Quote:
Originally Posted by Clutch
I'm a George Allen fan, but also respect and admire Joe Gibbs. One thing that I've noticed is that most of the great head coaches have had assistant coaches who have gone on to become great head coaches in their own right.
In addition to Joe Bugel, who are the other branches of the Joe Gibbs coaching tree? I know that Joe Gibbs himself was the star pupil of Don Coryell's brilliant offensive-minded football school.
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To see a Joe Gibbs offense is to see the strains from which it arose. Gibbs offense featured schemes that befuddled defenses with three or four receiving threats, multiple shifts, a single tailback, H-backs (a tight end in the slot or backfield). An attack might come from anywhere. These schemes have at their source Don Coryell with a dash of Bill Peterson (and you have to give a nod to Sid Gillman, that patriarch of NFL offensive thinking). More than Xs and Os, Gibbs inspires uncommon devotion by his team. They are sold on his concepts and program -- the clear hand of Frank Broyles. John Riggins marvels at Gibbs' ability to manage people. More than once, he said that Gibbs "could have probably run General Motors," not to mention a winning N.A.S.C.A.R. team.
Gibbs’ hard work and long hours were extracted from Bill Peterson “who did not have raw talent on his teams, or a flamboyant personality …, but who succeeded nonetheless through sheer hard work.” From John McKay he learned that a certain part of being a good coach is the use of fear to motivate people.
Equally clear is, that to be a great coach, one must seek out and recruit outstanding assistants. Coryell, Breaux, Peterson and Broyles saw something in Gibbs and a number of other assistants who went on to successful NFL careers. Part of their greatness is due to their ability to build a stellar staff as Gibbs is now doing with Gregg Williams, Joe Bugel and recently Al Saunders, the highly regarded Kansas City offensive coordinator – and Don Coryell protégé. Outstanding assistants enabled the Redskins to be effective at half-time adjustments, as Gibbs became known for doing in his 1980s rampage.
Here are just a few of his many assistants at Washington:
1. Don Breaux
2. Dan Henning
3. Renny Simmons
4. Jack Burns
5. Joe Bugel
6. Jim Hanifan
7. Charley Taylor
ETC.