Gibbs Resigns as Coach

Didn’t see this one coming.  After lots of talk of signing an extension, Joe Gibbs has quit as the head coach of the Redskins.  He leaves the team three days after their season ended with a 35-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in a NFC Wild Card game.  The team released a statement stating that Gibbs will stay on as a “special advisor” to owner Dan Snyder.  He signed a five-year deal back in 2004 worth $27.5 mil, and it was reported all over the place that he would be likely signing a two-year extension.

He started to waver Monday when asked if he would be coming back to the team for the final year of his deal.  One would have to think that he knew right there and then he was gone.  “It was the toughest (season) for me,” Gibbs said Monday. “When you go through a season like that, for a while it’s kind of hard to re-grasp reality.”  Of course the death of Sean Taylor midseason was the biggest blow that Gibbs ever had to deal with, but he did it and got his team to the playoffs with a strong last month of the season. 

Right off the bat there are two guys on Gibbs’ staff that deserve long looks - offensive coordinator Al Saunders and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.  It was thought awhile ago that Williams signed a deal to stay with the team as their d-coordinator and that he would take over the coaching spot when Gibbs walked away.  That has now happened, so we’ll see if that plays out.