About Time! A little respect from the Washington Post

I was getting VERY tired of their constant Gibbs bashing. :smashfrea


Gibbs Keeps Redskins on Course

By George Solomon
Sunday, March 13, 2005; Page E02

The Washington Redskins losing cornerback Fred Smoot to the Minnesota Vikings last week, on the heels of taking a salary cap whack as a result of the Laveranues Coles-for-Santana Moss trade and the recent loss of up-and-coming linebacker Antonio Pierce to the New York Giants, has many fans asking, "Who's in charge of this team?"

And the answer would be Joe Gibbs.

There is no doubt that Joe Gibbs has the last word on any moves involving the Redskins. And don't expect him to put up with pouting or players who put money above the team. (John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)

Gibbs, who earned his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame coaching the Redskins to four Super Bowls, winning three, is now running a team in a time of free agency so different from his previous reign.

To those who question whether he can succeed at managing a franchise when his previous role here was mostly coaching, Gibbs must want to ask, "Do you think running a NASCAR operation the last decade was simply about replacing spark plugs and buying team jackets?"

Gibbs, 64, signed a five-year contract last year at more than $5 million a season to be team president and coach. While his 6-10 team was a major disappointment to him and the fans, one can assume he has learned enough about his players, coaching staff, his boss, the salary cap and front-office personnel to be the right person running the operation.

At least I think he's the right guy, even though keeping Pierce and Smoot at their prices would have been my choice and following through on owner Dan Snyder's threat to deliver a flat-screen television set to an inactive Coles's house in Virginia on game days might have been fun.

But Gibbs watchers know how he operates: He didn't want to pay Smoot more than fellow corner Shawn Springs, even though Freddie wasn't seeking more than a million or two more than what the Redskins were offering and is better than the apparent replacement, Walt Harris, or possible draft pick Adam "PacMan" Jones of West Virginia. Nor did Gibbs want to pay Pierce more than Marcus Washington, whom the coaches believe is a better player. Nor did Gibbs want Coles pouting in a Redskins uniform.

Gibbs is very much about loyalty. Could the Redskins -- after taxes, 401(k)s, rollovers, tax deferrals, stretching out salary and bonus money -- have satisfied Smoot and Pierce? Sure. But Smoot and Pierce made it clear this was about money -- not even a lot in their world. And to me, that's the main reason both players are gone. Money over team.

Coles was another matter. He was too much about Coles; one of those modern pro athletes you'd prefer never to see or hear from again, although one hopes he finds contentment somewhere in Chriswebberland when you really know he won't.

Choose a side on this Gibbs stuff, if you must, knowing once the race begins you can't cross the track.

:biggthump

The press, while praising Gibbs as a person and generally as a coach, does engage in some Gibbs-bashing. But as even Gibbs said, people will criticize the team and how it is run until the team starts producing Ws.

As for how us fans talk about Gibbs, I re-state some of the sentiments I posted in another thread.

The great thing about the Warpath is, as relatively well-informed football fans, we can make observations and arguments about the direction of the team. Fortunately, this is not Redskins.com which views everything done by the front office, coaching staff, and players as an act of God.

I don't think many people on this site "bash Gibbs." People question certain moves made by Gibbs, but I think nearly everyone believes he'll turn this ship around. So, I think it's okay for us to question Gibbs' moves so long as such questioning doesn't devolve into "the sky is falling, Gibbs is an idiot, Gibbs sucks" talk. I also think it's okay to defer to Gibbs on many issues, so long as it doesn't become "anyone who questions Gibbs is a traitor, Gibbs is infallible, don't debate anything" talk.

Actually, most of us warpathers are probably way to easy on Gibbs, for what it's worth. This is definetly NOT a gibbs-bashing site.

I was just ranting a bit because of recent diatribes by Wilbon, Weiss(sp?) , and Damasio--all within a few days of each other--that had a really negative tone, especially Weiss's. I mean, I expect it from ESPN, etc., but I just thought the local press went too far in the last few days. It was like they were trying to "prove" that they were objective by bashing Gibbs now to counter the way they fawned on him in the beginning.

I think Gibbs will turn things around. He is trying to find the players who really want to be here, not the players with dollar signs in their eyes.

I think Moss is statistically less flashy than Coles, but he wants to be here. And that will show on the field. I also think that Pierce and Smoot were too eager to put a few bucks in the bank, and were less about building a solid playoff contender team.

But only time will tell. Gibbs realizes that we need to upgrade the offense considerably, even if it means that our defense slips a notch.

I would still like to see us upgrade the D-line and find some depth on the O-line.

i have all the faith in the world in coach gibbs and the redskins coaching staff.i think he'll turn things around,and some of the ex redskins(coles,smoot,bailey)will be sorry they were'nt along for the ride.the way i look at things,i f pierce,and smoot would have wanted to stay they would have.they di'nt,so they left.i agree with wilboun,the redskins need a general manager,i have been saying that since casserley left.

The Post article also mentions Pac-Man Jones as a 1st Round Pick! First I've seen that in print!

Gibbs believes that his system is good enough to work without superstars. The one exception is RB. Even the QB doesn't require super human performance, just execution and good o-line protection.

He will never give in to pouting or money hungry players. That is just not what what he stands for. The problem is, until the Skins get back to the playoffs, players will be loyal to the team for money primarily. That means, he is going to have to get to the playoffs with less talent. I think he and Greg Williams will make it happen. Only time will tell.

yeah i think gibbs is moving in the right direction, and we just have to wait and see. we need some continuity on the team. we've had like six defensive coordinators in six seasons. once everyone gets adjusted to gibbs' system, we will be better.

Great article, I absolutely loved the last line:

Choose a side on this Gibbs stuff, if you must, knowing once the race begins you can't cross the track.

Can't you just hear it now though....the ones who criticized Gibbs the most will be saying, "we knew all along Gibbs would lead this team back to where it should be," just to save face.