Props to Coach Gibbs

[okienole3]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9686663


Unsung Heroes: They've got the edge

By Pat Kirwan
NFL.com Senior Analyst


(Sept. 26, 2006) -- Week 3 had some very significant games, none more critical than the return of the New Orleans Saints to their home -- the Superdome. In a night Saints fans will never forget, there were two assistant coaches I would like to draw some attention to from the staff. Also, there are the Jets, Bengals and Colts coordinators. Ask any general manager who runs a team this year and he will tell you that coaching is a competitive edge in the NFL right now and there are a few men making a big difference with the results on the field.

1. Gary Gibbs, defensive coordinator for the Saints: The Saints worked hard enough and demonstrated on the national stage that they are now bona fide contenders in the NFC South. Everyone likes to talk about Reggie Bush, Drew Brees and the offense, but it's Gary Gibbs and his defense that caught my eye this week. The Falcons came in averaging 279 yards rushing a game. They rushed for 117 yards against Gibbs' defense, which is 162 yards off their pace. Vick did not throw a touchdown pass, but he was sacked five times. The Saints defenders also won on third downs as the Falcons offense converted just three of 19 attempts. Defense is best played with emotion and the undefeated Saints did just that under the direction of Gibbs.

[Dio]

I figured he would get the Saints D going in the right direction. Good jorb.

[Stoop Dawg]

I always thought Gibbs was a good coach. He was dealt a pretty tough hand cleaning up Switzer's mess.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

i don't really remember it that way, but then again it may just be me.

[boomrsoonr]

Any chance we could get him back as a DC? ;)

[Widescreen]

Gibbs is a good coordinator. He was a bad head coach.

[soonernation]

i don't really remember it that way, but then again it may just be me.


Gibbs was 44-23-2 as head coach at OU. That's not Bud, Barry or Bob good but it was respectable considering the circumstances inherited at OU. Gibbs was by no means a bad coach. I think he did about as well as anyone could have under the circumstances.

[IronSooner]

I heard them talking about him during the game but they didn't show him at the time. Good to see another Sooner doing well in the pros.

[Stoop Dawg]

Either I don't recall why he was so bad, or he seemed very good compared to those who followed.

He was certainly conservative, and didn't seem to win the "big" games. But I remember him being a true Sooner and a stand-up guy.

[TUSooner]

Glad to see that post. The Saints' defense has a bunch of new no-name guys who are hungry, and Gibbs is doing a fantastic job. Although its early, the NO defense hasn't looked this promising since the old old days of Rickey Jackson & Sam Miils. It's also cool to hear his matter-of-fact Oklahoma type accent on the radio :) (even though Gibbs was born in Tejas.)

At OU, Gibbs was in the bad position of the guy who came after the Great Guy. Plus, he was young and inherited the Great Guy's mess. But once a Sooner, always a Sooner, except Sch************.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Gibbs was 44-23-2 as head coach at OU. That's not Bud, Barry or Bob good but it was respectable considering the circumstances inherited at OU. Gibbs was by no means a bad coach. I think he did about as well as anyone could have under the circumstances.

See Frank Solich

[boomrsoonr]

See Frank Solich


Did Gibbs drink??

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Did Gibbs drink??

I bet we could have put him on the funniest sooner list if he did

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

you need to understand that the "mess" left him with was a ton of talent and scholarship restrictions. the problem was, he couldn't have scripted a better time for those restrictions to happen because everyone else in college football had to go through them as well because we went from 95->85 during the time we were on probation (we just started at 85 a little earlier). the guy had a ton of talent on campus.

gibbs' problems were multiple with the #1 being that he was in love with recruiting rankings. he landed the #1 player in some category about every year he was here (aubrey beavers (consensus #1 player in texas), greg wilkins (#1 DT in the nation), gundy (#1 QB in the nation with weinke), chad davis (#1 QB in the nation), james allen (#1 RB in the nation), etc. it takes a while before it sinks in for fans that most of the time those things aren't accurate, but if a coach never figures it out you are in trouble.

offensive philosophy - he wanted to run the west coast offense, but we just have never been able to land the types of receivers that offense needs. had he ran the option or had the spread been around then he would have been money. so what normally happened was we ended up either as a power running team or a quick strike O against the patsies and then we went into a shell against the better teams, leaving the defense to spend way too much time on the field.

steve collins and cale gundy - this has been rehashed and rehashed on here

peter gardere...ugh, i can't go any further

[TUSooner]

you need to understand that the "mess" left him with was a ton of talent and scholarship restrictions. the problem was, he couldn't have scripted a better time for those restrictions to happen because everyone else in college football had to go through them as well because we went from 95->85 during the time we were on probation (we just started at 85 a little earlier). the guy had a ton of talent on campus.

gibbs' problems were multiple with the #1 being that he was in love with recruiting rankings. he landed the #1 player in some category about every year he was here (aubrey beavers (consensus #1 player in texas), greg wilkins (#1 DT in the nation), gundy (#1 QB in the nation with weinke), chad davis (#1 QB in the nation), james allen (#1 RB in the nation), etc. it takes a while before it sinks in for fans that most of the time those things aren't accurate, but if a coach never figures it out you are in trouble.

offensive philosophy - he wanted to run the west coast offense, but we just have never been able to land the types of receivers that offense needs. had he ran the option or had the spread been around then he would have been money. so what normally happened was we ended up either as a power running team or a quick strike O against the patsies and then we went into a shell against the better teams, leaving the defense to spend way too much time on the field.

steve collins and cale gundy - this has been rehashed and rehashed on here

peter gardere...ugh, i can't go any further
I gladly defer to your vastly superior knowledge. I just kinda like the guy. ;)

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

half of the board was at OU when gibbs was there, this is just stuff that has been rehashed before. personally, i think gibbs would have eventually pulled out a national title ala mack brown if given long enough. however, having no personality and ****ing off donors wasn't going to allow that to happen.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Jim Traber got him fired..according to Jim

[Stoop Dawg]

offensive philosophy - he wanted to run the west coast offense, but we just have never been able to land the types of receivers that offense needs. had he ran the option or had the spread been around then he would have been money. so what normally happened was we ended up either as a power running team or a quick strike O against the patsies and then we went into a shell against the better teams, leaving the defense to spend way too much time on the field.

That sounds about right. We started throwing the ball but essentially had no one to throw to. Cale got a bit of a raw deal too. He took a lot of blame for lack of receivers. However, running out of bounds on 4th down in the RRS kinda sealed his legacy for me. ;)

[Paperclip]

gundy (#1 QB in the nation with weinke)

That line is funny for a couple of reasons.

[FormerSoonerProf]

Coach Gibbs was a true gentleman. He has an MBA as well, and is, in my book, an intellectual. He inherited an awful mess from Barry Switzer, and he tried his best to get the culture among the football players to change from the loosey-goosey ethos that Switzer had allowed to grow in the athletic dorm. This is not easy to do.... I remember the attitude among football players at that time during the Switzer era was that they were above the university rules. Things had to change and Gibbs did his best on this dimension.

This culture has changed and Stoops was responsible for some of this. I was most surprised when during the Stoops era, football players actually came to class! One of them got a high B in my class and I usedta grade pretty harshly. When asked about this, the player told me that he was really scared of Stoops kicking bad students off the team!!! So, he had to attend classes and because he was smart and paid attention, he got a good grade.

[Taxman71]

Gibbs was more of an RC Slocum than a Solich. Tough defense, always competitive, usually beat the little sister schools, but failed miserably against the top powers at the time (Nebraska, Texas and Colorado).

As stated, his biggest downfall as a coach (aside from not having much of a personality - media wise) was trying to force OU into the passing game despite not having the players (or coaches?) to do it. Aside from some run and shoot schools (Houston) and the Florida schools, the Big 8 was still primarily option football. OU was built for option football and had success with Steve Collins. If a Mike Leach-type had been available, things may have been different.

[Stoop Dawg]

he tried his best to get the culture among the football players to change from the loosey-goosey ethos that Switzer had allowed to grow in the athletic dorm. This is not easy to do.... I remember the attitude among football players at that time during the Switzer era was that they were above the university rules. Things had to change and Gibbs did his best on this dimension.

Another good point. He inherited some talent, but there was some baggage with it too. Although, I obviously don't know the specifics.

[olevetonahill]

Good for him :)

[okienole3]

that 95 team would have been great with Gibbs.

[sooneron]

I will always respect him as a Sooner, even a former head coach. However, he is and always will be a DC. And a great one at that. Props to Gary, he always exuded class. Unless, jkm cares to pontificate some more..

[TheUnnamedSooner]

I have great respect for Gibbs, it was unfortunate what he went through while HC of the sooners. He has a great defensive mind. He did ok, but does anyone remember "we just gibbs the ball away"? only if we knew what was to come....

[AlbqSooner]

Gibbs is a good coordinator. He was a bad head coach.
Not at all an uncommon malady. See Galen Hall and Gomer Jones.

Ah crap given the age of the majority of posters, let me explain.

Gomer Jones was Bud's Offensive Coordinator and the results speak for themselves. When Bud decided to run for U.S. Senate, Gomer became HC and he was pretty bad.

Galen Hall was Switzer's Offensive Coordinator and the results speak for themselves. He became HC at Florida and was pretty bad.

Some people are great coaches or coordinators, but not cut out to be Head Coaches.

Glad to see that Gibbs and Galen are both back to coordinating where they shine.

[picasso]

I always thought Gibbs was a good defensive coach who was in over his head as a head coach. He was dealt a pretty good hand getting Switzer's players and still couldn't win the big one.

fixed.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Great defenseive mind, just a problem with dealing with the press and talking to fans. Glad his career is going well.

[Paperclip]

that 95 team would have been great with Gibbs.

Not saying you're wrong, but do you remember what happened in '94?

[Dio]

Glad to see that post. The Saints' defense has a bunch of new no-name guys who are hungry, and Gibbs is doing a fantastic job. Although its early, the NO defense hasn't looked this promising since the old old days of Rickey Jackson & Sam Miils.

Why do you hate Pat Swilling?

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Not at all an uncommon malady. See Galen Hall and Gomer Jones.

Ah crap given the age of the majority of posters, let me explain.

Gomer Jones was Bud's Offensive Coordinator and the results speak for themselves. When Bud decided to run for U.S. Senate, Gomer became HC and he was pretty bad.

Galen Hall was Switzer's Offensive Coordinator and the results speak for themselves. He became HC at Florida and was pretty bad.

Some people are great coaches or coordinators, but not cut out to be Head Coaches.

Glad to see that Gibbs and Galen are both back to coordinating where they shine.

galen had this issue with recruiting rules...

[BigDeezy]

Gibbs was a good and very respectable coach. His downfall was that his teams couldn't win the big games -- and that is why he lost support.

[KingDavid]

you need to understand that the "mess" left him with was a ton of talent and scholarship restrictions. the problem was, he couldn't have scripted a better time for those restrictions to happen because everyone else in college football had to go through them as well because we went from 95->85 during the time we were on probation (we just started at 85 a little earlier). the guy had a ton of talent on campus.

gibbs' problems were multiple with the #1 being that he was in love with recruiting rankings. he landed the #1 player in some category about every year he was here (aubrey beavers (consensus #1 player in texas), greg wilkins (#1 DT in the nation), gundy (#1 QB in the nation with weinke), chad davis (#1 QB in the nation), james allen (#1 RB in the nation), etc. it takes a while before it sinks in for fans that most of the time those things aren't accurate, but if a coach never figures it out you are in trouble.

offensive philosophy - he wanted to run the west coast offense, but we just have never been able to land the types of receivers that offense needs. had he ran the option or had the spread been around then he would have been money. so what normally happened was we ended up either as a power running team or a quick strike O against the patsies and then we went into a shell against the better teams, leaving the defense to spend way too much time on the field.

steve collins and cale gundy - this has been rehashed and rehashed on here

peter gardere...ugh, i can't go any further

Before I shout out, "Amen," let me just say congrats to Gibbs. Great person. Good coach. I don't know of many coaches who come in right behind a monumental figure like Switzer and keep a team rolling . . . especially given some of the challenges.

Now: AMEN.

And to that "Amen" let me also remind everyone how we all felt when we were able to predict our play-calling over and over and over. 3rd and long = draw/dive. Stopped for little or no gain. EVERY FREAKING TIME. Drove me nuts.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Before I shout out, "Amen," let me just say congrats to Gibbs. Great person. Good coach. I don't know of many coaches who come in right behind a monumental figure like Switzer and keep a team rolling . . . especially given some of the challenges.

Now: AMEN.

And to that "Amen" let me also remind everyone how we all felt when we were able to predict our play-calling over and over and over. 3rd and long = draw/dive. Stopped for little or no gain. EVERY FREAKING TIME. Drove me nuts.

not trying to one up you, but...

:les: DRAW!!!

[KingDavid]

not trying to one up you, but...

:les: DRAW!!!

It was mind-boggling. The whole stadium calling the play. And yep, there it was. I yanked out more hair that last year than I will lose the rest of my life.

[sozo]

I always thought Gibbs was a good coach. He was dealt a pretty tough hand cleaning up Switzer's mess.
I totally agree with that!Good for Gibbs!And he was a heck of a LB also.

[AllAboutThe'O']

Not at all an uncommon malady. See Galen Hall and Gomer Jones.

Ah crap given the age of the majority of posters, let me explain.

Gomer Jones was Bud's Offensive Coordinator and the results speak for themselves. When Bud decided to run for U.S. Senate, Gomer became HC and he was pretty bad.

Galen Hall was Switzer's Offensive Coordinator and the results speak for themselves. He became HC at Florida and was pretty bad.

Some people are great coaches or coordinators, but not cut out to be Head Coaches.

Glad to see that Gibbs and Galen are both back to coordinating where they shine.
Galen Hall's record at Florida was a pretty respectable 40-18-1. He came into a tough situation when the Gators received NCAA probation. In fact, they won the 1985 SEC title, but the conference didn't recognize that because they were on probation. During his Florida tenure, Hall was also best-known for landing a smallish running back out of Pensacola, fellow by the name of Emmitt Smith.

[SOONER44EVER]

Gibbs is a good coordinator. He was a bad head coach.
He is a great coordinator and was a better head coach than the 2 that followed him. Much better.

[ouwasp]

I knew Gibbs' days at OU (and any remaining patience I had, not that that matters) were numbered when I heard Gibbs quote this at a preseason caravan:

"Will OU return to the top? I'm not sure college football will allow that..." :mad:

what the heck!!?!

Good luck to Gary where ever he coaches, just stay away from Norman.

[Stoop Dawg]

fixed.

1. "Fixing" a post usually involves changing a word or two. If you're going to completely rewrite it, don't bother quoting me at all.

2. If you call probation, skilled players with NO discipline, and a mandate to "clean up the program" a "good hand", then I agree.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

2. If you call probation, skilled players with NO discipline, and a mandate to "clean up the program" a "good hand", then I agree.

except for the probation thing, i think you are mixing up switzer and tubbs...

[RacerX]

There's at least one well known former offensive player from that time frame that would disagree with the good guy, gentleman, nice man vibe in this thread.

He lost his players. They walked out on him.

[The VIIIth]

Gibbs is a good coordinator. He was a bad head coach.

Gary followed Barry. Someone had to be the sacrificial cow that began his career after the end of a legendary regime and larger than life figure. Happened to Solich, happened to Osborne, whoever followed Bear Bryant or Woody Hayes...etc etc

[Tear Down This Wall]

Gibbs was an idiot. He wasn't "dealt a bad hand" or any of that other crap. What he was dealt was a roster full of studs like Russell Allen, Reggie Barnes, Jason Belser, Dewell Brewer, Mike Coats, Mike Gaddis, Joey Mickey, Kenyon Rasheed, Otis Taylor, Trey Tippens, Chris Wilson, Terry Ray, Ricky Wren, Mike McKinley, Ted Long, Proctor Land, Ike Lewis, Corey Mayfield, Rod Fisher, Billy Dykes, Steve Collins, Stacey Dillard, Mark Blodgett, Brian Brauninger, Brandon Houston, Brent Koontz, Brad Reddell, and Randy Wallace, all freshmen or sophomores on Gibbs' first team in 1989. All Switzer recruits.

Gibbs wasted them by recruiting Cale Gundy and annointing him the QB five games into the 1990 season, then spending the rest of his tenure getting rid of the best defensive backfield coach in the country (Bobby Proctor), politicking to have the radio guys fired because they were too honest in the booth (Brooks, Treps, Mathews), and had a revolving door of offensive coordinators whom he constantly overruled during the games. Meanwhile, he didn't want to do anything public like meet with fans and boosters, and bang...by the time he's gone, the athletic department is in the red.

Gary Gibbs and Donnie Duncan did more to screw up the football program and athletic department than anything Switzer did. Anyone who thinks Gibbs was left with nothing is simply making excuses for a coach who couldn't coach in big games as the head guy. As a defensive coordinator, fantastic. But, he was awful as head coach.

I won't even go into his alienating players. That is well covered territory. Just remeber the player walk out in 1992 and that's all you need to know.

When Switzer was forced out, Merv Johnson or Bobby Proctor should have been named the head coach. Both had a ton more experience coaching, and both could get along with the players and the fanbase!

Don't fall for this phony Gibbs-had-it-bad bullcrap. There were 116 other Division I-A team back then who would have loved to have it so bad as to get guys like Ray, Belser, Gaddis, Bowden, etc. for three or four years.

What an f'n joke.

[boomrsoonr]

Heh. I find it funny that some of you say it was Gibbs fault, as head coach, for the same old play (the draw) being called on 3rd down. And yet when that was occuring last year, you were all bashing the Offensive Coordinator, not Stoops.

Seems to be a little Gibbs hate going on because we didn't win any MNCs with him.

[Stoop Dawg]

I won't even go into his alienating players. That is well covered territory. Just remeber the player walk out in 1992 and that's all you need to know.

I wasn't on the team and didn't attend practices (as you obviously did), but it seems to me that forcing these "studs" to actually go to class, put away their weapons, and stop taking money from boosters might have had something to do with their dislike of the man. I'm just speculating here.

What I recall from the time is that the #1 priority was NOT winning games. It was shedding the "renegade program" image. Perhaps that was not the correct goal in some people's opinion, or maybe I'm just misinformed. I was just a student and had no "inside" info on the football program that some of you seem to have.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

stop taking money from boosters

wow, you've got your facts backards...

[Partial Qualifier]

Gibbs was an idiot. He wasn't "dealt a bad hand" or any of that other crap. What he was dealt was a roster full of studs like Russell Allen, Reggie Barnes, Jason Belser, Dewell Brewer, Mike Coats, Mike Gaddis, Joey Mickey, Kenyon Rasheed, Otis Taylor, Trey Tippens, Chris Wilson, Terry Ray, Ricky Wren, Mike McKinley, Ted Long, Proctor Land, Ike Lewis, Corey Mayfield, Rod Fisher, Billy Dykes, Steve Collins, Stacey Dillard, Mark Blodgett, Brian Brauninger, Brandon Houston, Brent Koontz, Brad Reddell, and Randy Wallace, all freshmen or sophomores on Gibbs' first team in 1989. All Switzer recruits.

Gibbs wasted them by recruiting Cale Gundy and annointing him the QB five games into the 1990 season, then spending the rest of his tenure getting rid of the best defensive backfield coach in the country (Bobby Proctor), politicking to have the radio guys fired because they were too honest in the booth (Brooks, Treps, Mathews), and had a revolving door of offensive coordinators whom he constantly overruled during the games. Meanwhile, he didn't want to do anything public like meet with fans and boosters, and bang...by the time he's gone, the athletic department is in the red.

Gary Gibbs and Donnie Duncan did more to screw up the football program and athletic department than anything Switzer did. Anyone who thinks Gibbs was left with nothing is simply making excuses for a coach who couldn't coach in big games as the head guy. As a defensive coordinator, fantastic. But, he was awful as head coach.

I won't even go into his alienating players. That is well covered territory. Just remeber the player walk out in 1992 and that's all you need to know.

When Switzer was forced out, Merv Johnson or Bobby Proctor should have been named the head coach. Both had a ton more experience coaching, and both could get along with the players and the fanbase!

Don't fall for this phony Gibbs-had-it-bad bullcrap. There were 116 other Division I-A team back then who would have loved to have it so bad as to get guys like Ray, Belser, Gaddis, Bowden, etc. for three or four years.

What an f'n joke.

Sooner04, is that you?

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

pfft, like 04 could write a 6 paragraph essay.

[The]

I can't believe I agree so much with a guy who has Reagon as an avatar...

[boomrsoonr]

I can't believe I disagree so much with a guy who has Reagon as an avatar...

[Desert Sapper]

Gibbs was an awesome D-Coordinator. It has served him well. Now he's plying his wares successfully in the NFL. Kudos to a former Sooner coach, player, and National Champion (1974 as a player, 1975 as a GA, and 1985 as the DC). Not the best head coach we've had, but not the worst for damn sure.

[Taxman71]

Hindsight is 20/20, but I think Gibbs and OU would have been best served letting Merv take over managing the team and working the media and fans and let Gibbs and Proctor keep doing their thing. Kind of like what the North Carolina basketball coach did after Dean Smith retired. He was pretty successful keeping the status quo. I am sure Merv's age was an issue at the time though.

[handcrafted]

At the time, it became evident fairly quickly that Coach Gibbs had trouble with the "things that a head coach does" such as gameplanning, player motivation, press relations, etc. I don't know whether Coach Stoops takes primary lead in gameplanning or if he delegates a lot of it, but as a coach you have to know your limitations and work with them. I do not think Coach Gibbs did that. He tried to do too much on the field and not enough off of it.

It's hard to say whether he did "less with more" moreso than Howie or JB, but talent-wise his teams were stacked. TDTW's analysis is fairly spot on, although I would put more of the blame on Donnie Duncan (esp. for firing John Brooks which really soured me at the time and still does). If coached correctly and well, Gibbs teams should have won a MNC during his tenure. Coach Gibbs took the job of "clean up" seriously, and it worked. But he should have left well enough alone on the field and stuck to our strengths.

Tell you what, though. At least Gibbs' teams knew how to line up, and how many guys are supposed to be on the field during the play.

[Stoop Dawg]

wow, you've got your facts backards...

The boosters were taking money from the players? ;)

Actually, I have no facts at all. I only have my (admittedly dim) recollection of what happened at the time.

Are you saying that OU was not considered a "renegade program" which was violating multiple NCAA rules at the time that Gibbs took over? And that Gibbs' primary focus was "cleaning up" the program (or at least it's image)?

If so, that's fine. That's just not how I remember it.

[Stoop Dawg]

Coach Gibbs took the job of "clean up" seriously, and it worked. But he should have left well enough alone on the field and stuck to our strengths.

I'll buy that.

[47straight]

I knew aTm was screwed when they refused to pony up the cash to hire gibbs as the DC this year. I think it was the only thing that would have saved Fran's butt.

[Rocker]

I would put more of the blame on Donnie Duncan (esp. for firing John Brooks which really soured me at the time and still does).

Why was John Brooks fired?