Like I've said all along, I never actually lost faith in Joe Gibbs as the coach of the Redskins. Although he didn't accomplish his goal of bringing back the franchise to pre-eminence in the NFL, he did put the pieces in place for us to become a well-oiled machine in the future. We went to the playoffs two of his four years at the helm, which is more postseason appearances than we had in the 10 years he was gone. We also have a good mix of young and old on the roster, making next year (with the right coach) a year that could produce something magical. In essence, Gibbs left the team in better shape than he got it, and that's something he should hang his hat on.
One of my idols. You will be sorely missed, Gibbs.
Obviously, the higlights of Gibbs II were the two late-season winning streaks in 2005 and 2007. And for me personally, my two favorite moments occured during those runs. And they both involved the Cowboys. In 2005, it was the 35-17 beatdown of Dallas at Fedex in Week 15, which put us in control of our own destiny for the playoffs. And then this year, it was clearly the season-ending win that sealed the deal for our second postseason appearance of Gibbs II.
As for a replacement, I do agree a call needs to be made to one Bill Cowher. He would be a great coach for this team, and we all know The Snyder will not be shy about paying him a shit ton of money. But if this were my decision, I would think long and hard about trying to keep the nucleus that Gibbs put in place. The players have already voiced their opinion, and it seems the overwhelming sentiment is to give the job to Gregg Williams, currently the defensive coordinator. When he was hired, Gibbs introduced him as the heir apparent to the Redskins throne, although he has backed off that in recent weeks.
The next coach?
Williams wasn't very successful in his first go around as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills, but let's be real here. No one has been a successful coach in Buffalo except for Marv Levy. Williams problems in B-Town stemmed from his inability to effectively communicate with his players. Specifically, he was a jackass. But from the sounds of things, the players at Redskin Park are much more receptive to him. It makes me believe his people skills have benefited greatly from working under the master of people skills, Joe Gibbs. Something tells me Williams has the opportunity to pull a Belichick if he gets this job.
Remember Belichick sucked balls in his first try as a head coach, when he guided the Cleveland Browns to absolute mediocrity. Now, as we all know, his Patriots team is about to come up short in the AFC Championship game against the Colts after going undefeated in the regular season (had to include a prop for my prediction). And as I said above, I really thought the Skins were on to something towards the end of the season. If an outside candidate is hired, say Cowher, the whole staff would likely be gone. A new offense would be imported, and I think it would set back this team a season or so. It doesn't help that the Skins personnel department might be the worst in the NFL. Vinny Cerato should not be making decisions and yet, somehow, someway, he got The Snyder's seal of approval once again during Gibbs' retirement conference.
So, I say hire within. Give Gregg Williams a chance to extend what was a magical end to the 2007 season into the 2008 campaign. The players want it, Gibbs wants it, and I want it. Besides, from media reports it sounds like Cowher isn't interested in coaching this season no matter the oodles of money thrown in his direction. If Williams screws things up next season, then go after Cowher hard next offseason.
Bowl Picks
Well, I tallied the results for my bowl picks and well...ummm...they were okay I guess.
I went 18-12 on the 30 games I picked. I forgot about the International Bowl and the GMAC Bowl. I was 3-2 on BCS Bowl games, and I would have made money had I bet on all these games for real. But as for my plans of proving Matt wrong about me being horrible at picking games...well I think the jury is still out. If the Colts follow through and win the Super Bowl, I think that's more than enough to put me over the top.
I'll be as happy as Hillary if the Colts pull this thing off.
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