Shortly after the Skins lost to Seattle a few weeks back, Coach Gibbs let us know that he wasn’t coming back next year. On the one hand this was a big shock - it seems like next year could be a big year if the team can keep the injuries under control. On the other hand, anyone who saw Coach Gibbs leaving the field after their last game at FedEx must have known something was up.
One thing I found to be interesting was that Coach Gibbs said that he hadn’t thought too much about his plans for next year until after that loss - and that he though that they were going to go all the way to the Super Bowl! If pretty much anyone else had said that you would have laughed at them but I believe that Coach Gibbs really thought he would make it to the Super Bowl.
While I’m very, very disappointed that Coach Gibbs is leaving I had assumed that Gregg Williams would be the next coach - even if they went through the motions of interviewing other folks. Well, as time drags on it seems less and less likely that he’ll get the job. Heck, he has worked for the team for the past four years - what on earth do they need to ask him about before they can decide if he’s the guy for them?
The other day I read that there might be a new, mystery candidate in the mix. Hmmm, that could be interesting but unless the mystery candidate is Darrell Green or Richie Pettibone (can you believe that there is no Wikipedia page for Richie Pettibone! I’ve never contributed to Wikipedia or had much interest to but this might change that.) then I’m not interesting. Okay, I could live with Riggo - that would work too.
Then today I’m reading about Jim Fassel being in the running. You have to be kidding me. It was bad enough when they were talking about Brian Billick - but Jim Fassel? Give me a break. Marty was a better pick. Spurrier was more interesting. Heck, even back when they had Norv at least you kept thinking maybe he would become a great coach.
Getting someone who has been an okay coach before, maybe even pretty good, but who ultimately failed is just not very exciting to me. I guess I could live with a big name like Cowher but my preference would be to find some up and coming dude - the next Joe Gibbs - and give them a shot. If an unknown tries and fails it was at least interesting. If a re-run coach, like Fassel, tries and fails then it’s lame and boring. What if a re-run coach tries and succeeds… well I guess I’d have to cross that bridge when we never get to it.
At least if they stick with Gregg Williams for a year we have a shot at keeping the team and the momentum together - bringing in a new guy will wreck everything.