So, the questions: can he keep Snyder in check? (If anyone can, it would be Gibbs. He can write his own ticket.) Can he succeed again as a coaching innovator? (Dunno. But sure would like to find out.) Can he handle the players again, after being away for a decade? (Probably.)
And the big question, does he have the fire for coaching once again? The answer seems to be, maybe. This does seem to be at least partly his idea. As one who remembers (and would just as soon forget) when Edward Bennett Williams dragged Earl Weaver out of retirement to manage the Orioles again in 1985-86, I don’t think this will be that sort of fiasco. He certainly can’t do any worse than Spurrier.
My one regret is that Stephen Davis is gone. Here we had the perfect RB to be at the heart of a Joe Gibbs offense, and we got rid of him one year too soon.
One thing I am sure of: Joe Gibbs will not tolerate the level of sloppiness that has pervaded the Redskins’ organization for many years. And he will have Snyder’s support in that lack of tolerance, or he will walk.
At the very least, maybe Gibbs can train Snyder to just be the owner. And that alone would be major progress.
I was giving some thought to this one today. With Snyder as the owner, you really need Joe Torre, or the football equivalent thereof, as your coach. You know the guys going to shell out the bucks, albeit sometimes unwisely, to get you the players. He’s going to want to feel like he’s involved. From what I know of Gibbs he might fit the “Joe Torre role” quite well: great coach, knows how to handle the owner, well liked by his players. Plus he’s got the credentials at the pro level.
Now if I were a Skins fan (I’m not), my main concerns would be: 1) Salary cap, or more specifically, can I get the blue collar workers to help my stars. The offensive line sure looked like they couldn’t adequately protect the quarterback last season, although one can certainly blame Spurrier’s offensive schemes to a large part for that.
Has the pro game passed Joe Gibbs by? With the exception of Dick Vermeil, I can’t think of anyone who has taken that long a break from the game to come back and succeed.
Who are you going to use as a workhorse back? Trung Canidate doesn’t seem to be the guy. Maybe Ladell Betts, but can he last a 16 game season.
Good luck on that! I hope you can at least beat the Cowboys.
JC, check the MPSIMS thread. I’m excited, definitely. But I’ve still got concerns.
Shibb, I think Gibbs will adapt to his personnel, at least until he can get a workhorse RB. He certainly prefers having a RB in the Riggins mold back there, but if Snyder can’t get him a better RB, he’ll figure out what Betts, Canidate, and Cartwright can do, and figure out how to make the most of that.
The Redskins have the fifth pick in the draft this year. Might there be an answer there? I’ll admit ignorance when it comes to the current crop of college prospects.
The one thing I worry about is, does Gibbs have the fire to excel in the NFL, the way he used to? He might think he wants back in, but there’s a difference between thinking he wants it while doing something else, and wanting it once he’s actually in the thick of it. I have no doubts about his being able to master it intellectually, and I think he can get back to being an innovator. And I think he’ll be able to handle the players. But it all adds up to a lot of work, and I wonder if he really remembers how it was.
And whoever he hires as defensive coordinator (or assistant head coach - defense, as he used to call it), it needs to be someone really good, but not so good that he’ll be a head coach somewhere in 2005. The 'Skins have to have the same guy running the defense two years in a row. Preferably three or four or five years, but right now two would be a big step forward.
On the Sports Talk radio here I heard that it will be Joe Bugel as assistant and Gregg Williams as defensive coach. Sounds sort of like a dream team. I’m afraid we’re going to have to cover the DC Dopers’ furniture in plastic again.
Joe Bugel on Channel 4 with George Michael and Sonny said just that JChance: “We are going to run 50 gut, counter trey and heavy jumbo.” He also allowed he he like the tackles and Thomas – leaving out the Center and other guard.
My goodness Buges had fire – he seemed really pumped up. Gibbs in the brief interview seemed excited but alert he said he was scared of failure & knew it would be alot of work but he wanted a challenge.
Yes only Vermeil has done it with the layoff, but then Ditka is the only HoF NFL’er to come back & fail (I know Bud Grant with the Vikes – but he wasn’t out of the NFL all that long). Throw in Parcells sitting 3 seasons… there are the only 4 HoF’ers that I know of who have left the NFL for significant periods then returned & on that list of 4 I put Gibbs 2 and maybe 1a (Parcells), & they have been 75% success stories.
Add in Gibbs willingness to adjust his game to his personnel, “The Redskins have the best personnel top to bottom in the NFC East” (BParcells 12/2003) & Gibbs people skills and I think the Redskins have turned the corner – resign Champ, a D-lineman and an RB and maybe more than just minimally turned the corner
I’ll be watching – all NFL fans will will because this is awesome.
The comparison with Vermeil is apt, although Vermeil spent much of his time away from coaching as a college football analyst, so he wasn’t as removed from the game as Gibbs has been.