By George Solomon
Sunday, January 13, 2008
In the early years of Joe Gibbs's first tour as head coach of the Redskins, he had a reputation as someone who was all business, without much humor. Until, for me, when he related a story of how he'd cut a very large lineman, and the player began throwing furniture around Joe's office.
"If I'd known he was going to wreck my office, I wouldn't have cut him," Gibbs said with that high-pitched giggle that became more common the past few years at Redskins Park, even as justification for frivolity declined.
So now Gibbs, 67, can giggle all he wants without worrying about the next opponent, keeping self-indulged players happy and tending to an ever-demanding media that might be satisfied for a half-hour (at best) after a playoff-clinching victory over Dallas.
Gibbs's resignation Tuesday -- with one year left on his five-year contract that paid him more than $5 million annually -- was both reasoned and not totally beyond the realm of possibility these past two weeks.
When you have a 3-year-old grandson with leukemia, as Gibbs does, you want to help the child's parents, as well as the child. That was a major factor in his decision.
But as much as any coach of any sport, Gibbs, to me, was a realist. He always seemed to know where he stood -- and if he wanted, could lighten most situations.
Such was a case following the first game after he had retired in 1993, when the Redskins crushed the Dallas Cowboys and one of the stories in The Post began with a question: "Joe, Who?"
"Hey," Gibbs said on the telephone the next morning, "I thought you guys liked me."
And before the 2007 season, he wondered, "Another 5-11 record, my bust might be flying out of the Hall of Fame."
So last week, after losing a playoff game in Seattle, he visited with his family in Charlotte and listened.
"The family situation had changed," Gibbs said Tuesday. "It was time to be with them."
On Monday night he told team owner Daniel Snyder he was done.
Done. Fully aware he had just completed one of his best coaching jobs in his 16 years and two tours with the Redskins. Pulling a distraught team together after the slaying of Sean Taylor, the embarrassment at his "double timeout" mistake in the loss to Buffalo followed by the team's resurgence with its four-game winning streak to the playoffs.
How do you top that?
You don't. So you leave when most fans, players and the owner still want you to stay. Contrast the warm feelings toward Gibbs this past week to the anger and venom some fans and media types, particularly the few sharks working in sports-talk radio, heaped on him during the first 12 weeks of the season.
The final numbers in Gibbs's box score do not tell the full story: 171-101 over 16 years and three victories in four Super Bowl appearances.
The second time around he was 31-36 -- with two playoff appearances. More significant was the competitiveness, togetherness, pride and leadership Gibbs returned to the organization the past four years.
"I loved being coach of the Washington Redskins," Gibbs said.
That was all he needed to say.
Coaching It UpSports moves on, though, with Redskins ticket renewals in the mail, suites needing to be sold, merchandise moved and draft analysis compiled. But mostly, a coach needs to be hired and nothing gets the owner's blood pumping like hiring a coach.
Will Snyder recruit former Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher, currently on the CBS set? Cowher says he doesn't want to coach in 2008, but if Tom Cruise is signable, isn't anything possible for Snyder?
Or will Gregg Williams, the players' choice, get the nod? Or long shot Al Saunders? And onetime Hog Russ Grimm has earned respect as an assistant in Pittsburgh and Arizona and may have at one time years ago been in Snyder's card collection.
What about USC's Pete Carroll, another "ball coach" in waiting? Or a second fling with Marty Schottenheimer; jet plane meetings could occur with Tennessee's Jim Schwartz and Seattle's Jim (I liked Mora I better than II) Mora. Brian Billick is a limo ride away and San Francisco's Mike Singletary, Minnesota's Leslie Frazier and Indy's Jim Caldwell might be on the owner's yellow pad. Who knows?
Capitals, Wizards . . . Baseball?¿ The week Gibbs leaves Washington, another coach in town, the Capitals' Bruce Boudreau, can revel in his team's success (12-6-4) since he took over for Glen Hanlon.
Boudreau, who has 32 years in the minors as a player (17) and coach (15), isn't about to blow this opportunity. "The NHL has been my goal my whole life," he said in a telephone interview. "I'm grabbing this. It's my opportunity and I don't want to let it go."
Why the turnaround?
"Maybe the players feel guilty over what happened [with Hanlon]. So they're playing better and harder."
¿ Helping Boudreau along the way is Alex Ovechkin, who on Thursday, acting as his own agent, signed the largest contract in Washington sports history: a 13-year, $124 million extension through 2021.
A smart move to lock up the 22-year-old Russian by Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, who knew the Canadian press had been poking at the team's negotiations and fan support. Now Ovechkin is paid more than Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and even makes more than Jurgy and Riggo did. It's a huge commitment to the sport, team and town by Leonsis.
¿ Good news from Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld, who tells me that Etan Thomas is "running, taking shots and believes he will play again."
Thomas had open heart surgery on Oct. 11 and, according to Grunfeld, "feels very good."
Meanwhile, Gilbert Arenas continues his rehab from knee surgery, blogs away and may be considering hiring a new agent by the name of Ovechkin.
¿ No Roger Clemens or former trainer and accuser Brian ("Roger, just tell me what you want me to do" ) McNamee on Capitol Hill this week. But on Tuesday we'll have George J. Mitchell of the Mitchell report, Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig and Players Association boss Donald Fehr. How great is that?
"All these hearings on baseball and steroids, what about health care, the war, the economy, housing foreclosures and unemployment?" asked my lawyer friend. I had no answer for him, other than to tell him that on Feb. 15, pitchers and catchers report to spring training at Nationals camp in Viera, Fla.
Have a comment or question? Reach me at talkback@washpost.com.
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