So Far, So Good for Cerrato the Football Boss

"Take, for instance, when I said I hadn't talked earlier to Bill Parcells the day we got Jason Taylor," he added. "If I go out and say, 'Yeah, we're having serious conversations and I'm going to talk to him again,' the other team is going to read the blog. I'm showing my cards. That's not the best thing to do to try and get Jason Taylor."

Cerrato said he learned much from Gibbs about how to build a franchise, especially in the areas of "types of people that you can win with -- character people," Cerrato said.

"How he handled tough situations, the way he was always steady through everything -- even Sean Taylor's death -- I learned a lot from him," Cerrato said.

Gibbs built up a reservoir of goodwill in the 1980s and early '90s that largely carried him through rough times in his second stint as coach. He wasn't immune to intense and personal criticism, but he always had believers to fall back on.

As Cerrato officially takes over, he has no such legacy. But he does have a supportive wife, Rebecca, an orthopedic surgeon who completed her residency at Georgetown. And he does have two young boys who get to run around on the FedEx Field after games in their Redskins jerseys. So they pretty much combat the blogs and the criticism.

Before exiting Cerrato's office, he of course has one question of his own:

"So, are you gonna rip me?"

Nah. It's preseason. Mary Cerrato is in too good a mood.