Joe Gibbs, in his second incarnation as coach of the Washington Redskins, will be entrusted with the same power he had the first time around and Steve Spurrier had the last two years.
The Hall-of-Fame coach, however, is likely to have more sway over personnel decisions than Spurrier did, given his record of success during his previous 12-year stint with the Redskins.
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Despite being given the lofty title of president and coach by owner Dan Snyder, Gibbs will officially share power with vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato, club sources said. As he did during Spurrier’s brief time in Washington, Snyder will settle all disputes between the two, though Gibbs’ opinions are likely to carry more weight with the owner than Spurrier’s ever did.
Snyder said as much in a statement released by the club yesterday, lauding Gibbs as the man he hopes will restore the beleaguered franchise to its status of yesteryear.
“Joe Gibbs helped define what the Washington Redskins stand for — integrity, hard work, determination, winning and championships,” Snyder said. “Who better to set our strategy and lead the Redskins back to championship glory.”
Gibbs certainly has the authority to hire and fire his staff of assistants, and based on some of the names he has already signed up — defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and assistant head coach/offensive line coach Joe Bugel — Washington could wind up with one of the most-experienced coaching staffs in the NFL.
Williams, the recently fired coach of the Buffalo Bills, will be the highest paid assistant in the league, NFL sources said, with an annual salary of $1.8 million. Though he had mixed results as a head coach in Buffalo, Williams’ credentials as defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans are impeccable: His 2000 squad was the top-ranked unit in the league, ahead even of the Super Bowl-champion Baltimore Ravens.
Bugel’s credentials as an offensive line guru are as impressive, and certainly well-known around Washington. The longtime mentor of the Redskins’ famed “Hogs” of the 1980s, Bugel said yesterday he will return to assist Gibbs and mold the current offensive line into a group worthy of its predecessors.
No other members of Gibbs’ staff have been hired yet, but several potential names have surfaced. Russ Grimm, one of Bugel’s former “Hogs” and currently the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line coach, is expected to be offered the Redskins’ offensive coordinator position, according to NFL sources. Grimm, who could be groomed to become a head coach one day, is still under contract with the Steelers, so the Redskins would need permission to speak to him.
Other possible members of Gibbs’ staff, sources said, include Ernie Zampese (a quarterbacks and receivers guru), Don Breaux (the Redskins’ longtime running backs coach) and some of Williams’ defensive coaches from Buffalo, including coordinator Jerry Gray and defensive line coach Tim Krumrie.
In addition to a coaching staff that might look familiar to longtime Redskins fans, Gibbs’ second term in Washington could bear other resemblances to his first. The power structure that has been arranged is not expected to be all that different from the one Gibbs and former general manager Bobby Beathard shared nearly two decades ago.
Under the proposed set-up, Gibbs would inform the personnel and scouting departments which positions he felt needed to be addressed. The front office, led by Cerrato, would then determine which available players to go after, and with Gibbs’ approval would then negotiate contracts with the targeted players.
Club sources said there are no plans to add any new front office positions. Gibbs, who signed a five-year, $28.5 million contract, will not receive an ownership stake in Washington for now, but could once he retires. He also must sell his minority share of the Atlanta Falcons (he and two partners own 5 percent of the franchise).
Another possible offshoot of the Gibbs-coached Redskins would be the return of training camp to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. The one-time permanent summer home of Redskins, Carlisle was abandoned twice in the last decade, including last year when Spurrier decided to move camp back to Redskin Park. Gibbs could decide to return to Dickinson, where the club trained from 1963 to 1994 and 2001 and 2002.
• Staff writer Jody Foldesy contributed to this report.
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