Joe Gibbs coaching tree?

[SmootSmack]

Well, Richie Petitbone I suppose.

But his "coaching tree" as it were I think is more so comprised of former players who have gone to serve as head coaches or coordinators. I'm talking about guys like Ken Whisenhunt, Russ Grimm, Mike Tice, Greg Manusky. And then you have position coaches like Vernon Dean and Ernest Byner.

I used to think that was the biggest knock on his legacy, that he doesn't have a strong coaching tree a la Bill Walsh. But last week, while reflecting upon Walsh's death, I thought maybe the fact that he doesn't have that strong tree is Gibbs's strength. His ability to adapt so well to the structure of his team-3 wide aerial attack or heavy jumbo, scrambling 6 ft. QB or statuesque 6'3" guy with a rocket arm, and so on-are hard to duplicate and a testament to his success as a coach.