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Joe Gibbs resigns as Redskins coach after playoff defeat
SAYING GOODBYE:
The 67-year-old decided it was time to call it a day to spend more time with his family, despite having a year left on his contract
AP, WASHINGTON
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008, Page 19
Joe Gibbs resigned as coach and team president of the Washington Redskins on Tuesday, three days after his team's playoff loss concluded an NFL season marked by the killing of safety Sean Taylor.
The Redskins said in a statement that Gibbs will remain part of the Redskins family and serve as a special adviser to club owner Dan Snyder.
The Redskins will begin a search for a new coach immediately. Among the candidates are two former head coaches on Gibbs' staff, Gregg Williams and Al Saunders.
commitment
"My family situation being what it is right now, I told him I couldn't make the kind of commitment I needed to make," Gibbs said during a news conference, standing a few feet from the three silver Super Bowl trophies he won during his first tenure with the Redskins. "I felt like they needed me."
One of his grandsons, Taylor, was diagnosed with leukemia a year ago at age two and Gibbs frequently talks lovingly about his "grandbabies,"
He made an overnight trip to North Carolina on Sunday to be with his family, interrupting the postseason routine of meetings that usually follow the final game of the season.
team owner
Gibbs went 31-36, including 1-2 in the playoffs, after emerging from NFL retirement and his career as a stock-car racing team owner to sign a five-year, US$27.5 million contract in 2004.
He had always maintained that he intended to fulfill the contract, but the 67-year-old coach wavered from that stance on Monday when asked if he would return for the final year of his deal.
Gibbs' resignation seemingly brings an end an American Pro Football Hall of Fame coaching career in which he twice raised the Redskins from mediocrity into a playoff team.
However, he failed in his goal of bringing the team back to the title game during his second stint in Washington.
Gibbs won three NFL titles during his first tenure from 1981 to 1992.
During his second stint as coach he took the Redskins to the postseason in two of his four seasons.
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