It's official - Al Saunders is our new offensive coordinator!

Martz was our QB coach at one time. I think it was for Norv, but it may have been under Gibbs.

Does anyone else also see this as a way to fix the problem the Skins had with losing to AFC teams? I think Gibbs really hit a home run with this signing.

Martz was our QB coach at one time. I think it was for Norv, but it may have been under Gibbs.

Under Norv, 1997 and 1998.

I have to take issue with the Wikipedia link above. It claims that Gilman was the father of what is today known as the 'west coast' offense. Not so. What is now called the 'west coast' offense was developed by Paul Brown and Bill Walsh in Cincinatti in the early 1970s when the two coached together there. (call it the Ohio Valley offense) It was perfected and became famous when Joe Montana ran it for Walsh in San Francisco. This offense emphasises short controlled passes and was developed to allow a smaller team to control the clock without a power running game.

Gilman's offense, by contrast, emphasized deep passes and was the league standard for passing offenses prior to the emergence of the 'West Coast'.

Regarding Martz and Gibbs, I would suggest that in terms of the passing game the two have more, not less, in common. A qb coming from St. Louis to Washington would have much less to relearn than he would going to say Philadelphia or Green Bay where they run the west coast. Within an offense, one coach may emphasize run as Gibbs does now, or he may emphasize the pass as Martz does and Gibbs did in San Diego as the coordinator in 1979 and 1980. That's all.

In addition these offenses are constantly evolving so when one says 'west coast' offense or 'Joe Gibbs' offense, its a dynamic rather than static thing. Gibbs has said that offenses change about 30% a year. They steal things from other teams, think up new ideas, emphasize certain aspects to maximize talent, etc.

I actually have heard that Jerry Burns, the Vikings HC in the 1970s, invented it. And I've heard Walsh. And I've heard that Coryell did while in college and Walsh refined it.

Either way, this is an interesting article.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/dr_z/news/1999/10/28/inside_football/

I literally jumped out of my seat and danced a little jig when I saw the news go across the bottom line on espn after I got home from work. This is freakin awesome news and the team now has one super mega head coach with two head coaches keeping track of the teams 2 most important branches. I'm extremely excited to see what type of play calling wrinkles this will add to the offense one of which is hopefully more rb screen plays as they seemed to work every time when used but I only remember them being called less than a handfull of times this season. and is anyone else buying a little more into my idea of a possible arrington for tony g. trade now if we do trade arrington ;) ?

Why not trade Ramsey for Tony G.? Also, why get Tony G.? Nothing against him but he is pretty much the equevalent to our Cooley, they both line up tight or out wide as receivers. I like Tony but I think that Cooley is getting the job done for a cheaper price.

More stuff--it's up at redskins.com (http://www.redskins.com/) now--also, they report that the ENTIRE coaching staff is returning for next year! Talk about continuity!

:biggthump :biggthump :biggthump

Redskins and continuity?? I don't know how to react. What will we do when we can't yell about how this organization sucks because of a lack of continuity.

:)

I actually have heard that Jerry Burns, the Vikings HC in the 1970s, invented it. And I've heard Walsh. And I've heard that Coryell did while in college and Walsh refined it.

Either way, this is an interesting article.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/dr_z/news/1999/10/28/inside_football/

This is a killer article. It's almost impossible to believe that the Skins had better offensive numbers at any point in 1999 than the Rams. Anyone who is interested in the history of the league will enjoy this link. Great stuff TAFKAS!

I think you are all missing the point of Gibbs hiring Saunders!!! First it shows again Gibbs can check his ego at the door and get minds that know the NFL game!!! In todays NFL it is not the same game when GIBBS left. Free agency for one and the Cap!!! D's are attacking you all the time!!! The games is much more fast paced with technologly,rule changes and so on!!! The first season back he needed to get his feet wet and get the players he needed among other things like leaning first hand what today NFL was about. Here is a little thing for example remember last season when we would blow all out times out before we needed to use them to stop the clock! Not this season!!! Gibbs see that you need football minds that see thing from D side and the O side along with special teams. You need coaches to get the players ready in the off season, during the season and on and on I could go with this. The saying "Champions are built in the off season" is so right!!! What Saunders bring to the table great track record and credibleity. He can look at this seasons team and know what needs to be changed with plays or new players and so on. Not many teams can say they have three guys or more that could be head coaches!!! A O that was 30th to 11th in 2005 should only be better in 06! Thanks Dan S for getting the minds that know who to win!!!

I think you are all missing the point of Gibbs hiring Saunders!!! First it shows again Gibbs can check his ego at the door and get minds that know the NFL game!!! In todays NFL it is not the same game when GIBBS left. Free agency for one and the Cap!!! D's are attacking you all the time!!! The games is much more fast paced with technologly,rule changes and so on!!! The first season back he needed to get his feet wet and get the players he needed among other things like leaning first hand what today NFL was about. Here is a little thing for example remember last season when we would blow all out times out before we needed to use them to stop the clock! Not this season!!! Gibbs see that you need football minds that see thing from D side and the O side along with special teams. You need coaches to get the players ready in the off season, during the season and on and on I could go with this. The saying "Champions are built in the off season" is so right!!! What Saunders bring to the table great track record and credibleity. He can look at this seasons team and know what needs to be changed with plays or new players and so on. Not many teams can say they have three guys or more that could be head coaches!!! A O that was 30th to 11th in 2005 should only be better in 06! Thanks Dan S for getting the minds that know who to win!!!

If you had read this thread, you would have noticed that almost no one is missing the point...