Tommy-the-Greek Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 I didn't see this article posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/7664834.htm Joe Gibbs returns to an unfamiliar NFL with free agency, salary cap By DON PIERSON Chicago Tribune CHICAGO - The NFL has changed in the 11 years since Joe Gibbs left to own race cars, but not so much that he won't be able to recognize the difference between a zone blitz and a pit stop. The biggest change is the salary cap and free agency, combined with expansion by four teams. The talent pool isn't as deep as when he left the Washington Redskins after winning three Super Bowls. Gibbs no longer will be able to stash players on injured reserve, hide them at the bottom of a large roster, develop them at his leisure and be assured they will remain his property for as long as he needs them. Richie Petitbon, Gibbs' first successor with the Redskins and his former defensive coordinator, believes Gibbs will have to make major adjustments. "We used to have 15 guys on injured reserve practicing with the team," Petitbon said. "We had extra offensive and defensive linemen and extra receivers so they wouldn't wear out in practice. If you lose some offensive linemen now, you're dead on offense." Gibbs liked to practice hard and could afford the wear and tear because of the numbers. Now, teams are restricted to 53 players on a roster and can dress only 47, one of the pet peeves of Kansas City's Dick Vermeil, who came back after a 14-year absence. During Vermeil's first two years in St. Louis, he faced a near mutiny by players weary of long practices. In his third year, he won the Super Bowl after adjusting his schedule. The salary cap will force Gibbs to make choices he never had to make: which good players to keep and which to let go. The system went into place in 1993, the year after Gibbs retired. Gibbs will have to get younger players ready to perform earlier. His last No. 1 draft choice was Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard, who caught only three passes and returned six punts as a rookie. Howard never did pan out in Washington, but the point is Gibbs didn't need to rely so much on quickly developing young talent. Gibbs will discover that extensive personnel turnover means his special teams won't be as special as they were when his first kicker, Mark Moseley, won the league MVP award and his last return specialist, Brian Mitchell, set numerous records. On the other hand, plugging in talent to meld effective teams every year was one of Gibbs' great strengths. Not only did he win Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks_Joe Theismann in 1983, Doug Williams in 1988 and Mark Rypien in 1992_he did it with different running backs: John Riggins, rookie phenom Timmy Smith, then journeymen Earnest Byner and Ricky Ervins. Petitbon said Gibbs didn't consult him on his decision or ask him to return to his staff. "If he had, I would have had to tell him no," Petitbon said. Petitbon also might have warned him against an alliance with owner Daniel Snyder, who took over the team in 1999 after Petitbon was long gone. Gibbs is his fifth head coach. Petitbon still lives in the Washington area and foresees a clash. "When you get married and you're on your honeymoon, you never think you're going to get divorced," Petitbon said. "I can't see (Snyder) changing his stripes. When things go wrong - and they always do in sports - he'll start getting involved." Petitbon, a former Pro Bowl safety for the Bears, believes the level of football has deteriorated. Players are bigger and faster, he concedes, but he wonders whether linemen are too big and why such fundamental skills as tackling have gone by the boards. "New England is the only team that still tackles," Petitbon said. Other coaches have complained that recent NCAA limits on practice hours for college teams have resulted in poor fundamentals. Petitbon agrees with those who believe too many players go for spectacular hits aimed at highlight shows rather than concentrating on sound tackling principles. Relating to players is a non-issue for Gibbs. As former Redskins tight end Rick Walker said, "Players have to relate to him. They've done nothing." Gibbs was an offensive innovator who developed the "ace" backfield, or one-back attack with an "H-back," a tight end in motion who functions like a fullback. Gibbs also thrived using three wide-receiver sets. His 1983 Super Bowl team that lost to the Raiders set a regular-season scoring record of 541 points that stood until 1998. His last Super Bowl team featured wide receivers Gary Clark, Art Monk and Ricky Sanders. It will be a while before strategy passes Gibbs by. The two-point conversion, introduced in 1994, will not tax Gibbs' ability to make a decision. "He's the best coach I've been around," said Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen, who played for Gibbs, San Francisco's George Seifert and the Raiders' Tom Flores and Mike Shanahan. "He'll be good for the young quarterback, he has the makings of a good line and they'll be fundamentally sound. They will pass protect, they will adjust. They'll do all the things Joe Gibbs is great at. He has speed outside with Laveranues Coles. He's going to do some things." In Gibbs' last game, he lost to Steve Young and the San Francisco 49ers. Steve Young is retired and so are most of the great quarterbacks who were around in 1992: John Elway, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly. But Green Bay's Brett Favre hasn't missed a game since Gibbs left and Gibbs will face him for the first time next season. He also will be facing Quincy Carter instead of Aikman in Dallas, Donovan McNabb instead of Randall Cunningham in Philadelphia and Kerry Collins instead of Phil Simms with the Giants. In taking the job in Washington instead of Atlanta, where Gibbs must resign from the board of directors, Gibbs chose quarterback Patrick Ramsey over Michael Vick. That tells you one of two things: Either Gibbs is completely out of touch, or still completely confident Ramsey can become another Mark Rypien. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy-the-Greek Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I didn't see this article posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/7664834.htm Joe Gibbs returns to an unfamiliar NFL with free agency, salary cap By DON PIERSON Chicago Tribune CHICAGO - The NFL has changed in the 11 years since Joe Gibbs left to own race cars, but not so much that he won't be able to recognize the difference between a zone blitz and a pit stop. The biggest change is the salary cap and free agency, combined with expansion by four teams. The talent pool isn't as deep as when he left the Washington Redskins after winning three Super Bowls. Gibbs no longer will be able to stash players on injured reserve, hide them at the bottom of a large roster, develop them at his leisure and be assured they will remain his property for as long as he needs them. Richie Petitbon, Gibbs' first successor with the Redskins and his former defensive coordinator, believes Gibbs will have to make major adjustments. "We used to have 15 guys on injured reserve practicing with the team," Petitbon said. "We had extra offensive and defensive linemen and extra receivers so they wouldn't wear out in practice. If you lose some offensive linemen now, you're dead on offense." Gibbs liked to practice hard and could afford the wear and tear because of the numbers. Now, teams are restricted to 53 players on a roster and can dress only 47, one of the pet peeves of Kansas City's Dick Vermeil, who came back after a 14-year absence. During Vermeil's first two years in St. Louis, he faced a near mutiny by players weary of long practices. In his third year, he won the Super Bowl after adjusting his schedule. The salary cap will force Gibbs to make choices he never had to make: which good players to keep and which to let go. The system went into place in 1993, the year after Gibbs retired. Gibbs will have to get younger players ready to perform earlier. His last No. 1 draft choice was Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard, who caught only three passes and returned six punts as a rookie. Howard never did pan out in Washington, but the point is Gibbs didn't need to rely so much on quickly developing young talent. Gibbs will discover that extensive personnel turnover means his special teams won't be as special as they were when his first kicker, Mark Moseley, won the league MVP award and his last return specialist, Brian Mitchell, set numerous records. On the other hand, plugging in talent to meld effective teams every year was one of Gibbs' great strengths. Not only did he win Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks_Joe Theismann in 1983, Doug Williams in 1988 and Mark Rypien in 1992_he did it with different running backs: John Riggins, rookie phenom Timmy Smith, then journeymen Earnest Byner and Ricky Ervins. Petitbon said Gibbs didn't consult him on his decision or ask him to return to his staff. "If he had, I would have had to tell him no," Petitbon said. Petitbon also might have warned him against an alliance with owner Daniel Snyder, who took over the team in 1999 after Petitbon was long gone. Gibbs is his fifth head coach. Petitbon still lives in the Washington area and foresees a clash. "When you get married and you're on your honeymoon, you never think you're going to get divorced," Petitbon said. "I can't see (Snyder) changing his stripes. When things go wrong - and they always do in sports - he'll start getting involved." Petitbon, a former Pro Bowl safety for the Bears, believes the level of football has deteriorated. Players are bigger and faster, he concedes, but he wonders whether linemen are too big and why such fundamental skills as tackling have gone by the boards. "New England is the only team that still tackles," Petitbon said. Other coaches have complained that recent NCAA limits on practice hours for college teams have resulted in poor fundamentals. Petitbon agrees with those who believe too many players go for spectacular hits aimed at highlight shows rather than concentrating on sound tackling principles. Relating to players is a non-issue for Gibbs. As former Redskins tight end Rick Walker said, "Players have to relate to him. They've done nothing." Gibbs was an offensive innovator who developed the "ace" backfield, or one-back attack with an "H-back," a tight end in motion who functions like a fullback. Gibbs also thrived using three wide-receiver sets. His 1983 Super Bowl team that lost to the Raiders set a regular-season scoring record of 541 points that stood until 1998. His last Super Bowl team featured wide receivers Gary Clark, Art Monk and Ricky Sanders. It will be a while before strategy passes Gibbs by. The two-point conversion, introduced in 1994, will not tax Gibbs' ability to make a decision. "He's the best coach I've been around," said Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen, who played for Gibbs, San Francisco's George Seifert and the Raiders' Tom Flores and Mike Shanahan. "He'll be good for the young quarterback, he has the makings of a good line and they'll be fundamentally sound. They will pass protect, they will adjust. They'll do all the things Joe Gibbs is great at. He has speed outside with Laveranues Coles. He's going to do some things." In Gibbs' last game, he lost to Steve Young and the San Francisco 49ers. Steve Young is retired and so are most of the great quarterbacks who were around in 1992: John Elway, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly. But Green Bay's Brett Favre hasn't missed a game since Gibbs left and Gibbs will face him for the first time next season. He also will be facing Quincy Carter instead of Aikman in Dallas, Donovan McNabb instead of Randall Cunningham in Philadelphia and Kerry Collins instead of Phil Simms with the Giants. In taking the job in Washington instead of Atlanta, where Gibbs must resign from the board of directors, Gibbs chose quarterback Patrick Ramsey over Michael Vick. That tells you one of two things: Either Gibbs is completely out of touch, or still completely confident Ramsey can become another Mark Rypien. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanishomelette Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I'm very interested to see what kind of plan he will devise to reduce core player turnover. Or will he just roll with the turnover? Williams ought to be able to share his experiences managing the Bills roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanishomelette Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I'm very interested to see what kind of plan he will devise to reduce core player turnover. Or will he just roll with the turnover? Williams ought to be able to share his experiences managing the Bills roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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