Joe Gibbs

For the Jamaican record producer, see Joe Gibbs (record producer)

Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940 in Mocksville, North Carolina) is a Hall of Fame American football coach and NASCAR Championship team owner. He is the 20th and 26th head coach in the history of the Washington Redskins. Well known for his long hours and work ethic, Joe Gibbs put together championship teams with players whom may have had mediocre careers if playing for other NFL teams. During his first stint in the National Football League, he coached the Redskins for 12 seasons and lead them to eight playoff appearances, four NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowl titles. After retiring at the end of the 1992 season, he switched focus to his NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs Racing, which won three championships under his ownership. On January 7, 2004 Gibbs came out of retirement to rejoin the Redskins as head coach and team president, signing a 5-year contract worth over $25 million. He is currently the highest paid coach in the NFL.

* - Head Coach

Early career

Gibbs attended Cerritos Junior College and then San Diego State, where he played tight end, offensive guard and linebacker on the football team, coached by Don Coryell. Gibbs graduated from SDSU in 1964 and earned a master's degree in 1966.

Gibbs began his career with a stint as offensive line coach at San Diego State under Coryell (1964-1966). He held the same position at Florida State (1967-1968) before serving under John McKay at Southern California (1969-1970) and Frank Broyles at Arkansas (1971-1972). Gibbs then rose up to the National Football League, hired as the offensive backfield coach for the St. Louis Cardinals (1973-1977) by head coach Don Coryell. After a season as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1978) under McKay, Gibbs rejoined Coryell with the San Diego Chargers (1979-1980).

As the offensive coordinator for San Diego, Gibbs spearheaded the highly successful "Air Coryell" offense. Using a sophisticated passing attack, the Chargers and quarterback Dan Fouts set multiple offensive records during Gibbs' two seasons there, notably becoming the first team to average more than 400 yards of offense per game. After 17 years of coaching as an assistant, in 1981 Gibbs was offered a job as the head coach of the Washington Redskins by Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke.

Washington Redskins career (1981-1992)

After firing then-head coach Jack Pardee, Cooke was on the lookout for candidates. When general manager Bobby Beathard pointed out the forty-year-old San Diego assistant coach, Cooke saw potential in him and Gibbs was hired.

Gibbs' first season with the Redskins started inauspiciously when the team lost their first five games. Owner Jack Kent Cooke famously expressed confidence in Gibbs, declaring that the team would finish 8-8. The losses and Cooke's confidence served as a catalyst, and the newly-motivated team improved and reached an even 8-8 record in 1981.

Gibbs' second season with the Redskins (1982) realized the dreams of the entire Redskins fanbase: an NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl victory. In a strike-shortened season, the team advanced through the playoffs and eventually won Super Bowl XVII by beating the Miami Dolphins 27-17, taking revenge for Washington's loss to Miami in Super Bowl VII.

The following season (1983), Gibbs' surprising success continued and the Redskins once again won an NFC Championship, advancing to Super Bowl XVIII. The Redskins were an overwhelming favorite going into the game, but proved overconfident, collapsing and being crushed by the Los Angeles Raiders 38-9. Gibbs cried conspiracy in private, believing his team may have been bugged during practice the week of practice before the Super Bowl.

Three years later, in 1986, Gibbs coached the team back to the NFC Championship game, but lost to the New York Giants. It was to be his last championship game loss. The following season (1987), the Redskins got into the playoffs and reached Super Bowl XXII, where they rode on the arm of quarterback Doug Williams to blow out the Denver Broncos 42-10.

Four years later, in 1991, Gibbs' Redskins were the most dominant team in the league. They won their first 11 games before finishing the season 14-2, and cruised through the playoffs to the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl XXVI, the Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24, giving Gibbs and the team their third Super Bowl title.

After one more season of coaching, Gibbs suddenly retired in early 1993, surprising many in the organization and around the league. A notorious workaholic, he had begun to suffer some health problems, and he cited a desire to spend more time with his family.

In 1996, Gibbs was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was one of the winningest coaches in NFL history, at that time having a record of 124 wins and 60 losses, and a post-season record of 16 wins and five losses. His combined winning percentage of .683 was third all-time (behind Vince Lombardi and John Madden). In his 12 seasons, the Redskins won 4 NFC East titles, reached the playoffs 8 times, and finished with a losing record only once (7-9 in 1988). Gibbs is also the only NFL coach to ever win three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks (and also three different starting running backs).

Style of play

Although Gibbs helped craft a passing-oriented attack during his time in San Diego, his Redskin teams were known as rushing-oriented squads that focused on power running football. By building a strong offensive line (known as "The Hogs") Gibbs was able to control the line of scrimmage, allowing workhorse running backs like John Riggins to power the ground game. To this Gibbs added a deep passing attack that supplemented and complemented the ground game, utilizing receivers like Art Monk. Gibbs' offense was aided during his tenure by strong defensive units under the direction of defensive coordinator Richie Petitbon.

Gibbs system and offensive scheme was robust enough to be successful without a Hall-of-Fame-caliber quarterback at the helm. The Redskins' Super Bowl victories were won using Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien -- capable players who could be very successful when given a strong supporting cast.

Gibbs is credited with inventing the single back, double or triple tight end set. He used it to neutralize Lawrence Taylor, realizing that to successfully block him with a running back was impossible; an extra tight end and a tackle were required. By having an extra tight end, it also gave more protection for the quarterback. Gibbs was also credited in creating the Wide Receiver Bunch Formation; stacking three wide receivers to one side. Gibbs incorporated the shifting and motions for which his offenses were known, the formation also created a lot of mismatches and confusion among the defense that could be exploited. He is also one of the few coaches that utilizes the H-back position prominently in his offense.

NASCAR career (1991-present)

Gibbs created his NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs Racing in 1991, a year before he first retired from the NFL. His son, J.D. Gibbs, is the president of Joe Gibbs Racing and oversees daily operations of each of the teams. Joe Gibbs Racing consist of NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series teams as well as two Late Model racing teams. His Nextel Cup teams consist of #18 J.J. Yeley, #20 Tony Stewart, and #11 Denny Hamlin, and a part-time #80 team with Jeff Fuller. His Busch Series teams consist of #18 J.J. Yeley and #20 Denny Hamlin, with a part-time team (#19) for Aric Almirola. Gibbs has won three NASCAR Championships, starting in 2000 with Bobby Labonte, and in 2002 and 2005 with Tony Stewart. His most recent success was a win in June, 2006 when Denny Hamlin, a rookie, won the Pocono 500, his first win.

Return to the Redskins (2004-present)

Throughout his retirement, many NFL owners have approached him hoping to lure him out of retirement but to no avail. Some owners even offered to move his entire NASCAR racing team to their team's city if he came back. The only team he seriously considered coming back for was the Carolina Panthers when they first joined the NFL as an expansion in 1995. However he did not believe he would be able to manage his time between his race team and coaching. It wasn't until late 2003 when Gibbs finally started to catch the football fever again. Atlanta Falcons owner, Arthur Blank quickly interviewed him for his vacant head coaching position due to Dan Reeves' resignation. However, once again Gibbs turned it down. When Steve Spurrier resigned as the Redskins' head coach, things changed for him.

2004-2005 season

After spending 11 years in retirement from the NFL, Gibbs returned to the Redskins at the request of owner Daniel Snyder in January of 2004. Gibbs' change of heart was quite a surprise to Snyder for Gibbs had turned him down a couple of times before. During his January 7th press conference which welcomed him back, he stated that even though he enjoyed NASCAR immensely, he had missed coaching in the NFL even more. And although he had fielded offers in the past, he could only see himself coaching for the Redskins.

Because of his credibility and a very resourceful owner, Gibbs was able to assemble one the largest and most experienced coaching staffs in the NFL. Many coaches from his previous tenure with the team returned with Gibbs as well, including offensive line coach/assistant head coach Joe Bugel, offensive coordinator Don Breaux, quarterbacks coach Jack Burns, and tight ends coach Rennie Simmons. Gibbs was able to lure former Buffalo Bills head coach Gregg Williams to join the Redskins to run the defense. Overall, many of his assistant and position coaches were either former head coaches and/or held top assistant coaching positions with other NFL teams.

Joe Gibbs Racing will remain in operation. Gibbs' son, J.D. Gibbs, will assist in racing management while his other son, Coy Gibbs, will assist with the Redskins.

In 2004, Gibbs had a poor season with a 6-10 finish. Critics questioned whether he was ready to be back coaching after having sat out for a decade.

2005-2006 season

Hoping to improve on the previous season's dismal passing attack, Gibbs added former Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave as his quarterbacks coach. Having coached Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell when they both were in Jacksonville, they easily formed a rapport. Musgrave's input allowed the Redskins add a few new wrinkles to their playbook. For the first time under Gibbs, the Redskins offense utilized the shotgun formation.

Gibbs coached his team to an impressive 3-0 start in the 2005-2006 season, however, by mid-season the Redskins had slipped to 5-6. Things looked bleak at that point, but Gibbs was able to rally his team to five straight victories - leading to a 10-6 record at the close of the season. This earned the Redskins their first playoff berth since 1999.

In the wild-card playoff game, Gibbs led his team to a 17-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to whom the Redskins suffered a controversial 36-35 defeat earlier in the year. In the next round of the playoffs, however, the Redskins could not duplicate their early-season victory over the Seattle Seahawks, and lost to the eventual NFC Champion by the score of 20-10.

2006-2007 season

The inconsistency of the offense during the season and lack thereof in the playoff games against Seattle and Tampa Bay resulted in Gibbs hiring Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coordinator Al Saunders as Associate Head Coach - Offense. Saunders comes from a similar background as Gibbs through Don Coryell and is thought to be able to "tweak" the offense to become more efficient. Saunders will have control of the offense and serve as the primary playcaller. Because of this, it is believed that Gibbs will have the role of Head Coach/CEO with the Redskins in 2006 and will largely deal with personnel matters, as well as having more time to focus on special teams and defense, while Saunders will supplement Gibbs with the offense. Gibbs also added former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jerry Gray to his staff as Secondary/Cornerbacks Coach. However, Gibbs did lose quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave to the Atlanta Falcons over the 2006 offseason.

Family

Gibbs currently resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife Pat, but they make their permanent home in Charlotte, North Carolina. They have two children, J.D. and Coy.

References

External links

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