Two Cents on Gibbs Resignation

Here at the Deuce we love the legend of Joe Gibbs, but as with most legends, the stories are better than the actual truth. The truth is, in Gibbs reincarnation as a head coach, he was largely unsuccessful. He was still a good motivator, he's made as many good personnel moves as he made atrocious ones, but he never figured out time management or the NFL's replay system and for a guy who was once considered one of those NFL offensive "geniuses", his system turned out to be dated and predictable in the modern NFL. His 4 year win/loss totals ended with an unimpressive 30-34 and two lackluster appearances in the playoffs as a wild card.

Joe Gibbs did give the Redskins a couple things they have not had for a long time though, consistency and leadership. Sure it was consistent mediocrity, but there was no massive shuffling of coaches or players in his 4 years here as head coach. The one big change was the implementation of Al Saunders offense, which possibly could be one of the best moves Joe made here in his time with the Redskins. The last four games of the season, the league saw that when their players are healthy, the offense can be effective and possibly still quite prolific.

As for leadership, I think its safe to say the Redskins players over the last four years have never had a coach that inspired them more than Joe Gibbs had. They played for him like they never wanted to let him down. They battled through injuries for him, they crawled into the playoffs twice for him, they learned from him what it takes to be a football player and what it means to be a Redskin. He instilled within them the organizational pride that had not existed since the 80s and one can only hope that will be his legacy here in his second term as head coach.

Joe Gibbs leaving it is a bit sad but he's left the team with a possible franchise quarterback and a solid defense for the next head coach to build from. Unfortunately he's also left them with an aging offensive line, salary cap issues, and wide receivers that scare no one. The best thing that Redskins fans can possibly hope from Gibbs' departure is that Dan Snyder will finally hire a general manager to pick the players and set a new organizational mission for the next head coach. No more of this Coach/gm/president business, the rest of the league realizes this rarely works, and hopefully Danno has figured it out as well (after much trial and error).

In all, Gibbs 2.0 was not a failure [but it wasn't a resounding success either]. While the Redskins didn't make the Super Bowl in his four seasons, Gibbs leadership formed a team identity that had not existed for a long time in Washington and taught his players how to play football the right way and the Redskins way...even if he didn't always make the right decisions himself.