Joe Gibbs Resigns!
Joe Gibbs is resigning as head coach and president of the Washington Redskins, team sources confirmed this morning, ending an emotionally trying year with a decision that took players and coaching staff by surprise.
Gibbs — who spent a total of 16 years in two stints as head coach — will stay with the Redskins organization in some capacity, perhaps as a consultant to team owner Daniel Snyder, team officials said. No decision has been made on his replacement.
I’m genuinely shocked by this move. At season’s end it was clear to me, at least, that this is a team that is as close as any professional sport squad I’ve ever seen. Gibbs was not only respected by nearly every player but he was (and this is an odd word to say, but it fits) loved. You would have to search very hard to find a guy who wouldn’t run through a brick wall for Coach Gibbs. That’s not something you can just find lying around anytime you want it. I’d say that only one or two teams in the league have that and they are much better for it.
That said, ultimately, Gibbs had to know that his time on the sidelines was rapidly running out. The game of football is different than when he coached in the 1980s. It’s faster, trickier, and requires a lot of knowledge that it simply did not before. I suspect, though I have no firm evidence, that Gibbs finally realized that if he was going to master the game the way he should, he was going to have to spend even more time immersing himself in it. That’s the one thing he said he would not do this time around. In the end, Joe Gibbs must throw himself completely into something to perform the magic we all have seen over the years. This time around, football wasn’t something he could give his life to doing. He had other, far more important, things – his family, his grandson, his faith.
I admire him for choosing the things that will last long after football trophies have fallen to dust. I also admire him for the nearly single-handed way he held the Redskins together after Sean Taylor’s death. It is no coincidence that the players that Jason La Canfora (incidentally, the best professional football reporter in the country) interviewed all said two things: 1) they wanted Joe Gibbs to stay because they felt they owed him a great season next year, and 2) they want no one outside their family to coach them next year. That’s the measure of respect and affection they feel for the Coach who became far more than just a coach to them this year.
I will greatly miss Coach Gibbs. It’s always seemed wrong to have anyone else on the sidelines. If Daniel Snyder is smart, and if this year has taught him anything about the Redskins Family, the man who roams the sidelines next year is already on the squad, already knows what it’s like to bleed burgundy and gold, and has the respect and friendship of his players as well.
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Category: My Beloved Redskins
