Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303060218
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ASHBURN LENGTH: Medium
GIBBS RETIRES FROM REDSKINS, PLANS TO `JUST BE A DAD'
A dozen years of 20-hour days and sleeping in his office finally caught up with Joe Gibbs.The coach, who led the Washington Redskins to three Super Bowl titles, retired unexpectedly Friday, saying he wanted to spend more time with his wife and "just be a dad."
Longtime assistant coach Richie Petitbon, the team's defensive architect, will replace him.
"This is the toughest decision I have ever made in my life," Gibbs said at a news conference that included as many players and front-office employees as reporters. "The only thing I would ever put in front of this family here - I have two families, and the Redskins are a family - is that I have two boys I want to spend more time with."
Choking back tears during a 25-minute speech, Gibbs talked about how a temporary health scare last season caused him to re-evaluate his life. After being diagnosed with "migrane equivalence" - a nervous condition that included everything but the headaches associated with migraines - Gibbs, 52, changed his diet, began getting more rest, and set new priorities.
At the same time, he realized that coaching was taking a toll on his family life, particularly his opportunity to be with his sons, J.D. and Coy. Coy now plays football at Stanford.
"I want to go and see him play. I want to sit in the stands and just be a dad," Gibbs said, blinking back tears. "There's a window of opportunity with my family. I just want to try a different kind of life for awhile."
The news stunned many of Gibbs' players.
"I was driving over here to work out, and I heard it on the radio and I turned it up to make sure I was listening to the right thing," guard Raleigh McKenzie said. "It definitely hits me by surprise. I thought he was in it for the long haul."
On player who wasn't shocked was quarterback Mark Rypien - not after the way Gibbs talked during a recent visit to Rypien's house.
"He was asking me about my family, and he spent a lot of time talking to my little girls. The conversation didn't revolve around football the way it usually did," Rypien said. "You had kind of an indicator there - it made sense when I thought back on it."
Gibbs steps down with a record that any other NFL coach would envy. He is one of just three coaches in NFL history to win three Super Bowls, and Gibbs is the only one to do it with three different quarterbacks. His final regular-season mark was 124-60, and in post-season play only Vince Lombardi had a higher winning percentage.
In hiring Petitbon, the Redskins are determined to preserve as much continuity as possible in the early, uncertain days of NFL free agency.
For Petitbon, the head coaching job is a reward for work well done and a chance he thought might not come so soon. He was passed over in favor of Dallas defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt for the Chicago Bears spot earlier this year.
`Petitbon told his assistant coaches and players, "The coaching staff is going to stay intact. Nothing is going to change - it's going to be business as usual."
Gibbs didn't rule out the possibility of returning to the sidelines in several years, but admitted that he "couldn't imagine coaching anywhere but the Redskins."
Gibbs was notorious around the NFL for working 20-hour days and spending three and four nights a week on a cot in his office.