WT: Gibbs playing tactical cards close to vest

[bubba9497]

Gibbs playing tactical cards close to vest

By Mark Zuckerman

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20040826-122118-3361r.htm

Preseason game plans have been, in the words of one player, "real vanilla." Practices have been closed to the public for the last three weeks. Members of the media are allowed to watch only 15 minutes of stretching and special teams work. The front gate at Redskin Park has a guard on duty from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

Welcome to training camp, Joe Gibbs style.

Preparing for his first regular season since 1992, Gibbs has gone out of his way to keep things under wraps. The Hall of Fame coach has good reason for this: Because he's been gone for so long, the rest of the NFL has no idea what to expect from him.

"If there is an advantage that we'll have in the opener [sept. 12 against Tampa Bay], it's that there's going to be some doubt," Gibbs said yesterday following another closed practice session.

Longtime Gibbs observers recall his secretive nature from his first stint with the Redskins. But even they have been surprised by the level of paranoia the coach has displayed at times since returning.

Case in point: During the open portion of practice earlier this week, Gibbs jogged over to a local TV crew and politely asked if it would erase the footage it had just taped. The Redskins had been wrapping up a pre-practice walk-through of some basic offensive sets, and while the untrained eye would have had no idea what it was watching, Gibbs wasn't taking any chances.

Paranoid? Perhaps. Potentially rewarding? Gibbs and his staff believe so.

"If Coach is going to have an opportunity to spring something on anybody, this is the only time he'll have a chance to do that," assistant head coach for defense Gregg Williams said. "And I think he's capitalizing on it very well."

The secrecy surrounding team preparations has been in stark contrast to previous years.

Steve Spurrier let fans watch every minute of practice during last year's training camp. Gibbs held only eight days of open workouts at Redskin Park before shutting everyone out. He also held two closed night practices at an undisclosed local high school and got upset when a television reporter revealed the secret location on the air.

"I think it's important for a football team to be by itself," Gibbs said. "There's not distractions, there's not people there. Human nature being what it is, if there's something over there, they're going to look at it. I like the fact that when you're kind of locked away by yourself, you have better concentration. Normally, you have better practices. And I think because of that, you get better work."

Spurrier threw open his playbook during the preseason, calling for long bombs and flea-flickers in games that didn't count. Gibbs last Saturday called for 54 rushes and 17 passes (mostly of the short variety) against the Miami Dolphins.

"We've been real vanilla, man," cornerback Fred Smoot said. "The preseason's about who can hide the most, and I think we're one of the teams that's hiding a lot of what we've got."

Williams' complex defense, which features a host of blitzes and packages, has been reduced to bare bones so far. The former head coach of the Buffalo Bills guessed that he's revealed less than 30 percent of his system through the first three weeks of the preseason, and he doesn't intend to show much more the next two weeks.

In some cases, Redskins players haven't even seen all of Gibbs' playbook in action.

"The players are kind of in the gray as much as everybody else as far as how much he actually has," wide receiver James Thrash said. "But just from watching him in the past, you know he's got so much stuff in his repertoire."

Williams understands where Gibbs is coming from. He tried to keep his offensive and defensive schemes under wraps from the rest of the league during his first preseason in Buffalo, and he knows how much advantage that air of secrecy can be.

Especially for someone who hasn't coached in 12 years.

Gibbs' strategies won't remain secret for long, though. In today's high-tech, instant-information world, NFL coaches and scouts are able to pore over tapes within hours of a game's completion.

By the time the Redskins are preparing for their Week 2 game against the New York Giants, the word on Gibbs will be out and opposing coaches will have time to devise their own schemes to stop him.

Pity the Buccaneers, though. Coach Jon Gruden, one of the NFL's best game planners, won't have much to work with as he prepares for his season opener against Gibbs.

"We're going to pull the cards out then," Smoot said. "You'll see the real true Redskins for that game."

[WestCoastSkin]

Oh man I can't wait, reading that piece just gave me goosbumps, week 1 is going to be great!:point2sky

[soljaofjesus]

"We've been real vanilla, man," cornerback Fred Smoot said. "The preseason's about who can hide the most, and I think we're one of the teams that's hiding a lot of what we've got."

interesting..

[KingGibbs]

:cry: That was beautiful.

[SonnyRules]

Originally posted by WestCoastSkin

Oh man I can't wait, reading that piece just gave me goosbumps, week 1 is going to be great!:point2sky

Week 1?

How about the whole season?

Playoffs?

Superbowl?

:point2sky

[Art]

On the one hand, I wonder how much of this is blowing smoke. You know, basically telling the Bucs, "Look over all the old game film you want. It won't help you because we got something new for ya." Then, when the game starts, it's the old offense .

But, I really think Gibbs will have some dramatic changes to how he approaches playcalling and the types of plays we'll run. This is ONE aspect of his return that works in our favor. He's been gone a long while, so that will work against us. But, much of what works against us is he's not familiar with calling plays, using the headset and the like. As we know, Gibbs is using the headset at EVERY practice. Every time he calls plays, he's calling them in like he's in the game. His QBs are using their radio helmets for all practice play sessions.

This is going to have Gibbs as ready as he can be when the season starts. So, the disadvantage for being gone so long is diminished. It's diminished further because of Williams. Having a current defensive mind -- not to mention Blanche and even Lindsey -- who understands modern defenses and how to be attacking as well as innovative will only get Gibbs accustomed to the intracies of changes before we even face the Bucs.

While the time away from the game still will slow him, he's done well to mitigate that with who he's hired and how he's worked. Now, perhaps, the ADVANTAGE of being gone so long is at hand. the ability to reinvent himself a little and take teams unprepared is huge for us.

It's this factor that really has me hoping we can steal some wins early. If we can, this team will just build in strength as the season wears on -- barring injury of course.

[GIBBS LIVES]

Art, I think some of both of what you said is going to be true.

Gibbs is going to have some of the old stuff in his offensive arsanel but knowing Gibbs the way that I do, I expect him to have adapted to what defenses do now and have some brand new wrinkles in the offense that we haven't seen from him or the Redskins before.

But running the ball and getting this Cooley kid the ball seems to definitely be in the game plan.

If the defense can just stop the run, we will be hell this year.:cool:

:point2sky

[The Sisko]

I think one of the wrinkles in our offensive style will be more running plays that take advantage of Portis' cutback ability. I think we saw some of that in the Miami game with the "new" sweep play. I'm sure Gibbs will have a lot more up his sleeve come opening day.

Keeping things close to the vest will make Gruden's job more difficult because he won't know exactly what to prepare for. That means he'll have to prepare for just about anything which cuts down practice time for the stuff we acutally will be running.

[grassyglen]

I think this is more a message about creative playcalling, and not so much about secret plays that nobody can prep for. SonnyRules said it right, these secret plays are only a secret ONE time. Then everyone and their mother knows what they are.

Gibbs is a master at creative, unpredictable playcalling. He'll do just fine for wks 2 - the superbowl.

[Neophyte]

Anyone else notice the respect with which Williams refers to Gibbs? He used the title and not the name like a number of the players are doing. Williams seems to truly understand the stature of the man for whom he now works.

[MonkeySkin]

Originally posted by bubba9497

Pity the Buccaneers, though. Coach Jon Gruden, one of the NFL's best game planners, won't have much to work with as he prepares for his season opener against Gibbs.

Hee hee :point2sky

[Jimbo]

It would surprise me to see a play or two from the Spurrier playbook in Joe's arsenal. I think Joe has studied enough from around the league to know what works and what is suspect. We'll still see some of the old Gibbs gameplan but I feel certain he has some different wrinkles up his sleeve that teams won't know about until it gets sprung on them.

Still, I expect our offense will resemble the Pats more than the Rams, definitely not that that's a bad thing.

[JeffSchmeff]

How much do you want to bet that we'll begin week 1 against the Bucs in the no-huddle offense?

[All In]

Gibbs has always borrowed plays. When they've worked somewhere else he will look at it and adapt it to his offense. I'd expect several of the Broncos running plays to be in our playbook and that it will be always evolving.

He has always evolved.

[MonkeySkin]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the Gardner pass this year.

[Saqs]

I see alot of the Broncos zone blocking running plays becoming Gibbs staples.

[TXREDSKINS44]

Good article makes me giddy just reading it!!

[FBChick]

Personally, I think the surprise advantage will last more then just one game. Regardless of the fact that teams will be able to see what he did against the Bucs, it will be only one game and not enough to really establish patterns of go to guys and favorite plays. Will another team really know what Gibbs is gonna do on a 3 and 2 based on one game?

Besides the fact that Gibbs is only going to use what he needs to win against the bucs and nothing more. How much that is, will obviously be dependent on how the game goes, but I expect to see things start off slow and still a little vanilla in execution, much less so then preseason, but not very WOW. Probably stick to using some of his old favorites, plays he knows a lot of teams may have planned for, with it’s modifications for the new defensive styles of course. He’ll add as he needs to, but it wouldn’t surprise me much if we actually are down a little by halftime. He’ll definiately shake things up after the half though to not only confuse the Bucs, but to confuse the Giants and possibly even the Cowboys. But he is only going to take it as far as he needs to, to win.

The man is not only a master of game strategy, but season strategy as well. The man is going to ride this edge for as far as he can, and you know he’s hoping to at least still have it as a slight advantage against the Cowboys, if possible. He understands that rivalry and you know he mind is on winning that Monday Night game. That will be the game to set the season for the Fans, critics and most especially the team and he knows it’s a must win. That will be the game to watch, he will pull out all the stops then and the edge will be gone, but that is the game all this scheming is really about.

[budski]

I agree with most everyones post although how hard is it to use a headset you push the button talk? what's the big deal. Media makes a big deal about him gone so long....ok Thats why he hired young proven coaches and old proven coaches. The def coaches are bringing him up to speed on the blitz happy NFL these days, so what, Gibbs has always been max protection for the Q-back. I think the plays will involve his old stuff.... new stuff... and old old stuff everyone has forgotten about except maybe vermeil or parcells.....i.e. The sweep is not a new play.... if Im not mistaken it was a trademark of the Packers....ummmm Lombardi?

[gaterskins]

Originally posted by MonkeySkin

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the Gardner pass this year.

yep, and what about Tom Tupa? I think we will see a few

trick plays this year. Atleast we will have defenses on their

heals.

:dallasuck :eaglesuck ::gaintsuck

[Octane67]

Great article !! just disagree that he will show his whole hand in week 1

He will only show what he has to to win the game vs. the bucs.... If we take an early lead..... he will hammer them between the tackles !!

then save the rest for later....

[MadMonkey]

Originally posted by Yusuf06

I think one of the wrinkles in our offensive style will be more running plays that take advantage of Portis' cutback ability. I think we saw some of that in the Miami game with the "new" sweep play. I'm sure Gibbs will have a lot more up his sleeve come opening day.

Actually that play is not old and was used consistently when Gibbs was last here, that sweep play was used alot to set up the QB rollout pass!:cool:

[SkinsLegacy44]

great articlle. gibbs is an exact opposite from the ol' ballcoach.

re: Osaka

I can't wait, although I do expect a pass-oriented offense tomorrow night.

[kappaluvacee]

Gibbs' old system will still work. The NFC East formula from the 80's and 90's is still working today. Parcells, Bellichick, Vermeil, Martz, Fox, all had playoff teams last year and they all have strong ties to the NFC East during the forestated period.

[GURU]

I remember Joe Bugle saying, a few weeks ago, that, during the first go-around, they would practice about 15 running plays during the week and they might use only 5 during the game. There will be plenty of plays still in the tank after week one.