http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/don_banks/01/07/joe.gibbs.return/index.html
The news is altogether stunning, but then again, it really isn't. Why would Joe Gibbs end his 11-year retirement from the NFL and return to the floundering Washington franchise that he led to three Super Bowl titles in the span of a decade?
A number of reasons pop to mind, almost all of which strike you as reasonable:
For one, Gibbs is suddenly cast in the rather appealing role of the white knight who is riding in to rescue the franchise at its hour of need. Who hasn't wanted to play savior at least once in their life? And who better to rebuild the moribund Redskins than the man who built them up in the first place? Maybe the only thing better than accomplishing great things is accomplishing them twice, proving that the first time was no fluke.
As much as anyone anywhere, Gibbs has a keen sense of Redskins history and an appreciation for Washington's rich tradition in the NFL. He genuinely loves this team, loves what it means to its community, and loves what he and former owner Jack Kent Cooke built together. It must have pained Gibbs to the core to see the Redskins continue to crumble under the entirely unsteady hand of owner Daniel Snyder.
Under Cooke, Gibbs put his heart and soul into making the Redskins one of the league's flagship franchises. He desperately hopes to see that legacy live on, and must have figured that if you want to see a job done right, sometimes you really do have to do it yourself.
Lord knows you can't trust Steve Spurrier to handle it.
After all, Gibbs is the most revered figure in Redskins history. He led the team in its glory era, making the playoffs eight times and going to the Super Bowl four times in 12 years from 1981-92. You can't tell the Redskins story without starting with the Joe Gibbs story. Everything else is just sub-plot and background.
Since Gibbs retired after the 1992 season, he has watched as the once-proud Redskins were practically run into ground, accumulating 10 non-playoff finishes in the 11 non-Gibbs seasons. Richie Petitbon, Norv Turner, Terry Robiskie, Marty Schottenheimer and Spurrier have all tried to recapture the Gibbs magic, and all have failed. Some miserably.
I can't blame Gibbs for believing he could step in tomorrow and do better than his predecessors, even after 11 years out of the game. Yes, the NFL world has turned over a couple times since he quit to enter NASCAR ownership. Free agency and the salary cap have made runs like the Redskins' under Gibbs darn near impossible to repeat. But Gibbs is still as shrewd and intelligent as any NFL head coach, and he probably figures it won't take him all that long to learn the league's new math.
Secondly, there is the financial windfall that comes with being the Redskins head coach these days. Let's face it, Gibbs has never struck anyone as a slave to the almighty dollar. But he left NFL coaching long before the really big money hit and guys like Spurrier and Steve Mariucci started commanding $5 million annually. At his peak earning power, Gibbs was probably pulling down no more than $1 million to $1.2 million per season in Washington.
By all accounts, Gibbs had done fine for himself in NASCAR ownership, but three years back in the NFL at Washington's going rate for head coaches ought to just about put the finishing touches on the Gibbs family nest egg. Spurrier was so unhappy and fed up in Washington that he walked away from the last $15 million that Snyder owed him. But you can't fault Gibbs for being drawn to the kind of payday he never could have dreamed was possible in his earlier NFL coaching career.
Gibbs, 63, undeniably had to be influenced by recent events in the coaching profession. I mean, in today's rip-it-up-and-start-over world of professional sports, it's so up-to-minute to go all retro in hiring a coach. Gibbs saw Dick Vermeil get out of the NFL business for 14 years and still be able to climb back in and have success in St. Louis, and later Kansas City. He watched as Bill Parcells made like a yo-yo, bouncing in and out of the league, ending retirements, and winning all the while.
And, hey, if baseball's Jack McKeon can light up the ultimate victory cigar after all these years, who's to say anyone is too old to get the job done?
After 11 years out of the NFL wars, Gibbs has his batteries recharged, his health back in order, and his family's blessing to return to the scene of his greatest triumph. He is said to want his grandchildren to know that he was famous for something other than his NASCAR ownership, and eager to involve his family in his surprise second act in Washington.
Brace yourself, Redskins fans, but the old gang is about to get together again.
Gibbs' old Redskins offensive line coach, Joe Bugel, will be his new offensive line coach. Bugel was on the radio in Arizona on Wednesday morning telling the story of a phone call he got at 1:45 a.m. that day.
It was Gibbs, jacked to the ceiling, with just one comment: "What are you doing sleeping? We've got work to do.''
Bugel went off Wednesday afternoon and got himself a fresh haircut, because he's preparing to hop a flight to Washington and go to work once again for Gibbs.
Said Bugel's wife Wednesday: "[Gibbs] told Joe, 'We're going home.' It's almost too good for any of us to believe.''
For Gibbs, even after all these years, home is still on a football field. He no doubt missed what every ex-coach and ex-player misses when they leave the arena in which they made their name: The thrill of the competition. The quest for the prize. His role in NASCAR probably filled some of that need in Gibbs, but obviously not all of it. Once a football coach, always a football coach. At least in some form.
Parcells has spoken eloquently of this part of the game's allure upon returning from his numerous retirements. There is no replacement for what coaches give up when they walk away from football. After living for Sunday afternoons in the fall, it's hard to find anything that faintly resembles the rush of satisfaction that victory brings, or the depths of despair that defeat inspires.
Said one veteran league insider Wednesday: "You can understand it, why he came back. For most of us, there's nothing like that feeling on Sundays. Our favorite sound in the world is the sound of the utter silence in a stadium when you win on the road. It doesn't get any better than that. I'm guessing he just missed it.''
It's a darn good guess. There's altogether too much noise in NASCAR. Gibbs probably wanted to hear that silence again before he called it a career. So, another go-round in Washington and the NFL it is. Let's hope for his sake that he's ready to take the ride once more.
Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.
The news is altogether stunning, but then again, it really isn't. Why would Joe Gibbs end his 11-year retirement from the NFL and return to the floundering Washington franchise that he led to three Super Bowl titles in the span of a decade?
A number of reasons pop to mind, almost all of which strike you as reasonable:
For one, Gibbs is suddenly cast in the rather appealing role of the white knight who is riding in to rescue the franchise at its hour of need. Who hasn't wanted to play savior at least once in their life? And who better to rebuild the moribund Redskins than the man who built them up in the first place? Maybe the only thing better than accomplishing great things is accomplishing them twice, proving that the first time was no fluke.
As much as anyone anywhere, Gibbs has a keen sense of Redskins history and an appreciation for Washington's rich tradition in the NFL. He genuinely loves this team, loves what it means to its community, and loves what he and former owner Jack Kent Cooke built together. It must have pained Gibbs to the core to see the Redskins continue to crumble under the entirely unsteady hand of owner Daniel Snyder.
Under Cooke, Gibbs put his heart and soul into making the Redskins one of the league's flagship franchises. He desperately hopes to see that legacy live on, and must have figured that if you want to see a job done right, sometimes you really do have to do it yourself.
Lord knows you can't trust Steve Spurrier to handle it.
After all, Gibbs is the most revered figure in Redskins history. He led the team in its glory era, making the playoffs eight times and going to the Super Bowl four times in 12 years from 1981-92. You can't tell the Redskins story without starting with the Joe Gibbs story. Everything else is just sub-plot and background.
Since Gibbs retired after the 1992 season, he has watched as the once-proud Redskins were practically run into ground, accumulating 10 non-playoff finishes in the 11 non-Gibbs seasons. Richie Petitbon, Norv Turner, Terry Robiskie, Marty Schottenheimer and Spurrier have all tried to recapture the Gibbs magic, and all have failed. Some miserably.
I can't blame Gibbs for believing he could step in tomorrow and do better than his predecessors, even after 11 years out of the game. Yes, the NFL world has turned over a couple times since he quit to enter NASCAR ownership. Free agency and the salary cap have made runs like the Redskins' under Gibbs darn near impossible to repeat. But Gibbs is still as shrewd and intelligent as any NFL head coach, and he probably figures it won't take him all that long to learn the league's new math.
Secondly, there is the financial windfall that comes with being the Redskins head coach these days. Let's face it, Gibbs has never struck anyone as a slave to the almighty dollar. But he left NFL coaching long before the really big money hit and guys like Spurrier and Steve Mariucci started commanding $5 million annually. At his peak earning power, Gibbs was probably pulling down no more than $1 million to $1.2 million per season in Washington.
By all accounts, Gibbs had done fine for himself in NASCAR ownership, but three years back in the NFL at Washington's going rate for head coaches ought to just about put the finishing touches on the Gibbs family nest egg. Spurrier was so unhappy and fed up in Washington that he walked away from the last $15 million that Snyder owed him. But you can't fault Gibbs for being drawn to the kind of payday he never could have dreamed was possible in his earlier NFL coaching career.
Gibbs, 63, undeniably had to be influenced by recent events in the coaching profession. I mean, in today's rip-it-up-and-start-over world of professional sports, it's so up-to-minute to go all retro in hiring a coach. Gibbs saw Dick Vermeil get out of the NFL business for 14 years and still be able to climb back in and have success in St. Louis, and later Kansas City. He watched as Bill Parcells made like a yo-yo, bouncing in and out of the league, ending retirements, and winning all the while.
And, hey, if baseball's Jack McKeon can light up the ultimate victory cigar after all these years, who's to say anyone is too old to get the job done?
After 11 years out of the NFL wars, Gibbs has his batteries recharged, his health back in order, and his family's blessing to return to the scene of his greatest triumph. He is said to want his grandchildren to know that he was famous for something other than his NASCAR ownership, and eager to involve his family in his surprise second act in Washington.
Brace yourself, Redskins fans, but the old gang is about to get together again.
Gibbs' old Redskins offensive line coach, Joe Bugel, will be his new offensive line coach. Bugel was on the radio in Arizona on Wednesday morning telling the story of a phone call he got at 1:45 a.m. that day.
It was Gibbs, jacked to the ceiling, with just one comment: "What are you doing sleeping? We've got work to do.''
Bugel went off Wednesday afternoon and got himself a fresh haircut, because he's preparing to hop a flight to Washington and go to work once again for Gibbs.
Said Bugel's wife Wednesday: "[Gibbs] told Joe, 'We're going home.' It's almost too good for any of us to believe.''
For Gibbs, even after all these years, home is still on a football field. He no doubt missed what every ex-coach and ex-player misses when they leave the arena in which they made their name: The thrill of the competition. The quest for the prize. His role in NASCAR probably filled some of that need in Gibbs, but obviously not all of it. Once a football coach, always a football coach. At least in some form.
Parcells has spoken eloquently of this part of the game's allure upon returning from his numerous retirements. There is no replacement for what coaches give up when they walk away from football. After living for Sunday afternoons in the fall, it's hard to find anything that faintly resembles the rush of satisfaction that victory brings, or the depths of despair that defeat inspires.
Said one veteran league insider Wednesday: "You can understand it, why he came back. For most of us, there's nothing like that feeling on Sundays. Our favorite sound in the world is the sound of the utter silence in a stadium when you win on the road. It doesn't get any better than that. I'm guessing he just missed it.''
It's a darn good guess. There's altogether too much noise in NASCAR. Gibbs probably wanted to hear that silence again before he called it a career. So, another go-round in Washington and the NFL it is. Let's hope for his sake that he's ready to take the ride once more.
Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.
