Brainstorming, Redskins Style
Gibbs Went Through Every Draft Day Scenario With Coaches, Owner, GM, Before Settling on Miami Safety
By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 25, 2004; Page E10
Joe Gibbs insisted yesterday he was "pretty relaxed" Friday night on the eve of his first college draft in a dozen years, mostly because the Washington Redskins had basically come to a consensus that safety Sean Taylor of the University of Miami was going to be their choice with the fifth overall selection in the first round.
The nerves, the new head coach admitted a few minutes after Taylor was taken, came early Saturday afternoon while the New York Giants were on the clock for the fourth overall selection just ahead.
"You get a little uptight and tense," Gibbs said, with the signature giggle that seems to accompany so many of his sentences these days.
When the Giants announced they had chosen North Carolina State quarterback Phillip Rivers, later swapped to San Diego for quarterback Eli Manning, the Redskins knew they'd get Taylor, and a sigh of relief was breathed by everyone in the Washington draft room.
"We had come to the decision over the last couple of days it's the direction we wanted to go," Gibbs said. "Having said that, you don't know what's going to happen. . . . I don't think there was anything today they could throw at us that we didn't know about. We went through every scenario."
Some facets of the college draft have changed dramatically since Gibbs last worked as the team's coach in 1992. There are more talented players from more schools to evaluate, including many more underclassmen to consider.
Cell phone and computer technology have improved the scouting and evaluation process. Twelve years later, there are more eyes, with more scouts and assistant coaches on the payroll and intimately involved in the draft.
"But the people part of it hasn't changed," Gibbs had said a few days earlier. Then, pointing to his heart, he added, "you still need to find out what's in here."
Another facet of Gibbs's personality apparently hasn't changed -- his all-consuming preparation for virtually every task. For Gibbs and the Redskins' personnel department, as well as owner Dan Snyder, that has translated into countless offseason hours in the office, preparing first for free agency, and then the draft.
The fact that a coach known for his brilliant offensive mind also was willing to take Taylor to improve his defense over Miami tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. also clearly registered with Gregg Williams, the new assistant head coach/defense.
"It speaks volumes about Joe Gibbs," Williams said. "He understands the importance of defense and special teams. . . . There were a lot of crazy scenarios that could have happened. But we were prepared for them. Joe Gibbs was not going to leave any stone unturned."
"Yeah," Gibbs said, giggling again. "I'm kinda freaky for tight ends. I love tight ends."
He also loves to win.
"I always tell the defense," he added, "that defense leads you to Super Bowls."
Gibbs was pulled in a wide variety of directions yesterday -- meetings, countless phone calls, media briefings and what he called an "unbelievable" helicopter ride from Redskins Park to FedEx Field and back after Taylor was selected. The team estimated a crowd of about 20,000 watched the draft on the big screen.
Gibbs arrived at the office at about 7:30 a.m. for the final discussions over the possibilities the team might encounter in a first round that began 41/2 hours later. In the draft room, Snyder sat at the head of the table, with Gibbs to his right and vice president of player personnel Vinny Cerrato to his left. Williams and assistant head coach Joe Bugel also were in the room, with several revolving seats for assistant coaches and medical personnel to join in the discussion.
Snyder's presence was definitely different. Over Gibbs's previous 12 years, the owner was not much involved in the draft process -- save for paying the bills. In fact, the late Jack Kent Cooke, who hired Gibbs in 1981, never came to Redskins Park on draft day, preferring to monitor the proceedings from his Middleburg mansion.
"Mr. Cooke was always a phone call away," former Redskins general manager Bobby Beathard said earlier in the week. "We'd always call him and tell him what we had just done. He never said no on any player in all the time I was there. Thinking back on it, sometimes I wish he had.
"Joe didn't really come in the draft room a lot back then. But he was probably the best I've ever been around as far as relationships with the scouts and the coaches. He got everyone to be on the same page. When he took the job [in January], I told him things had really changed. I told him he was going to have to learn that you have to get rid of players you want to keep, and that he won't like the turnover. But I think Joe is as good as anyone at bringing everybody together, the chemistry you need to be successful."
After their work at Redskins Park was completed, Gibbs, Williams and Bugel hopped in a helicopter at about 2 p.m. and swooped over to the stadium to greet fans, returning about an hour later.
When Gibbs walked through the stadium tunnel serenaded by the Redskins band playing "Hail to the Redskins," the crowd chanted, "We Want Joe! We Want Joe!"
Gibbs responded, "You've got me whether you want me or not."
Bugel, the architect of the Hogs offensive lines that helped win three Super Bowls, also was treated as a conquering hero.
He heard cries of "Bu-u-u-u-u-ges" as he stepped to a podium, and he returned the favor, chanting, "we're back, we're back, we're back!"
Gibbs told the crowd, "This is the place to coach football, right here with you guys. I just want to say it's fun to coach and play somewhere where football is really important. We make no promises other than we're gonna play super hard."
The coaches fielded about two dozen questions, ranging from why they chose Taylor over Winslow, what to expect when the Redskins pick next in the fifth and sixth rounds Sunday and whether there were plans to hang banners at the stadium commemorating past championships.
"To be quite truthful," Gibbs said, "I'm focused totally on getting another one, not in the past. We've got great memories . . . but my focus and our team's focus is trying to get another appearance in the Super Bowl."
Staff writer Gene Wang contributed to this report.
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