After a trying year that ended with a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs, Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs has decided to resign.
The Redskins are expected to begin a search for a new coach immediately. Among the certain candidates are two former head coaches on Gibbs’ staff, Gregg Williams and Al Saunders.
Gibbs went 31-36, including 1-2 in the playoffs, after emerging from NFL retirement and his NASCAR career to sign a five-year, $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 Monday when asked if he would return for the final year of his deal.
Gibbs deserves a ton of credit for what he did with the Redskins this season. Making the playoffs aside, he kept his team united through the tragic death of Sean Taylor, plus bounced back from a swarm of criticism for making a mistake at the end of a Week 13 loss to the Bills. Many of his former players say that Gibbs puts their health and families ahead of the X’s and O’s of the game. In a day and age when head coaches seem to be getting tons of negative press for being selfish, Gibbs certainly seemed to put his players ahead of himself.
