WP article: Time for Gibbs to walk away?

[BDBohnzie]

For some reason, when people question how long it takes to build a Super Bowl winner, I think of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bill Cowher. He was the Steelers coach for 15 years, and made it to the Super Bowl twice, winning once (14th season). While other teams went through coaches left and right, including the Redskins, Cowher was a mainstay in Pittsburgh.

I think whomever takes over for Gibbs (when he's ready to leave on his terms...he will not be fired), this is the style of approach necessary to build a winner. Cowher had 3 losing seasons in 15 years. The Rooneys gave him what he needed, and Cowher led them on the field.

Now, don't get me wrong...I know of the talk of Cowher being the next coach here. And I'm certainly not on the Cowher bandwagon to bring him here. We have 2 perfectly good candidates in Saunders and Williams to take over this team when Gibbs is ready. I see Gibbs keeping his Team President role and giving the next head coach what they need to be successful.

The New England game was an anomaly. New England played at the top of their game, while the Skins played at the bottom. This team is better than what we saw last Sunday, and I don't think we'll see that "team" again the rest of the season. The nice thing: at 4-3, we still have plenty of time to right the ship.

[irish]

Originally Posted by BDBohnzie

For some reason, when people question how long it takes to build a Super Bowl winner, I think of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bill Cowher. He was the Steelers coach for 15 years, and made it to the Super Bowl twice, winning once (14th season). While other teams went through coaches left and right, including the Redskins, Cowher was a mainstay in Pittsburgh.

I think whomever takes over for Gibbs (when he's ready to leave on his terms...he will not be fired), this is the style of approach necessary to build a winner. Cowher had 3 losing seasons in 15 years. The Rooneys gave him what he needed, and Cowher led them on the field.

Now, don't get me wrong...I know of the talk of Cowher being the next coach here. And I'm certainly not on the Cowher bandwagon to bring him here. We have 2 perfectly good candidates in Saunders and Williams to take over this team when Gibbs is ready. I see Gibbs keeping his Team President role and giving the next head coach what they need to be successful.

The New England game was an anomaly. New England played at the top of their game, while the Skins played at the bottom. This team is better than what we saw last Sunday, and I don't think we'll see that "team" again the rest of the season. The nice thing: at 4-3, we still have plenty of time to right the ship.

Cowher may have only won the SB once but he was in the AFC chamionship game a bunch and a perennial playoff contender. I think a big part of the reason Cowher could coach for 15 years is that he was brought in young so even if it took a few years to get the ball rolling he was still young enough to let it roll for a few years. Like I said before, Gibbs is old and is now in his 4th season. Even if the ball got rolling fast (which it didnt) it wasnt like Gibbs was going to be around long anyway so it would be on to another coach and a new system. Thats just not the way to build a consistent winner. I hope the next redskin coach is closer to 30 yrs old than to 70.