Soul-Searching at Home Led to the Decision

"All indications from our team meeting [Sunday] was that he was going to be back," center Casey Rabach said, "and that he was looking forward to next year."

After the meetings, Gibbs gave his assistants Monday off, told them to report to work Tuesday and left for Charlotte.

Gibbs visited with sons J.D. and Coy, their wives and his six grandchildren. While Gibbs spoke yesterday about the visit being pivotal in his decision, J.D. Gibbs said in an interview that he and his father didn't talk at length about it.

The time spent was more casual, he said -- unlike the lengthy family conversations that preceded Gibbs's decision to return to coaching in January 2004. "We got together [Monday] more to hang out," J.D. Gibbs said. "We talked a little about it and said, 'We'll support you either way.' "

Afterward, Gibbs and his wife, Pat, had a much longer talk, according to J.D. And when his father left to go back to Washington, J.D. wasn't entirely sure what his father had decided or when he'd make his decision public. "I knew where he was leaning," he said, "but I didn't know it would happen."

In the four years since Gibbs had returned to the Redskins, however, circumstances had changed in several respects. His younger son, Coy, was initially on the coaching staff, which gave father and son a chance to spend time together. But in time Coy left, returning to North Carolina to start a motocross venture. And Pat Gibbs, his wife, was spending more time in North Carolina to help with the five grandsons and granddaughter. Their 3-year-old grandson, Taylor, is battling leukemia.

That left Gibbs even more alone. As J.D. put it, with a chuckle: "My mom said: 'I want to be with the grandkids! You can stay up there by yourself all you want!' I think for him, it was one of those things that he thought about, and prayed about and had a peace about. It was a hard decision. He doesn't want to disappoint Dan [Snyder] or the players. And for him to still be part of the Redskins -- to still be a part of that -- he's really excited about that."

Gibbs shocked employees by showing up at his NASCAR shop in Huntersville, N.C., Monday around 1 p.m. Jimmy Makar, who has been with the team since its inception in 1991, was in a meeting in a conference room when he heard Gibbs's unmistakable voice down the hall. "Surely that's not Joe!?" Makar said he thought to himself. But Gibbs soon poked his head in the door, and Makar couldn't believe what a good mood his boss was in just two days removed from the loss at Seattle. "I was really surprised to see him here," Makar said. "He said he had some decisions to be making and to pray for him."

Though Gibbs didn't say what the decision was, Makar suspected it had to do with the Redskins. Everyone at the shop was aware of the toll that the past months had taken on Gibbs, particularly his concern over his grandson's diagnosis in January. "We didn't know where he was going to end up, if he was going to be able to make the full five years on the contract," Makar said. "We knew for a while that he had that concern in the back of his mind."

On Monday, Gibbs arrived at Redskins Park at about 2:30 p.m. He chatted briefly with some employees before his weekly 5 p.m. news conference. Gibbs was uncharacteristically evasive about his future, saying he had to speak with Snyder about his plans after the news conference ended.

But Gibbs's decision was already made. And he was unwavering.

"I felt after those conversations [with his family] . . . there were a couple of things that were said that just kind of grabbed you," Gibbs said. "I felt like leaving there and getting on the plane . . . there was a real strong feeling about what I wanted to talk to Dan about."

Snyder tried to persuade Gibbs to stay during a dinner meeting at Morton's, a steakhouse in Reston, that shifted back to the complex and continued into the next morning. Finally, at about 2:30 a.m., Snyder gave up.

"This is something no one wanted to see happen," Snyder said, "but all of us respect and understand it."