VinceGeorgeJoe Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 From the LA Times today: No reporter knew Walsh better than Lowell Cohn, who spent the better part of a year with the coach in writing, "Rough Magic — Bill Walsh's Return to Stanford Football." The night before every Stanford home game, Walsh and Cohn had a routine. Walsh would work late at his office, scripting the first 15 to 20 offensive plays of the game, then would meet the reporter at the now-defunct Rickey's Hyatt House for one margarita — always one. One night, as Walsh and Cohn were walking in, former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs was walking out. Gibbs was in town to watch his son, Coy, play linebacker for Stanford. Cohn couldn't believe his luck. He'd get to see how two giants of the game would interact in a casual setting. Would Walsh give Gibbs a hug, or just a hearty handshake? Would he invite the Redskins legend to join them for a margarita? Or, better yet, dinner? Instead, the coaches passed each other with barely a nod. Later, while sipping his margarita, Walsh offered a simple explanation: "When we were coaches, he was my biggest rival." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugewhite94 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 awesome story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKM311 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Wow! Amazing to see the competitive spirit the two had. But hearing "he was my biggest rival" shows the respect he had for Gibbs, and I am sure Gibbs felt the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nace14 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 while the end of that has sort of a justification, i was a little unimpressed with gibbs yesterday from what i heard him say on tv. i understood that gibbs just got done with practice and i'm sure he said more that wasn't aired; but all i heard him say was stuff like "bill was a great coach and really knew how to build a winner..." i kind of expected to hear a more personal discussion from gibbs and it left me thinking that maybe they didn't really know/like eachother. not that i really care what kind of friendship every nfl coach has with eachother, but i guess i just assumed gibbs would have had a better uligy of sorts to say about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Link? Not busting your chops -I just really want to read the rest of this story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gart Monk Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Walsh never got over the 1983 Championship or missing his chance to avenge the loss in 1987. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 In the early 1980s the Redskins and 49ers went head to head in some big games, and were the 2 best teams in the NFL That 1983 NFC Championship game is a classic and would be considered a bigger win had we beat the Raiders in the Superbowl The 1984 season we had a trip out to Candlestick. We would have played them again in the 1984 NFC Title game had the team not had a brain fart against the Bears in the playoffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 If anyone has been paying attention... Gibbs doesn't get too touchy feeley about much of anything I think its by design though... makes his true feelings hard to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 i kind of expected to hear a more personal discussion from gibbs and it left me thinking that maybe they didn't really know/like eachother. I doubt they really knew each other personally at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenaa Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 while the end of that has sort of a justification, i was a little unimpressed with gibbs yesterday from what i heard him say on tv. i understood that gibbs just got done with practice and i'm sure he said more that wasn't aired; but all i heard him say was stuff like "bill was a great coach and really knew how to build a winner..." i kind of expected to hear a more personal discussion from gibbs and it left me thinking that maybe they didn't really know/like eachother. not that i really care what kind of friendship every nfl coach has with eachother, but i guess i just assumed gibbs would have had a better uligy of sorts to say about him. Did Gibbs say that head coaches don't get to know each other well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jthor99 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Wow what emotion in that little bit of a story you could almost feel the tension. Great short read.... RIP Bill Walsh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Respect is different to being friends. You can be one without the other, both ways. That being said, major competitor who is also the coach of your son? I would expect Coach to not say much. He will have been so mindful of not interfering in his son's football career. Only a nod goes both ways too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blondie Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 while the end of that has sort of a justification, i was a little unimpressed with gibbs yesterday from what i heard him say on tv. i understood that gibbs just got done with practice and i'm sure he said more that wasn't aired; but all i heard him say was stuff like "bill was a great coach and really knew how to build a winner..." i kind of expected to hear a more personal discussion from gibbs and it left me thinking that maybe they didn't really know/like eachother. not that i really care what kind of friendship every nfl coach has with eachother, but i guess i just assumed gibbs would have had a better uligy of sorts to say about him. You know they only pick out portions of what was said. And being that this was unexpected......maybe he had not had time to gather his thoughts......to give a proper eulogy of sorts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunchin Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/la-sp-farmer31jul31,1,4378560.story?page=1&ctrack=2&cset=true&coll=la-headlines-sports-nfl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nace14 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Did Gibbs say that head coaches don't get to know each other well? not that i heard. i don't think i ever said that he said that either. i just said that i don't know if they did but i assumed that they would have known eachother well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nace14 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 You know they only pick out portions of what was said. And being that this was unexpected......maybe he had not had time to gather his thoughts......to give a proper eulogy of sorts. that's definitely a good point, and you definitely spelled "eulogy" better than i did too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bliz Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 In the early 1980s the Redskins and 49ers went head to head in some big games, and were the 2 best teams in the NFLThat 1983 NFC Championship game is a classic and would be considered a bigger win had we beat the Raiders in the Superbowl The 1984 season we had a trip out to Candlestick. We would have played them again in the 1984 NFC Title game had the team not had a brain fart against the Bears in the playoffs Interesting story. I recently tivoed the '83 NFC Championship game when it was shown on NFL Network. You could really tell in the interviews that the game still, years later, really ate at him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 I doubt Gibbs and Walsh knew each other very well. They never were on the same staff. They were never in the same division. They weren't part of the same coaching tree. And their personalities seem extremely different. (I know Gibbs' son played for him, but I got the impression that Walsh - at Stanford - ran that program from a tower. Maybe I am crazy, but I just never got the impression that Walsh had any kind of intimate relationships with any of his players). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flycoach Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Great competitor. RIP Coach Walsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylorfan2179 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 I cant believe gibbs didnt say god bless or anything to someone he knew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel22 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Respect is different to being friends. You can be one without the other, both ways.That being said, major competitor who is also the coach of your son? I would expect Coach to not say much. He will have been so mindful of not interfering in his son's football career. Only a nod goes both ways too. Agree and disagree -- at least from my perspective. Can you respect someone without being their friend? Absolutely. Can you be friends with someone you don't respect? Perhaps some, but not I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freestyln Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 If anyone has been paying attention... Gibbs doesn't get too touchy feeley about much of anythingI think its by design though... makes his true feelings hard to read. he would be a BEAST in WPT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSilverMaC Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 If we had beat the Raiders, we probably would have been the team of the 80's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Yeah Gibbs did say on Comcast that he really didn't know Walsh that well. This LA Times anecdote hints at something more going on under the surface, in my opinion. They're part of a unique and rare fraternity, and one is coaching the other's son in college, yet they can't even share a smile and quick handshake? Sounds to me like there might have been some real animosity there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Master Jay Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Joe is a Man's man he stands for something and so did Bill Walsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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