Joe Gibbs' second tenure as head coach came to a close Tuesday when the 67 year-old hall of famer announced his retirement. For the second time in fifteen years the face of the Burgundy and Gold walks off into the sunset...
What exactly did Joe Gibbs deliver this time around? He departs with a 31-36 record and two playoff appearances but a mixed bag of in-game and personnel decisions--a shadow of his first tenure (eight playoff appearances and three Super Bowl titles) if you look solely at the ledger.
But Gibbs gave the franchise direction and stability, two qualities that were lacking during the years before his return. The front office, despite the relapse in 2006 (Adam Archuleta, Brandon Lloyd, TJ Duckett) appears to be going in the right direction when it comes to building a roster.
Just as important, Joe Gibbs' return made the Redskins a serious entity again...do you remember the days after Steve Spurrier's departure? It wasn't a question of who the Skins would hire, but who would take this job. Joe Gibbs back on the sidelines made one dismiss the Spurrier era, the Schottenheimer experiment and the Turner endgame all at the same time.
The question now facing Dan Snyder and his brain trust: where do you go from here? Will they bring in a general manager or keep the personnel decisions amongst the committee? And will their coaching search remain in-house (Gregg Williams) or might ownership aim for a big-name (Bill Cowher) coach?
Regardless of whether the Redskins are able to maximize or squander the goodwill and progress gained in the last four years, thanks Coach Gibbs for giving Redskins Nation one last glimpse of Burgundy and Gold Camelot...
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