wewantdallas
10-07-2004, 04:11 PM
When I was a kid in 1981, and Gibbs became head coach, something strange made me want to start keeping a scrapbook. I began cutting out articles after nearly every game and pasting them into the book through 1981 and the Super Bowl year of 1982. It's so much fun to go back sometimes and reread them. Recently, I found this article dealing with Gibbs' 0-5 start. It sheds a lot of light on the man and how he handles tough times. One thing I do know about this team, they are in the best hands possible with Joe Gibbs on board.
I don't think there will be a "Memory of the Week" this week, so, enjoy this verbal memory. We WILL get better!!
**********************
"1st Lesson For Gibbs: Making the Best of the Worst of Times"
by Paul Attner
Washington Post, 1981
The Redskins were 0-5 and playing progressively worse every week.
The players braced themselves for yelling, finger-pointing and the threats coaches usually make when teams are losing.
"You figured it all had to come," guard Russ Grimm said. "That's ow it always is on losing teams. Coaches start blaming the players, they start blaming each other and everyone points figners at everyone else."
In team meetings before Game 6, Joe Gibbs was firm and serious. But instead of berating his players, he spoke about patience, self esteem and dedication. He told them they would win soon. That Sunday, they beat Chicago.
"He kept his cool no matter how bad things got," safety Mark Murphy said. "He handled a most difficult situation very well. People already were asking him about his job security, but he stayed calm. That impressed a lot of players. Sure, he got upset sometimes and we were chastized, but nothing out of the ordinary. I'd say he earned our respect during that period, and I think that's essential before a coach can do anything with a team."
The Redskins are 4-6 going into today's 4 p.m. game against the New York Giants. Gibbs isn't gloating over their resurgence the past five weeks any more than he sulked over their horrid start. But if he eventually becomes a standout coach in the national football league, as the team owner and general manager have predicted, it will be due in large part to his demeanor during those nightmarish early days of his rookie season.
General manager Bobby Beathard feared at one point that Gibbs would break under the pressure, so he decided to give his coach a pep talk. Gibbs wound up consoling Beatherd.
"I can't imagine a worse situation for a new coach," Beathard said. "Here awas a guy with great expectations still trying to get his first win in a town that's really serious about their football team. I thought he would break, but he didn't come close. He has a great confidence in himself. I don't know where it comes from, but he has it. The team had every reason to fall apart, but he didn't let it."
Gibbs was hired from the San Diego Chargers staff by team owner Jack Kent Cooke, who was impressed with Gibbs' intelligence, outgoing personality and tactical imagination. Gibbs has made some coaching blunders, particularly in his offensive scheme at the beginning of the season. He sometimes grows too close to players, which influences his personnel decisions. He delegates authority well but has trouble delegating his own time. He tends to drive himself almost to the point of exhaustion every week. He also has had to learn to be a head coach the toughest way possible, through on the job training in a city where eveyr move is reported and analyzed.
Gibbs says he'll never be able to keep his distance from players. "I Like people too much. If that's a fault, it's something I'm going to have to live with." He also admits if he had been more familiar with his personell, he probably would not have begun the season with a wideopen passing offense that contributed heavily to the team's sloppy play.
"We are still in the process of learning what we all can do," he said. "I took a look at our running backs and figured we needed to have two backs in there at all times. I was realy more comfortable with one back and two tight ends. It's the way I probably should have gone, but once you make a decision, you can't second guess it. I did what I thought was right and then when I saw it wasn't, I changed."
Even now, when the team is winning, his players still laugh occasionally at some of his behavior. And not all of them agree with the way he has maneuvered personnel. For the most part, howver, they say his attempts to be a "player's coach" have worked. He has been firm without being abusive, inspirational without being melodramatic.
"What impressed me the most," Grivv said, "was when he told us that if we mess up, the coaches feel they have messed up too, because they didn't teach us right. He didn't pass the buck on to us. If you are around him any length of time, you realize he is honest and fair. That's why we respect hiim. If you need him, he'll talk to you. And he's always around, walking through the locker room, talking to people. It impresses you when you see him giving instructions during practice instead of hanging back and observing."
Said quarterback Joe Theismann, who was benched once by Gibbs, "We all appreciate that he doesn't criticize us in public. No player likes to see a coach single him out. He took the blame himself, whether it was deserved or not. People should realize that we are just now starting to see him work at his best. He feels comfortable now. The job really fits him."
The players never knew the self doubts that troubled Gibbs during the losing streak. "In the worse moments, you question yourself, sure," he said. "I always have felt this is where I'm supposed to be, as a head coach in this league, in Washington. But to get off to that kind of start, you wonder. It couldn't have been a worse beginning, especially for a new staff that's a little more excited to begin with. You have to worry about what your ownder is thinking and how tolerant the fans are going to be. But I was so sure what we were doing was right that I stayed with it. And just hoped I had made the right decision."
During those early weeks, Gibbs started sleeping three nights every week at Redskin Park on a pull out sofa purchased by his wife, Patricia. He knew he was becoming drained, but all his life he had met every crisis by working harder. So he put in longer hours, watched more film, looked at more computer printouts.
"I'd go home on Friday nights and sleep for 12 hours straight," he said. "I still do. You can feel the walls closing in, but there isn't much you can do about it. I know they took my blood pressure before the start of one season and it was something like 75 over 138. Before a game against Oakland, it was 95 over 155."
"I think what kept them all going was their ability to laugh," said Gibbs' secretary, Barbara Kelley. "No matter how bad it got, all the coaches still could find something to laugh about." Gibbs intentionally surrounded himself with assistnats who were close friends. He then delegated major authority to them. "I know how they will react in times of crisis," he said during training camp. And when the crisis occurred sooner than he had expected, his assistnats helped him get through it.
"Joe likes to tell stories and laugh," said Joe Bugel, the offensive line coach. "We all do. It eases the tension. I've been around coaches who take things so seriously you never could smile. That'll kill you for sure."
The latest sure fire comedy hit at Redskin Park is a film, run at high speed, of Gibbs and Don Breaux, the backfield coach, signalling plays to the quarterbacks during practice. Every time it is shown, Gibbs' high-pitched belly laugh can be heard in teh surrounding halls. His automobile exploits also have been somewhat hilarious.
There was the night he walked outside Redskin Park and couldn't find his car. He thought it was stolen, then remembered he had parked it at the nearby Dulles Marriott. And then he couldn't find keys to open it. Another night, he had a flat tire and couldn't remove the hub cap. He finally tried to take the hub cap off by beating it with a tire jack before driving the car, flat tire and all, to a gas station. "Oh, I see you were too lazy to use the key to get the hub cap off," the attendent said. "What key," Gibbs asked.
(PART 2 to follow)
I don't think there will be a "Memory of the Week" this week, so, enjoy this verbal memory. We WILL get better!!
**********************
"1st Lesson For Gibbs: Making the Best of the Worst of Times"
by Paul Attner
Washington Post, 1981
The Redskins were 0-5 and playing progressively worse every week.
The players braced themselves for yelling, finger-pointing and the threats coaches usually make when teams are losing.
"You figured it all had to come," guard Russ Grimm said. "That's ow it always is on losing teams. Coaches start blaming the players, they start blaming each other and everyone points figners at everyone else."
In team meetings before Game 6, Joe Gibbs was firm and serious. But instead of berating his players, he spoke about patience, self esteem and dedication. He told them they would win soon. That Sunday, they beat Chicago.
"He kept his cool no matter how bad things got," safety Mark Murphy said. "He handled a most difficult situation very well. People already were asking him about his job security, but he stayed calm. That impressed a lot of players. Sure, he got upset sometimes and we were chastized, but nothing out of the ordinary. I'd say he earned our respect during that period, and I think that's essential before a coach can do anything with a team."
The Redskins are 4-6 going into today's 4 p.m. game against the New York Giants. Gibbs isn't gloating over their resurgence the past five weeks any more than he sulked over their horrid start. But if he eventually becomes a standout coach in the national football league, as the team owner and general manager have predicted, it will be due in large part to his demeanor during those nightmarish early days of his rookie season.
General manager Bobby Beathard feared at one point that Gibbs would break under the pressure, so he decided to give his coach a pep talk. Gibbs wound up consoling Beatherd.
"I can't imagine a worse situation for a new coach," Beathard said. "Here awas a guy with great expectations still trying to get his first win in a town that's really serious about their football team. I thought he would break, but he didn't come close. He has a great confidence in himself. I don't know where it comes from, but he has it. The team had every reason to fall apart, but he didn't let it."
Gibbs was hired from the San Diego Chargers staff by team owner Jack Kent Cooke, who was impressed with Gibbs' intelligence, outgoing personality and tactical imagination. Gibbs has made some coaching blunders, particularly in his offensive scheme at the beginning of the season. He sometimes grows too close to players, which influences his personnel decisions. He delegates authority well but has trouble delegating his own time. He tends to drive himself almost to the point of exhaustion every week. He also has had to learn to be a head coach the toughest way possible, through on the job training in a city where eveyr move is reported and analyzed.
Gibbs says he'll never be able to keep his distance from players. "I Like people too much. If that's a fault, it's something I'm going to have to live with." He also admits if he had been more familiar with his personell, he probably would not have begun the season with a wideopen passing offense that contributed heavily to the team's sloppy play.
"We are still in the process of learning what we all can do," he said. "I took a look at our running backs and figured we needed to have two backs in there at all times. I was realy more comfortable with one back and two tight ends. It's the way I probably should have gone, but once you make a decision, you can't second guess it. I did what I thought was right and then when I saw it wasn't, I changed."
Even now, when the team is winning, his players still laugh occasionally at some of his behavior. And not all of them agree with the way he has maneuvered personnel. For the most part, howver, they say his attempts to be a "player's coach" have worked. He has been firm without being abusive, inspirational without being melodramatic.
"What impressed me the most," Grivv said, "was when he told us that if we mess up, the coaches feel they have messed up too, because they didn't teach us right. He didn't pass the buck on to us. If you are around him any length of time, you realize he is honest and fair. That's why we respect hiim. If you need him, he'll talk to you. And he's always around, walking through the locker room, talking to people. It impresses you when you see him giving instructions during practice instead of hanging back and observing."
Said quarterback Joe Theismann, who was benched once by Gibbs, "We all appreciate that he doesn't criticize us in public. No player likes to see a coach single him out. He took the blame himself, whether it was deserved or not. People should realize that we are just now starting to see him work at his best. He feels comfortable now. The job really fits him."
The players never knew the self doubts that troubled Gibbs during the losing streak. "In the worse moments, you question yourself, sure," he said. "I always have felt this is where I'm supposed to be, as a head coach in this league, in Washington. But to get off to that kind of start, you wonder. It couldn't have been a worse beginning, especially for a new staff that's a little more excited to begin with. You have to worry about what your ownder is thinking and how tolerant the fans are going to be. But I was so sure what we were doing was right that I stayed with it. And just hoped I had made the right decision."
During those early weeks, Gibbs started sleeping three nights every week at Redskin Park on a pull out sofa purchased by his wife, Patricia. He knew he was becoming drained, but all his life he had met every crisis by working harder. So he put in longer hours, watched more film, looked at more computer printouts.
"I'd go home on Friday nights and sleep for 12 hours straight," he said. "I still do. You can feel the walls closing in, but there isn't much you can do about it. I know they took my blood pressure before the start of one season and it was something like 75 over 138. Before a game against Oakland, it was 95 over 155."
"I think what kept them all going was their ability to laugh," said Gibbs' secretary, Barbara Kelley. "No matter how bad it got, all the coaches still could find something to laugh about." Gibbs intentionally surrounded himself with assistnats who were close friends. He then delegated major authority to them. "I know how they will react in times of crisis," he said during training camp. And when the crisis occurred sooner than he had expected, his assistnats helped him get through it.
"Joe likes to tell stories and laugh," said Joe Bugel, the offensive line coach. "We all do. It eases the tension. I've been around coaches who take things so seriously you never could smile. That'll kill you for sure."
The latest sure fire comedy hit at Redskin Park is a film, run at high speed, of Gibbs and Don Breaux, the backfield coach, signalling plays to the quarterbacks during practice. Every time it is shown, Gibbs' high-pitched belly laugh can be heard in teh surrounding halls. His automobile exploits also have been somewhat hilarious.
There was the night he walked outside Redskin Park and couldn't find his car. He thought it was stolen, then remembered he had parked it at the nearby Dulles Marriott. And then he couldn't find keys to open it. Another night, he had a flat tire and couldn't remove the hub cap. He finally tried to take the hub cap off by beating it with a tire jack before driving the car, flat tire and all, to a gas station. "Oh, I see you were too lazy to use the key to get the hub cap off," the attendent said. "What key," Gibbs asked.
(PART 2 to follow)