[12thMan]

I think this thread alone speaks to the frustration of the fan base and the division we've seen here on Warpath for the past three years, and more recently Sunday's lost.

First of all, let's take a look at some criticisms of other coaches around the league. Now whether they're true or not, there are probably enough trends and evidence out there to support these to some degree, if not entirely.

For instance, if I say Tom Coughlin, immediately you think something along the lines of hard nosed, disciplinarian, inflexible, old school, or cranky. You also get the impression that he alienates his players. If say Bill Belichick. Again, you think genius, winner, asshole (perhaps), cheater, or douche bag. But you rarely, if ever, think loser, too conservative, no fire, or "behind the times" when Belichick's name is mentioned. One more: And this isn't really a criticism, but just to give you an idea of what image pops in your head: Herm Edwards. Now with Herm you never get the impression that he's the greatest head coach in the world, but you do get the feeling he's a "player's coach" or a "motivator"....a good man. We know this and the guy has never coached one day in D.C.

And this brings me to Joe Gibbs and, specifically Joe Gibbs football. To be honest with you, I'm not sure what to quite make of his first three, going on four years here. To be frank, that in and of itself is a little troubling. Not one of us can quite put our finger on his style this time around and how his brand of coaching affects the team's psyche. We know what we hear in the pressers and interviews and the coaches round table, but what have we really hung our hat on in three years?

I don't think Joe Gibbs football only consists of x's and o's, but his locker room presence, his half-time genius, his ability to get one or two great games out of a nobody free agent that could be released the following season. Joe Gibbs football is also about his staff being on the same page and a group of core Skins to rally the troops. (I'll get to that in a minute.)

Also, and this is just my general observation, I get the impression that while the current Redskins have great admiration and respect for Gibbs, I rarely hear them say, coach said this or coach said that. Or coach gave us an ear full after yesterday's lost. It's not so much in what they say, it's what they don't say. I know these are grown men, and professionals at that, but it's the absence of what hasn't been said that sticks out to me. See Joe Gibbs currenly has a bunch of great athletes that play the game of football, whereas before he had good football players (core Skins) that played great football. That's the major difference between Gibbs I and Gibbs II.