In keeping with our status as the third to last place you check for all your football related news, by the time you reach us this story will have already been told to you several times, so whether or not the news is still "breaking" anymore isn't really the point. Nonetheless, Joe Gibbs is retiring.
Personally, I'm surprised. Taking into account that he had the five year contract with one year left, and that he seemed to have solidified the team to such an extent that a deep playoff run seems possible next year, it would have made sense for him stick it out. A lot of people are talking about family concerns, but discerning readers should probably note that any story that involves his family angle was most likely published AFTER the retirement announcement. Nonetheless, I see the strong possibility that the Head Coach who comes into this situation will have a very successful year in 2008. Somebody like Al Saunders (current Offensive Coordinator) could, given his familiarity with the team, pull something very much like Wade Phillips did this year, in the wake of Bill Parcells' departure. In that the coach, although certainly responsible for the schemes and playcalling, only did half the work as the roster itself was assembled in the years previous. The similarities are too large to ignore. Solid team, disappointing playoff loss (Redskins vs. Seahawks, Cowboys vs. Seahawks... although I'm not implying that the Seahawks themselves have anything to do with this), older head coach departs with generally positive feelings but slight amount of acrimony (Bill Parcells and T.O., Joe Gibbs and the timeout fiasco in Buffalo)... As a side note, did anyone notice that even though we're only in the first round of the playoffs, ESPN is already talking about this being a low year for Head Coach coach turnover? Although I'm not suggesting that most playoff teams will fire their head coaches, personnel moves have barely even started. At the very least we can hope that William Clay Ford wakes up somewhere and decides that the Lions are, in fact, a complete joke and SOMEONE should have to pay. At least someone whose name is not Mike Martz. Perhaps a Matt Millen?
Okay. Back to Joe Gibbs.
His record with the Redskins speaks for itself, and despite his inability in his most recent head coaching stint to bring his team back to the Super Bowl, he in no way fell short of his goals. Up until their memorable stretch run, there was a sense that Mr. Gibbs had past his prime, and had perhaps become too old for the sport. In those last four weeks there were several teams working to get that last Wild Card spot. The underachieving and occasionally dangerous Saints, the Vikings led by rookie Adrian Peterson's phenomenal performances, the offensively challenged but defensively strong Bears, and the improving Cardinals. Each team had to win most of those games and hope for a few key losses, but only Joe Gibbs' Redskins won all four, despite losing their starting Quarterback to injury and the shocking murder of Sean Taylor. Mr. Gibbs already has his rings, his trophies and his spot in Canton. What the end of this season was about was reminding everybody why he earned them in the first place. He goes out on top, and he will be missed.
As a side note, this will be the first of many regular updates, Out at the One being intended to mark the passing of any persons from the NFL. Warren Sapp certainly deserves a section, however I feel that he departed just several days too early to earn this prestigious recognition. Seriously though, his website will be missed. I can only hope he lets another up and coming DT take the domain name. Albert Haynesworth, with your stomping shenanigans included, I'm looking at you.
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