If Not Joe, Then Who?

Let's suppose that Joe Gibbs decided not to return as head coach next year and instead just moved into a front office role.

Who would you want to be the Redskins Head Coach in 2008?

Let me make this 100% clear. This is not a "Joe Must Go" thread. And I don't want to discuss on this thread whether or not he should return as head coach. That is not what this thread is about.

If you can't abide by that, be advised there will be a zero tolerance policy.

So...tell us, assuming Gibbs didn't come back, who should be the head coach in 2008?

I would like to see B. Cowher and his new staff. At this point I feel we have the players( at least most of them), I think we need a new captain of this ship, a proven winner!

Please god not G. Williams

I'd say Cowher. Gregg Williams is a great coordinator but as struggled as a head coach. Saunders has never been a head coach. Cowher was phenomenal in Pittsburgh, and has tons of experience. I would take him in a second (ASSUMING Gibbs leaves of course). I would certainly hope we could retain Williams as def coordinator regardless.

First, Joe must stay. I'm angry as hell at that unsportsmanlike call, and it was 100% his fault. But this team would have been worthless under nearly anyone else after this week, and that's gotta count for something.

Gregg Williams has shown the same kind of leadership. He is viewed as a leader by players on both sides of the ball (remember that Santana Moss went to Williams to explain his fumble weeks ago, not to Gibbs). This team has gone through events that should galvanize them, it's the wrong time to bring new faces to the fold.

I'd say Cowher. Gregg Williams is a great coordinator but as struggled as a head coach. Saunders has never been a head coach. Cowher was phenomenal in Pittsburgh, and has tons of experience. I would take him in a second (ASSUMING Gibbs leaves of course). I would certainly hope we could retain Williams as def coordinator regardless.

Saunders was a head coach in San Diego years ago.

I'd say Cowher. Gregg Williams is a great coordinator but as struggled as a head coach. Saunders has never been a head coach. Cowher was phenomenal in Pittsburgh, and has tons of experience. I would take him in a second (ASSUMING Gibbs leaves of course). I would certainly hope we could retain Williams as def coordinator regardless.

But if you're Cowher why do you come back to be a head coach unless you have absolute complete control? I mean, I'm assuming that Gibbs wouldn't go away entirely. He'd still be the President.

So here you are, Bill Cowher, a proven coach and you're probably getting paid a boatload of money by Snyder. But, at this point in your career don't you want more than just to be head coach? Don't you want something more?

i gotta go with GW. He's been around here long enough do deserve the shot and has had the only part of the team that's been dominant. Our ST's has been consistantly good, though...

I do hope gibbs returns, but if he decides not to, I think bringing in an outsider will only set us back 2 years, in which case the same people calling for JG's head will be calling for the new coach's head.


I don't even know if cowher would take the job. we're in cap hell and don't have a history of longevity or tolerance with our coaches...

I say someone from this site, since we seem to have so many geniuses who would never make a mistake during the draft or free agency, so many people are expert Madden players, etc.

In all seriousness, I want Gibbs back. If Gibbs decides to retire, don't expect a great 2008 season as new head coaches often struggle in their first season with a new team. And expect to see JC regress, or not progress, if we replace Saunders and force him to learn a new system.

If we had to get someone else, I'd probably go with Cowher since I like the guy, he likes smash-mouth football and great defenses, and he is a proven winner. That said, several teams will likely be after him and he supposedly wanted to stay out of football until 2009. He could be saying that he doesn't want to return to football in 2008 to gain leverage in contract negotiations, but who knows.

Russ Grimm...most people that seem to know what they are talking about feel Grimm is ready, I think it would be nice to go for a brand new guy (coaching wise) with a new attitude and system. Wade Phillips has proven in Dallas that it is possible for a new coach to turn it around from one year to the next so long as you have the talent and I think the 'skins still have the talent...

I can find problems with everyone you specifically mentioned.

With Cowher, we're getting a conservative, defensive oriented coach who won't be aggressive offensively. A problem that many have with our offense right now. Plus, he has nothing to prove, and will come here only because of the Golden Parachute.

With Russ Grimm, it harkens back to the notion that this team is grasping at every person they can find from the Glory Years in the hopes that they will lead us back there. It's like writing checks from an account that has long been closed.

And with Saunders and Williams, we'd be going back to the route of choosing coordinators who haven't proven they can take the next step as a head coach.

So, of those arguments against, Russ Grimm is the one I object to least.