[BrudLee]

Actually, for people on the opposite sides of the debate, Daseal and I agree on quite a bit>

Originally Posted by Daseal

Skinsguy: Ever since Gibbs was named coach I was reluctant to say that he's going to be the king of football in this down. When the media was parading that the Redskins were going to the super bowl and this board was so excited that we will finally eliminate mistakes, I stayed cautious like I always do. I hoped Joe Gibbs would take us to the playoffs, and I thought we'd do at least around 500 (hell, right now 500 would put us in the NFC picture.) I'm sure if you ask anyone who remembers my posts around there they also lacked enthusiasm.

Although I remember being a little more hopeful than Daseal, I was in a similar mindset. .500 sounded a little disappointing, considering my (continued) strong feelings about our talent level. When Bill Parcells said last year that we had one of the best rosters in football, that said to me (and to many others) that the problem didn't lie entirely with the players. The elimination of mistakes, and there were plenty of them last year, would amount to wins, and a winning season.

Originally Posted by Daseal

The problem for me isn't our record. It's how we've lost the games. Playcalling, clock management, and silly mistakes. I'm not so sure this offense still works, ex-players would say that they would tell the other team where they're going. The defenses are more agile and faster than yester-year and I'm curious if it can win. We have enough players to have a middle of the pack offense.

Playcalling, clock management, and silly mistakes. Truer words were never spoken. One of the real hallmarks of the first Gibbs era was adaptability. This seemed to have been forgotten by Coach Gibbs in the first few games. We have a RB who is among the league's fastest players, and we called running plays that required a guard to pull across the line before he hit the hole. Much has been said of Gibbs's first season, where he went 0-5 with a pass-heavy offense before revamping his style to pound the ball. The lesson should have been "style your offense toward your personnel", not "pound the ball". When healthy, we have enough players for a top-tier offense - provided we taylor the offense toward those players.

The clock management issue also points to adaptability. Shifting formations is fine - if it confuses the defense. With a playclock five seconds quicker than it was upon his retirement, Gibbs needs to know that multiple shifts need to be complete that much faster. If the shift is done with three seconds left on the clock, the QB has no options if the play needs to be changed or amended. With the patchwork offensive line we have now, shifts should also be reduced to require athletes who aren't as skilled to stay in a three point stance for thirty seconds. I weigh 160 pounds and I wouldn't want to do that once,much less 50 times in three hours.

Originally Posted by Daseal

Now, just because you want to blind yourself with optimism and fail to even see any wrong-doing at all on Gibbs' record then that's your perogative. A few games have been lost by WRs dropping balls, but most we haven't really been in a position to win due to screen passes on 4th and 8 plays. I watch what the media and normally take it for a grain of salt, unless someone who used to play a lot or someone I respect comes out and says something.

The playcalling is improving, though not fast enough. Brunell's gameplay hurt the development of this team in a number of ways. His inability to effectively throw the deep ball gave opposing defenses the freedom to stack the box on nearly every play. Portis was unable to break many big gains after the first game, because our opponents realized that they could put eight and nine guys up to stop the run, and Brunell couldn't kill them with the long ball. The defenses could rush four, and still have four men keyed on Portis. Not an effective way to build an offense. With Ramsey, safeties can't afford to cheat to the line on every play. It warmed my heart to see Darnerian McCants double-covered thirty yards downfield last week, because it meant the Steelers were as afraid of Ramsey as the run. Now that that fear exists, it can be exploited.

Originally Posted by Daseal

I'm not expecting anyone to believe what the media says. I have the ability to form my own opinions, and I hope you do to instead of following Gibbs like a sheep and refusing to look at him objectively.

I also am willing to give any coach 3 years to impliment their system and get it working at a decent rate. If Spurrier didn't get it that year I would have let him have another year. I still think Spurrier was forced out. That little Hey, I didn't quit meant a lot more than I think we realized. I think Joe Gibbs wanted to coach because Coy Gibbs said he wanted to learn the trade. Where else would he go besides here. Atlanta? He'd probably try to trade Vick so he could get someone who makes less mistakes.

The media (and we) were too quick to annoint Joe Gibbs as a savior, and are too quick to make him a pariah. I also agree that three years is the proper evaluation period for a coach - provided the players are willing to feel the growing pains. As much as I wanted Spurrier to succeed (I think my admiration of him may be second to Daseal's, but few others), the discontinuity of year two after the promise of year one didn't leave OBC in a good position to do that. The arguement has always been that if Coach Spurrier put in more experienced assistants, he would have done better. Changing his support staff (again) in his third year would have created more change for the players to adapt to. It simply wasn't a good situation for Spurrier to succeed. That fact, more than anything else, forced Steve Spurrier to quit.

As for Coy Gibbs being the fulcrum upon which the Redskins coaching staff turns, I'm going to have to politely disagree. If Joe Gibbs wanted to get his son a position as a Quality Control Assistant (a position which would amount to "Clipboard Carrier" if not for unionized titles), he could have done that without returning to 20-hour workdays. I'm sure the Falcons, the team he owned part of and sold at less-than-premium prices to return, could have found a slot.

Coach Gibbs has had a number of obstacles to immediate success, some of them considerable. He doesn't have excuses, however, nor does he ask for them. Hence my signature.