For Redskins fans young and old, the glory days have returned. Once walking around like zombies following an emotionally draining 5-11 season, Redskins fans have become euphoric upon learning that our leader has returned. Joe Gibbs is back as head coach of the Washington Redskins.
Only three coaches in the NFL have a better winning percentage that Joe Gibbs’ .683: Vince Lombardi, George Seifert, and John Madden. Only three. Simply put, teams coached by Joe Gibbs win….and they win a lot. When the teams did lose, there were no public tantrums, no finger pointing. When a Joe Gibbs team lost, Joe Gibbs took the heat
A offensive coordinator for Don Coryell’s San Diego Chargers prior to being originally hired to coach the Redskins in 1981, Gibbs used the talent he had on his team to win. To quote Michael Wilbon, “The Redskins of Joe Gibbs won a championship with a quarterback once banished to Canada, with a quarterback plucked from the USFL and with a quarterback drafted in the sixth round. The Redskins of Joe Gibbs won with Smurfs and with a Diesel, by playing bombs away or keeping seven blockers in to protect the quarterback. No slogans, no gimmicks, no themes, just imagination plus good sense and hard, hard work.”
Just prior to being elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on January 26, 1996, Gibbs said, “A player gets into the Hall of Fame because he makes a bunch of individual plays. He’s great at individual things. A coach reflects everything that happened during your time there…. The most fun in coaching was the personalities of the assistant coach and players, all of us almost living together for six months and trying to build something….Those are the things you remember as great.” Prior to Gibbs’ admission into the Hall of Fame, Jack Kent Cooke called Gibbs “the best bloody coach in the history of the National Football League.” Likewise, Redskins President John Cooke said Gibbs “stands for everything we want the Redskins to stand for.”
For us Redskins faithful, it is clear to us that everything we want the Redskins to stand for is back. Our father has returned.
Welcome back, Joe Gibbs. We missed you. We are so looking forward to you bringing back tradition, honor and winning to the Washington Redskins.
— Justice Hog
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Fran Farren