sdu: Gibbs' football genius is timeless

[bubba9497]

TIM SULLIVAN

Gibbs' football genius is timeless

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/sports/news_1s8sullivan.html

January 8, 2004

Joe Gibbs knows what he's doing. Of course he does. Joe Gibbs knows what he's doing, what you're doing and what the groundskeeper's nephew is doing.

He returns to the National Football League following an 11-year absence, and you could put everything he's missed in a thimble. He returns to the Washington Redskins to find the team owned by the autocratic Daniel Snyder instead of the aristocratic Jack Kent Cooke, and it matters less than lint.

Some coaches transcend time. Some coaches are up to speed with their first step. Some coaches command so much respect that meddlesome owners are rendered mute.

Joe Gibbs, San Diego State class of 1964, is one such coach.

Like Bill Walsh, Gibbs has won three Super Bowls, but he did it with three different quarterbacks. And none of them was named Montana.

Like Bill Parcells, Gibbs immediately invigorates a flagging franchise. And he does so without a massive ego or a weird wanderlust.

Like Paul Brown, he returns to coaching already enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But his exile was self-imposed.

Gibbs' midlife career change was as resoundingly successful as Arnold Schwarzenegger's, but easier to explain. The leadership qualities and organizational overdrive that brought Gibbs' Redskins three Vince Lombardi trophies were instantly applicable to auto racing. Joe Gibbs Racing won two of the last four Winston Cup points championships, with different drivers.

"It's obvious that Joe will find things dramatically different than when he was here before, but he'll be able to adapt," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said yesterday. "The business aspect of what he did in auto racing should serve him well."

The modern head coach is as much an administrator as he is a technician. His primary responsibility is to oversee a vast operation, not to micromanage receivers about the depth of their pass routes. If Joe Gibbs hires able assistants, selects quality players and can clear a path away from some of Snyder's salary cap silliness, he has every chance to excel.

The Washington Post calculated last month that the Redskins earn an estimated $70 million per year (before taxes and interest payments) on revenues of more than $200 million. Money poses so small an obstacle to Snyder that he seems to have no qualms about paying multiple coaches simultaneously.

Gibbs' pay package has been reported as five years and $25 million, roughly the same deal Snyder struck with Steve Spurrier after the impulsive owner tired of Schottenheimer two years ago.

"I've maintained that Dan Snyder can win," Schottenheimer said. "But it's a process that has to take some time. Joe (Gibbs) has certainly got tremendous credentials and I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be successful. I thought Spurrier would be successful. Frankly, given a little more time, I think he would have been."

Spurrier's talent for offensive innovation masked an incomplete command of the complexities of pro football and his laissez-faire discipline led to too many players being late for too many meetings. It is unclear whether Gibbs will continue to sleep at the office at age 63, but he will undoubtedly sweat the details.

Diligence is timeless. Dick Vermeil left the Philadelphia Eagles following the 1982 season and returned to coaching 15 years later with the St. Louis Rams. Three years later, he won a Super Bowl. Today, he is coaching his third playoff team in Kansas City.

"Your first year back is a bit of a shock," Vermeil said at a Chiefs news conference yesterday. "You start realizing what you don't know. But he (Gibbs) is a leader . . . It's still about a 53-man roster. It's the same for everybody."

What's most different now is that a coach has a shorter window to succeed. Because salary-cap considerations force teams to change personnel more frequently, nurturing young players is a luxury few teams can afford. A clever coach can get to the playoffs more quickly now – witness Parcells' immediate impact in Dallas – but maintaining a successful team is trickier.

"Before, you could assemble a team, take guys and develop guys and know you have an ongoing process," Schottenheimer said. "That's clearly changed in the last 10 years or so, ever since the salary cap. Free agency has changed it dramatically."

What hasn't changed is what Paul Brown used to refer to as the "eternal verities." Fundamentals. Technique. Repetition. Preparation. Flexibility.

When Gibbs first landed the Redskins job, in 1981, it was on the strength of his contributions to Air Coryell. But he succeeded by adapting his philosophy to his personnel, embracing a running game that featured John Riggins and an offensive line of lunch-pail grunts who were subsequently celebrated as "The Hogs."

Gibbs left pro football because it had consumed him. He wanted to see his boys grow up. The boys are grown now – J.D., the oldest son, is now president of Joe Gibbs Racing – and there's still time for another transition.

NASCAR was a nice sabbatical, but Joe Gibbs is foremost a football coach.

"He's driving the race car now," Vermeil said.

[bubba9497]

TIM SULLIVAN

Gibbs' football genius is timeless

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/sports/news_1s8sullivan.html

January 8, 2004

Joe Gibbs knows what he's doing. Of course he does. Joe Gibbs knows what he's doing, what you're doing and what the groundskeeper's nephew is doing.

He returns to the National Football League following an 11-year absence, and you could put everything he's missed in a thimble. He returns to the Washington Redskins to find the team owned by the autocratic Daniel Snyder instead of the aristocratic Jack Kent Cooke, and it matters less than lint.

Some coaches transcend time. Some coaches are up to speed with their first step. Some coaches command so much respect that meddlesome owners are rendered mute.

Joe Gibbs, San Diego State class of 1964, is one such coach.

Like Bill Walsh, Gibbs has won three Super Bowls, but he did it with three different quarterbacks. And none of them was named Montana.

Like Bill Parcells, Gibbs immediately invigorates a flagging franchise. And he does so without a massive ego or a weird wanderlust.

Like Paul Brown, he returns to coaching already enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But his exile was self-imposed.

Gibbs' midlife career change was as resoundingly successful as Arnold Schwarzenegger's, but easier to explain. The leadership qualities and organizational overdrive that brought Gibbs' Redskins three Vince Lombardi trophies were instantly applicable to auto racing. Joe Gibbs Racing won two of the last four Winston Cup points championships, with different drivers.

"It's obvious that Joe will find things dramatically different than when he was here before, but he'll be able to adapt," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said yesterday. "The business aspect of what he did in auto racing should serve him well."

The modern head coach is as much an administrator as he is a technician. His primary responsibility is to oversee a vast operation, not to micromanage receivers about the depth of their pass routes. If Joe Gibbs hires able assistants, selects quality players and can clear a path away from some of Snyder's salary cap silliness, he has every chance to excel.

The Washington Post calculated last month that the Redskins earn an estimated $70 million per year (before taxes and interest payments) on revenues of more than $200 million. Money poses so small an obstacle to Snyder that he seems to have no qualms about paying multiple coaches simultaneously.

Gibbs' pay package has been reported as five years and $25 million, roughly the same deal Snyder struck with Steve Spurrier after the impulsive owner tired of Schottenheimer two years ago.

"I've maintained that Dan Snyder can win," Schottenheimer said. "But it's a process that has to take some time. Joe (Gibbs) has certainly got tremendous credentials and I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be successful. I thought Spurrier would be successful. Frankly, given a little more time, I think he would have been."

Spurrier's talent for offensive innovation masked an incomplete command of the complexities of pro football and his laissez-faire discipline led to too many players being late for too many meetings. It is unclear whether Gibbs will continue to sleep at the office at age 63, but he will undoubtedly sweat the details.

Diligence is timeless. Dick Vermeil left the Philadelphia Eagles following the 1982 season and returned to coaching 15 years later with the St. Louis Rams. Three years later, he won a Super Bowl. Today, he is coaching his third playoff team in Kansas City.

"Your first year back is a bit of a shock," Vermeil said at a Chiefs news conference yesterday. "You start realizing what you don't know. But he (Gibbs) is a leader . . . It's still about a 53-man roster. It's the same for everybody."

What's most different now is that a coach has a shorter window to succeed. Because salary-cap considerations force teams to change personnel more frequently, nurturing young players is a luxury few teams can afford. A clever coach can get to the playoffs more quickly now – witness Parcells' immediate impact in Dallas – but maintaining a successful team is trickier.

"Before, you could assemble a team, take guys and develop guys and know you have an ongoing process," Schottenheimer said. "That's clearly changed in the last 10 years or so, ever since the salary cap. Free agency has changed it dramatically."

What hasn't changed is what Paul Brown used to refer to as the "eternal verities." Fundamentals. Technique. Repetition. Preparation. Flexibility.

When Gibbs first landed the Redskins job, in 1981, it was on the strength of his contributions to Air Coryell. But he succeeded by adapting his philosophy to his personnel, embracing a running game that featured John Riggins and an offensive line of lunch-pail grunts who were subsequently celebrated as "The Hogs."

Gibbs left pro football because it had consumed him. He wanted to see his boys grow up. The boys are grown now – J.D., the oldest son, is now president of Joe Gibbs Racing – and there's still time for another transition.

NASCAR was a nice sabbatical, but Joe Gibbs is foremost a football coach.

"He's driving the race car now," Vermeil said.