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Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Joe Gibbs is passionate about football, but doesn't intend to stay in coaching much longer.
He's also passionate about NASCAR, and plans to stay a part of the sport for a considerable period of time.
"My time in football will be short,'' Gibbs said Tuesday during a stop by the NASCAR media tour at Joe Gibbs Racing. "Hopefully, we'll be here forever. If we don't win a few more games next year, my time in football will be real short.''
In his return to the NFL after an 11-year absence -- during which he established his successful NASCAR team -- Gibbs' Washington Commanders struggled to a 6-10 record. It was the worst showing in the Hall of Fame coach's 13 seasons with the franchise.
As much as he loves racing, Gibbs, who took his team to four Super Bowls and won three of them in his first stint in Washington, is determined to get the Commanders back near the top before calling that career quits and returning to JGR on a permanent basis.
"I signed a five-year contract and what I'd like to do is get the Commanders back to being a consistent winner,'' Gibbs said. "I don't know what that will take. I don't know if it's five years or a little longer than that.''
Meanwhile, the racing operation is in the hands of his eldest son, J.D., and general manager Jimmy Makar, an original Joe Gibbs Racing employee.
"We started with 17 people and now we've got 250,'' the elder Gibbs said. "It's a big responsibility, but J.D. and Jimmy and the rest of the senior management group do a great job. When I'm away, they call me when they need advice, and that's not much.''
The big difference between the two sports for Gibbs is the schedule and weight of responsibility on his shoulders.
"It's so time consuming in the NFL for those 4½ months,'' he said. "It's a real structured thing and it's a drain, a real strain.
"It's totally different than this sport. Here, I'm ownership. I have that senior management group and racing can continue without me being here on a full-time basis.''
Gibbs acknowledges there were times during the NFL season when he wondered why he went back to football.
"I think when you do something like that, you miss this,'' he said. "I did. And, of course, you hit on bad times up there and you have those normal feelings of `What in the world did I do?' But I love football and I love the challenge it presents.
"And we're always going to be in racing.''
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1975954
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Joe Gibbs is passionate about football, but doesn't intend to stay in coaching much longer.
He's also passionate about NASCAR, and plans to stay a part of the sport for a considerable period of time.
"My time in football will be short,'' Gibbs said Tuesday during a stop by the NASCAR media tour at Joe Gibbs Racing. "Hopefully, we'll be here forever. If we don't win a few more games next year, my time in football will be real short.''
In his return to the NFL after an 11-year absence -- during which he established his successful NASCAR team -- Gibbs' Washington Commanders struggled to a 6-10 record. It was the worst showing in the Hall of Fame coach's 13 seasons with the franchise.
As much as he loves racing, Gibbs, who took his team to four Super Bowls and won three of them in his first stint in Washington, is determined to get the Commanders back near the top before calling that career quits and returning to JGR on a permanent basis.
"I signed a five-year contract and what I'd like to do is get the Commanders back to being a consistent winner,'' Gibbs said. "I don't know what that will take. I don't know if it's five years or a little longer than that.''
Meanwhile, the racing operation is in the hands of his eldest son, J.D., and general manager Jimmy Makar, an original Joe Gibbs Racing employee.
"We started with 17 people and now we've got 250,'' the elder Gibbs said. "It's a big responsibility, but J.D. and Jimmy and the rest of the senior management group do a great job. When I'm away, they call me when they need advice, and that's not much.''
The big difference between the two sports for Gibbs is the schedule and weight of responsibility on his shoulders.
"It's so time consuming in the NFL for those 4½ months,'' he said. "It's a real structured thing and it's a drain, a real strain.
"It's totally different than this sport. Here, I'm ownership. I have that senior management group and racing can continue without me being here on a full-time basis.''
Gibbs acknowledges there were times during the NFL season when he wondered why he went back to football.
"I think when you do something like that, you miss this,'' he said. "I did. And, of course, you hit on bad times up there and you have those normal feelings of `What in the world did I do?' But I love football and I love the challenge it presents.
"And we're always going to be in racing.''
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?id=1975954
