "A lot of coaches throw that out there, it sounds like a bit of a cliche, but in 2023, if that's not where it starts, if that's not the base of your desire to be in that seat, in that chair, you're going to struggle.

"These kids need tough love and good coaching and constructive criticism, but most of all they need someone who cares about their overall experience. It's not a job, it's a passion. That's what you're getting in Gibbs."

Haley Haagsma McCall was one of many pro players Tech produced when Keeton was there.

"You're getting a quality person first of all, which is the most important thing for any athlete who leaves home to play sports," said McCall, who graduated from Tech in 2013 and played two years in the NWSL. "He's high integrity, a very skilled and wise coach. He's able to read the game so well and understand what changes are necessary.

"I stopped playing for him 10 years ago and I still keep in touch. That says a lot about him and the way he handles relationships. Gibbs was a constant, steady support. There are so many highs and lows you go through, whether injuries or personal struggles or team struggles throughout the season.

"He is so level headed, he doesn't get too up or too down, he keeps things in perspective but he also makes you want to work hard for him. When I heard the news he was going to be a head coach, I said to myself, 'Finally.' I'm so overjoyed for him."

So is Carly Wickenheiser, who graduated from Tech after the 2018 season and has played professionally since, currently in Sweden.

"The greatest thing about him, he really cares," she said. "He's a fantastic leader, not just at the soccer, but managing people, bringing people together. He cares about you as a person and who you are becoming.As soon as I got to Tech he was the main coach I'd go to for anything.

"It was never too serious with him. He took it seriously when you needed too, but he also knew to laugh and have a good time."

That was true from his early days in the game, playing for the Premier Panthers club team in El Paso.

"That guy is down to earth," said his youth club coach Jimmy Ryan, whose own son later trained with Keeton on occasion in Lubbock. "No matter how successful he's ever going to be, he's going to be the same guy. He's the same guy he was when he was 14.

"He's respectful, he's hard working, he's dedicated. I could see how that fits being a player's coach, especially seeing how he related to my son. His personality is fantastic, he's got a good sense of humor.

"I think UTEP's getting a heck of a person to lead that program."

Coming back to El Paso

Keeton's career began to point that direction in 2019 when he was promoted to associate head coach at Tech, the same position held by Schulenberger, Aaron Gordon, who left Tech for the head coaching job at Mississippi State in 2012, and Neil Payne, who left Tech for the head coaching job at Elon in 2018. Aaron Gordon's wife Ashley, a former Tech assistant, is now the head soccer coach at Texas A&M-Commerce.

In fact, when the Gordons left for Mississippi State, Stone assumed they would try to bring Keeton with them. While Stone expressed his congratulations over the phone to Aaron Gordon, he frantically was texting Keeton at the same time to get into his office.

Stone kept Gordon on the phone until Keeton arrived, ensuring he would get the first crack at offering Keeton a full-time position.

"There are a lot of assistant coaches who have a niche," Stone said. "Some are great recruiters, some want to coach the goalkeepers only, some are terrific administrators. You need those on your staff. There are others, you can give them anything. That's the way it is with Gibbs.

"He coached our defense, he coached our goal keepers, he was our recruiting coordinator, one of our top people to recruit on campus. He handled administrative things. There was nothing I couldn't give him, that he couldn't do. It was clear he was going to be a head coach.

"When this chance came he didn't hesitate so we were all celebrating on his behalf."

The task with the Miners

UTEP initiated the contact with Keeton, and while he said coming home to El Paso wasn't his only reason for wanting the job, he knows how special it is.

"Coming back to El Paso is especially unique," Keeton said. "When the job opened up it was obviously appealing for myself and my family, but not because it's an opportunity to return to El Paso, but because it's an opportunity to lead student-athletes here and potentially connect with the community I grew up in.

"That was so significant to me. The big piece of the appeal was the fact that we could be a program on the rise from improved leadership. When you dissect what's happening at UTEP, it's happening in many of the sports. Naturally it grew from being from El Paso to really wanting to be a part of UTEP and the athletics department. It's more about that than the return to El Paso."

The chance to lead UTEP back to prosperity after some struggles the past few seasons is also appealing.

"When you say 'dream job', you're careful of what the program's standing is you're taking over," Keeton said. "I knew it would be a challenge. It's was a challenge that was critical for me taking the job. I felt like my previous place of employment there were three great leaders, and I wanted to be that leader for UTEP. I think as a 'dream job,' what a great opportunity."

The key, he said, will be getting the team to win "his way."

"Winning my way would be buying into the culture," Keeton said. "Maybe that's coach-speak, maybe 'culture' is over-utilized, but we need to be part of 'us' collectively to learn how to win. We have to support each other, we have to respond to adversity, we have to play on our front foot and be willing to take risks. We have to be willing to be uncomfortable."

Keeton wasn't afraid of uncomfortable moments when his career was beginning and that ended up forging a path to UTEP. His goal is to convince women to forge their own path to El Paso and to mold them into winners.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Gibbs Keeton returns to El Paso to revive UTEP Miners soccer