Late season improvement, a top caliber defense and the end of the Mark Brunell Experiment bred some hope among the faithful in the late weeks of the 2004 season, and a thorough dismantling of the playoff-bound Vikings the final week had some Redskins fans feeling renewed in their faith in Coach Gibbs. But two months into the offseason, some Redskin enthusiasts are wondering if Coach Gibbs’ best work is being undercut by another important personage: General Manager Gibbs.

Michael Wilbon says it best: “The head coach’s job is to be concerned about only today. The GM’s job is to be concerned with tomorrow and the day after. They work at cross purposes.” As a fan, it’s easy to get caught up in ball coach idolatry—the NFL, perhaps more than any other professional sports league, sells the “coach as genius” meme like it was going out of style. When you’re not being asked to marvel as the terse, aloof genius of Bill Belichik, you’re asked to observe each quixotic descision of Bill Parcell’s as if it were a Zen koan. But even if you don’t buy Wilbon’s “you cannot simultaneously prevent a salary cap over run and prepare for the Jaguars’ pass rush” argument, the proof is in the pudding. Consider Mike Holmgren, who left Titletown for Seattle for the chance to run the entire show: it wasn’t until he relinquished his GM duties and returned to being Coach Holmgren that his ‘Hawks entered the playoff picture. Now, all he needs is a couple of wideouts who don’t catch as if they’ve got a bocce ball superglued to each finger, and they’d be in business.