'Skins will be holding a 3 pm press conference to announce his retirement. Interesting news considering that he said that he would fulfill his 5 year contract all along. Also, when he spoke to the players on Sunday it appeared that he did not give them any indication he would be leaving.
I don't think it is all together bad. Gibbs coaching skills and decisions were put into question throughout his second tenure. I'm sure this season really wore on him and at 67 years of age and being the oldest coach in the NFL, I'm sure he is having some difficulty keeping up with everything.
The interesting thing will be who is going to take over. Gregg Williams signed a contract that said that he would become the next head coach and if he didn't, he would be given a $1M dollar payout.
I suppose I am a little disappointed in that you want to keep the same pieces intact that we had from this past season. Now with Gibbs leaving, what other changes will that affect? Which assistant coaches will be gone? I suppose it all depends on if we decide to have Gregg Williams serve as coach or if we look to the outside. We'll see. Again, I don't think this is all bad news.
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I'm happy for Gibbs. He came back, restored some dignity and respect in the team, got to the playoffs twice, and is leaving on his terms. It was a rough ride, but one that shows he was an effective leader who was respected by his players. His HOF status is not tarnished.
I'm also happy that he's leaving. We need a change. He brought in too many high priced players, some of whom didn't deserve to be high priced, and wasn't getting as much out of them as the price would indicate. He essentially led a bunch of good, but not great players to two successful seasons out of four.
Replacements...G Willikers, Russ Grimm, Jason Garrett, Mike Singletary, Bill Cowher.
Let's see what happens.
Yeah, he had a decent run and should be proud. However, it probably is time for a change. Again, he often times looked lost out there. Frankly, I don't think he did a whole lot as far as game planning anymore. I think he is a great people person. I think he served a great role when Sean Taylor was murdered. However, I think his football acumen is somewhat antiquated.
Again, I think Williams is probably the front runner. He would probably be a pretty good choice in that we wouldn't see too much disruption.
I wouldn't be opposed to Cowher if he was available (although he has already made it clear that he wants to take at least another year off and he seems poised to take over the Carolina job as it is near his home). I also wouldn't mind seeing Grimm come back. He seems ready to take over a team.
We'll see. I wonder how the players feel because again on Sunday they all said that they expect him to be back. I wonder if they feel betrayed. Many of them talked about how this team became a family and how they wanted to keep things intact and now the head coach turns around and walks away. Or I wonder if they will welcome the change as again, I don't think Gibbs really did a whole lot in terms of overall strategy. I think he more just managed the myriad of coaches he had and just served as the face of the team in front of the media.
The reason he is leaving is simple. He knows that the cap problem is a disaster and he doesn't want to be part of the rebuilding process.
I don't really give a F if you don't believe me. They have pushed their financial problems further and further out and it is going to come to roost. They don't have money to be a serious contender in the free agent market and they don't even have the money to sign their own better free agent players.
There are going to be a lot of changes this off-season. Personally, I'd be surprised if they hire a guy like Cowher - but I guess everyone has a price.
Double G will be the new coach. He has been promised the position and has a clause in his contract that would require Danny Boy to pay $1M if he is not made the coach after Gibbs (unless he gets another job).
I will agree with you JKD, I think this is a good thing, but I think it is a good thing because now they can rebuild the franchise from the bottom up by letting a bunch of guys go and taking their lumps this year (and perhaps next) and then preparing for the future.
That's B.S. RobsObs. I'm sure this season really wore on the guy. Again, he would be 68 years old next year and he's already the oldest coach in the NFL and his body can't do it anymore. Also, again, I don't think he was really part of the game planning or strategy. At least not to the extent that he used to be. The game has passed him by and his body can't handle it anymore. Gibbs is a people person. He relates well and that is his strength. I'm sure he just tried to manage the coaches and players but wasn't a big factor in the strategy. It's kind of like when MJ finally retired for good. His body couldn't handle it. He was still a decent player but he actually hurt the progress of the team because they were younger and wanted to be an up tempo team but he couldn't play that way. I think Gibbs leaving may give more freedom to Saunders to run the offense he wants. We'll see.
I think Double G will be strongly considered. Hiring him would have the least amount of disruption to the team. He has the clause but I don't think that will really be a big determining factor. $1M is a drop in the bucket for Snyder. If he can land a big name like Cowher, he will end up being the coach. Cowher may take it as D.C. is close to his home in Carolina and he would take charge of a much more prominent franchise in the 'Skins than the Panthers. Also, I'm sure Snyder would make him the highest paid coach in the NFL. My guess it will either be Double G or a high profile proven winner. Snyder likes to make a big splash and I don't think he will settle on an unknown quantity.
Regarding the cap and the players, we should just leave it to "we'll see." I don't want to say anything until I actually see the moves that are made. Certain individuals should be cut. Again, we'll see all the personnel moves that are made and then we can comment.
I am fine with the wait and see view.
I will say this - if they were going to keep the team together and had money to make moves to improve the team I really believe Gibbsy would be back.
Even before Gibbsy stepped down, I felt there was going to be significant changes because of the cap issues. With Gibbsy steopping down, it seems clear to me that this is going to be a year where they try to fix some of their cap problems. The question is can they be competitive like they were when Marty purged 37 players, fixed the cap issues in one year, and kept the team at 8-8. Of course, then Danny Boy blew the cap up again.
Looks like a rebuilding period to me.
At nearly 70 years of age and a millionaire many times over and having struggled through the most difficult season of his career and with his ongoing health problems, isn't it possible that Gibbs is just not up for the challenge?
Every year you cry that they will purge and it doesn't happen. They don't change any more or any less than other teams. The Bears lost core guys last year and they will probably lose some core guys again this year.
You can say that Jamar can fill in for Briggs just like you can say that Benson can fill in for TJ. Bottom line is it hurts. TJ was a core guy and they let him walk. Briggs is a core guy and unless they do something remarkable, he will walk. He already feels like he has been treated unfairly and he doesn't want to be in the shadow of Urlacher and he's a potential perennial Pro Bowler but there is a good chance he will go. A loss like that hurts more than just losing his talent on the field. A. Brown has played well when given the chance and most likely he will walk. Fine, the Bears purge quality players by upsetting them.
Why not just wait until we see the moves? Why not just let it rest with "we'll see?"
You will say that you are fine with that but then you have to add something. Why?
What is the problem? I'm just giving my opinion. Nothing says you have to respond. I don't care if you don't post anything more. You just choose to do so.
If you'd rather diggle you dong and not be disturbed that would be perfectly fine with me. Just don't post anything more up if you want to wait and see. If you don't then just keep writing.
No problem. Cramps kicking in? I just find it funny that you will always say, "Okay fine. We'll leave it at that but..."
You say you will leave it at something but you never do. So why don't you just say that you don't want to leave it at that and just say that you want to continue?
I didn't say "we'll leave it at that."
Okay, fine but you will say something to the effect of "we'll see" or "we'll leave it at that."
Then you don't.
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