Return of the King: Part I
What a glorious day in the Nation's Capital; the King has returned.

With the shocking hire of Joe Gibbs as Head Coach and President of Football Operations, the Washington Redskins solidified their future in one bold and decisive stroke, as well as whipping Washington into a frenzy that will surely carry through the season-opening kickoff after Labor Day Weekend. Forget Michael Jordan, forget Jaromir Jagr, forget about Britney getting married, DC was abuzz today in a way it hasn't been since Gibbs retired on that equally surprising day in February of 1993. And walking down New Hampshire Avenue this morning, it was easy to see that Gibbs is the only man that can bring together this entire city, bi-partisan bickering be damned. In five minutes I had a Latin construction worker yell "Hail to the Redskins" at me and then gave a thumbs-up to an old, white guy with a Redskins hat walking into the Watergate.

It is hard to comprehend how much better off the Redskins are now then they were 24 hours ago. Yesterday they were a team with no direction, no motivation and a bunch of players that haven't had structure in their entire careers. Their owner couldn't have scored a table at TGI Fridays, let alone Cafe Milano, and he seemed close to hiring a coach who recently had his team quit on him for the last month of the season or a recluse who'd rather sit in a booth and coordinate his defense then have the responsibility of a head coach. And most importantly, the fans, as evidenced by the empty seats for the final two home games, were growing increasingly impatient with Dan Snyder and a poor start under an uninspiring coach could have turned the faithful DC legions against El Danno for good.
Enter Joe Jackson Gibbs. Would anybody be surprised if he rode into tomorrow's 5 p.m. press conference on a white horse, with Joe Bugel leading the way? The Redskins now have the leader they have lacked since Gibbs himself left. They now have the tradition that was forgotten in the Norv Turner-era. The burgundy and gold will once again become feared. The NFC East will once again become the premiere conference in the NFL. Is this putting too much pressure on one man? Didn't the same sort of talk happen when Steve Spurrier galloped into town? Yes and yes... but this time it's different, and if you have to ask why, then you just don't get it.

Let's forget all the talk about how the new generation of players won't respond to Gibbs' old-school style. He is not there to be a friend to the players. He is there to be their coach. And if the players don't respect him and his methods, then they'll be out. Do you think Bill Parcells is anybodies buddy in Dallas? No, but they respect and fear him. Gibbs won't instill fear in his players Parcells-style, rather he will be in the neo-Vermeil mode. Joe will earn the respect of his players, but they will not fear his wrath, they will fear his disappointment. Joe Gibbs does not have to connect with his players on a personal level to get the most out of their abilities, he needs to coach-em-up (to borrow a phrase from the Ex-Dukie, Ex-Gator, Ex-Redskin head coach).
He needs to teach them the basics, something that players like Jeremiah Trotter and Fred Smoot seem to have forgotten. Gibbs will not light a fire under his players butts to inspire them, his simple presence should do the job nicely. This is especially necessary because Gibbs is an X's-and-O's coach, not a fire-and-brimstone guy, a la Parcells or Bill Cowher... but that's why he has Joe Bugel.

Other's say that Gibbs has been out of the game for 10 years and the game has passed him by. It hasn't. Football is football. The players have changed and the money in the game has increased. Critics say Gibbs won't be able to relate to eccentric new players, but let's not forget that Gibbs once coached Dexter Manley and John Riggins.
In his second coming, Gibbs will have success running the counter-trey and running behind offensive lineman who block with skill rather than girth. Remember, the Hogs were grossly undersized, even in the 1980's. It's technique, not size that gets it done in the trenches. (Sorry for unintentionally sounding like a Cosmo article). He has hired a highly respected defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, who has been in the league while Gibbs has been out. He has demanded control of the team from Danny and Vinny. He has brought in Joe Bugel. So far everything Joe Gibbs has done has been right on the money. Was there any doubt?

Tangent time

Jay Glazer, the Sportsline.com reporter who initially broke the Gibbs story has done a wonderful job the past 24 hours breaking the news... all except for his lead sentence.
Glazer began:

For the second consecutive year, something unthinkable happens in the coaching ranks.

He, of course, is referring to last year when Bill Parcells was hired by the Dallas Cowboys.
Bill Parcells is a mercenary. He is a great coach, without a doubt. But his coming out of a three-year retirement after hopping from New York to New England and then back to New York, then snubbing the Glazer brothers in Tampa Bay only to be wooed back 11 months later by Jerry "I'm trying to compete with Michael Jackson in the most plastic surgeries department" Jones to coach in the city that is most famous for getting done by Debbie and killing Kennedy.
Anyway, I digress, the point is, Parcells coming out "retirement" is hardly the same thing as Joe Gibbs coming back to coach the Redskins. The football writers didn't even put Parcells in the Hall of Fame because they knew he was coming back. Nobody, and I mean nobody knew Gibbs was coming back. This was the best kept secret since Bush dipped out to Iraq for Thanksgiving dinner.
On the contrary, everybody knew Parcells was. This is not meant to take anything away from Bill Parcells, whom for now I will change my grudging respect into passionate hate normally reserved for Derek Jeter or a Duke point guard. (Speaking of hating Dallas; even though Steve Spurrier said he would try to rekindle the Dallas-Washington rivalry, every game had the feel of a Globetrotters-Generals game. Is there any doubt that Gibbs will make Dallas week will become a "check-the-calendar-and-flip-out-because-its-only-Tuesday" event again? Do you think Joe is gonna let Parcells beat him with Quincy Carter and Dat Nguyen instead of Phil Simms and LT? Neither do I.)
Parcells coming back to Dallas was a big story and he proved he was worth the hype this year. But Joe Gibbs coming out of retirement is without parallel in sporting history. Earl Weaver left the Orioles in the 80's, but came back a few years later. Billy Martin was fired by George Steinbrenner seemingly every time a new moon came out, but he was brought back soon after. Other great coaches have returned, but they were all either a) expected or b) with another team and in most cases, both. (Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Bill Walsh (at Stanford), and I'm sure somebody in hockey did, but who really cares).
A Hall-of-Fame coach returning to the scene of his glory days after a decade out has never happened. Joe Gibbs returning to the Redskins is like Winston Churchill rising from the dead, grabbing a liter of whiskey and going back to Britain to try giving Prime Ministering another whirl. This is like Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David deciding, "What the hell, let's bring back Seinfeld. Where's Wayne Knight's number?" This is huge. This is bigger than huge. Imagine watching the MTV Video Music Awards next September and hearing the intro to "2 of Americaz Most Wanted" and then seeing 2pac walk onstage with Snoop and then start doing their thing like nothing's changed. It's like that.
Seriously, when looking through the eyes of the NFL, wasn't Joe Gibbs good-as-dead? When coaching jobs opened in the 1990's, Gibbs' name was never mentioned, because everybody assumed he was happy watching drivers turn left and running what became the most successful racing team in NASCAR. He was a ghost. A memory. And then like that, he comes back to the biggest stage to lead his beloved team back to glory. I'm still in shock. It's surreal. He's back.

Tangent over

Gibbs has been a success in every aspect of his life. He led the Redskins to three Super Bowl victories in 11 years, took a fledgling NASCAR team and won two championships, plus one Daytona 500, he is happily married and has a close-knit family. He will be a success in Washington, probably in the first year. His presence make the Redskins a playoff team right now. The Redskins have more talent on their current roster then the Cowboys did last year and the 'Boys overachieved to 10-6. If Gibbs and El Danno's Yes Man Vinny Cerrato can get a decent RB (who knows, Ladell Betts might even work), trade down from the 5th pick to get some guys to fill in holes on the D-Line and get a Tight End in the mold of Don Warren or Terry Orr, who is to say the Skins can't compete next year. The schedule is favorable, the fans are jacked up and the players will be the best prepared in the NFL. There won't be any cell phones ringing during meetings or players going over the coaches head to bitch to the owner. This team will underachieve no more.

The Washington Redskins lost their way after Joe Gibbs left in 1993. But now he's back and so are they. Today the Washington Redskins began the journey back to the glory days. It starts tomorrow at 5 p.m., continues through training camp and through a playoff appearence next season. It finishes when Lavar Arrington and Chris Samuels carry a Gatorade-drenched Joe Gibbs off the field of Pro Player Stadium on the first Sunday in February of 2007. Hail to the Redskins. They're back...

(Tomorrow: Part 2 - How Joe Will Make It Work)