[1] After a stint as a graduate assistant at California and as the tight ends coach at Cornell, Tibesar returned to his alma mater North Dakota as linebackers coach, eventually being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2004.
Tibesar was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2007 and was not retained when Kansas State head coach Ron Prince was fired and replaced with Bill Snyder.
[2] Tibesar's departure was highlighted when he filed a lawsuit against the university for additional compensation after he wasn't retained, leading to the university to discover an alleged secret deal between Prince and then-athletic director Bob Krause.
[7] After working as a defensive consultant for Northwestern in 2014, Tibesar was named the outside linebackers coach at Wisconsin in 2015.
[8][9] Tibesar was named the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Oregon State in December 2017.