Joe Gibbs Retires. Who's next? (WTF...Zorn?)

[LyricalRico]

"He retired as coach and team president of the Washington Redskins on Tuesday, three days after a playoff loss ended an inspirational late-season run that followed the death of safety Sean Taylor.

Gibbs will remain as a special adviser to owner Dan Snyder and was to discuss his retirement at an afternoon news conference at Redskins Park. The news startled players, who left Sunday's final team meeting certain their 67-year-old coach would return for the final year of his contract."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3186165

- Was this the right thing for him to do?
- What are your thoughts on Gibbs legacy now that he's retired again?
- Where does the team go from here?

[Rafael122]

1. Yes, apparently he wanted to be with his family, and his grandson who is 2 years old has leukemia. Obviously that takes a lot out of him since he deeply loves his family.

2. He still has the same legacy IMO. Still a hall of fame coach, and probably one of the few coaches players would run through a brick wall for. He will now be remembered for rallying this team to the playoffs after the tragedy.

3. If it were up to me, I'd interview a few candidates but then give the job to Gregg. Promote Blache to defensive coordinator, and keep Saunders. However, the Redskins are interviewing Jeff Schwartz, defensive coordinator of the Titans so we shall see.

[LyricalRico]

The latest on the head coaching search:

The Washington Redskins planned to interview their defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, for their vacant head coaching job on Saturday afternoon, according to a Redskins source. Williams is considered the frontrunner for the job.

They have also interviewed Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

Cardinals coach Russ Grimm, reported earlier as having interviewed for the job, did not meet with Redskins officials.

The Redskins still have not complied with the Rooney Rule, which requires that they interview at least one minority candidate for the job. They plan to interview Colts assistants Jim Caldwell and Ron Meeks, which would put them in compliance with the rule. But they cannot interview the Colts assistants until after their playoffs.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3193242

In the end I think Gregg Williams will get the job. The players all want it to be him, he won't chafe at Danny/Vinny running things, and he likely won't make any changes to the offense.

I don't think it's a longterm solution, though. It'll pretty much be a one year trial run and if the Skins don't make the playoffs Snyder will court the likes of Bill Cowher, Jason Garrett, and Wade Phillips very hard.

[Rafael122]

He reportedly met with Snyder for 8 hours on Saturday, and his 2nd interview will be on Monday. I'd be shocked if Gregg isn't named the next head coach.

If Snyder likes continuity, hire Williams as coach, keep Saunders as your offensive coordinator, and promote Blache to defensive coordinator. If Buges wants to stay, go right ahead, he did a helluva job this season.

[LyricalRico]

^ I hadn't thought about Bugel potentially staying. Gibbs hanging around the front office part-time would probably make it easier for him to stay.

[W. Unseld]

I'm now reading that Greg Williams isn't a huge fan of Saunders and they have pretty big philosophical differences on football. The only reason I really wanted Greg was to keep Saunders

[Rafael122]

I think there might be a problem between those two b/c I look at Gregg as someone who likes to pound the ball and then throw it, sorta like a Gibbs Jr. while Saunders likes to mix it up, prefer some trickeration, etc.

[LyricalRico]

Just heard on 980 that Mora has taken his name out of the running (maybe he knows he's in line to get the Seattle job, assuming Holmgren bolts). He was a guy I thought might be able to leapfrog Williams for a number of reasons but that's out now.

[Scabs304]

If it is not Gregg Williams I think there are major problems in the Redskins organization.

[Rafael122]

New Rumor:

Jim Fassel as head coach, and Rex Ryan as defensive coordinator.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Time for another decade of sucking if Fossil is hired.

[LyricalRico]

New Rumor:

Jim Fassel as head coach, and Rex Ryan as defensive coordinator.

Yep, I heard the same.

This just came out of nowhere IMO. Fassel does have head coaching experience and he has taken a team to the Super Bowl. Ryan certainly has the pedigree to keep this team defensive oriented. But this would mean starting completely over and that the upcoming season would be yet another transition year.

And Fassel's no spring chicken, either (58 or 59 I think). How long is he gonna be here? It took Gibbs 4 years to really get things going. If it takes Fassel that long he'll be in his early 60's and thinking about retirement. Whereas a guy like Tomlin in Pittsburgh is young enough to stay 10+ years with one team and still have something left in the tank.

I'm abivalent about the move because I wasn't all that excited about Gregg Williams to begin with. But the constant change is once again going to force this team backwards. Such is life with The Danny.

[Rafael122]

Then you factor in whether or not players would restructure their contracts now.

[Rafael122]

Latest:

Fassel as HC
Jim Zorn (Seahawks QB coach) as OC
Rex Ryan as DC

Watching Washington Post Live, this all seems to point to helping JC as much as possible.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Man this **** better pay off.

I do like Rex Ryan though. His defenses are frickin fierce and he brings the most out of his players. Hes kinda like Gregg Williams but he doesn't do the prevent crap that GW did.

Still man, Jim Fossil? WTF.

[LyricalRico]

Watching Washington Post Live, this all seems to point to helping JC as much as possible.

This thought had crossed my mind as well. But aren't the guys coming in "west coast offense" guys? Not sure that Campbell is the right QB for that kind of system.

[LyricalRico]

Here's the latest from ESPN:

Former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel remains under strong consideration to fill the Washington head coach vacancy, but a Redskins' source said late Wednesday he has not yet been offered the position and that club officials might still decide to wait until after Super Bowl XLII to interview one or more assistants from the franchises involved in the championship game.

Team and league sources also insisted that Washington defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was considered the heir apparent to Joe Gibbs and who has interviewed four times with owner Daniel Snyder and executive vice president Vinny Cerrato in the past 10 days, is still a candidate for the position.

It has been rumored that the Redskins might be interested in meeting with Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who has vast experience in the NFC East. Before being named as the Giants' coordinator, Spagnuolo was the Philadelphia Eagles' linebackers coach for eight seasons. A Washington source acknowledged Thursday that Spagnuolo is "on the radar screen" of Redskins' officials.

League rules prohibit the Redskins from interviewing Spagnuolo or any other assistants from the Giants or the New England Patriots until after the Super Bowl.

...

On Wednesday, the Redskins met with Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, and he has emerged as the top choice to be their new offensive coordinator, no matter who is hired as head coach. It appears that the Redskins will part ways with assistant head coach/offense Al Saunders, who joined the staff in 2006 as one of the NFL's highest paid assistants.

...

The Redskins also want to hire Rex Ryan as the team's new defensive coordinator, sources said. Ryan has been the defensive coordinator for the Ravens for the past three seasons. But the Redskins have been stymied in their attempts to hire him because the Ravens still retain contractual rights that allow them to block Ryan from taking another defensive coordinator job.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3210819

I'm not sure what to think at this point.

[Rafael122]

What a mess. All they had to do was promote Gregg Williams and this would have been over a week or so ago. Now they have no clue who to go after. Everyone they talk to are getting raises.

[Wizards2Lottery]

I have to be honest, I didn't see this coming. It seems like Snyder is full of **** and didn't learn anything from Gibbs. If GW is not promoted, Gibbs II is a big time failure.

JG left us with a solid foundation, which Snyder is ready to tear apart. Its absolutely sickening how there treating Williams after all hes done for this franchise the past 4 years.

But nah, little midget doesn't wanna hire GW because GW doesn't want Cerrato.

give me a friggin break. I'm slowly losing my interest in this franchise.

[LyricalRico]

A friend sent this to me as a cut/paste from an Extreme Skins blog. I don't have a link.

Had a long chat with my AFC North scout friend this morning. He is still down at the Senior Bowl and here is the latest he has heard:

He spoke directly with a Redskins coach yesterday while eating dinner. This coach said that, at this point, nobody thinks Gregg Williams would even take the job if it was eventually offered to him. This coach said that the other redskins coaches he has talked to feel very disrepected by being kept in the dark about their status. They all want out of the situation and released from their contracts so they can find employment with another team and some of them have specifically requested a release from their contracts. Snyder didn't allow it and that is when Snyder had Gibbs step in to talk with the coaches and set up meetings with them all next week.

This coach said that here is what the Redskins are looking at for next year: "They will either have a whole new staff or, if most of us are not released from our contracts, they will have a bunch of disgruntled coaches that will hate coming to work everyday."

My buddy's GM told him that he thinks the Redskins have such a mess on their hands right now that it will probably be hard for us to fill a whole staff right now with competent coaches.

My buddy leaves the Senior Bowl tomorrow so I will post anything else I hear.

With all of the discussions I have had with my buddy this week I just don't think as fans we can truly comprehend how toxic this situation is right now inside the Redskins organization.

UUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH