Joe Gibbs served as a college and pro football assistant for 15 seasons before winning his first head coaching job with the 1981 Washington Redskins. During his 12-year term that ended after the 1992 season, the Gibbs-led Redskins won the NFC title in the strike-shortened 1982 season and NFC Eastern division championships in 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1991.
His teams defeated Miami in Super Bowl XVII, Denver in Super Bowl XXII and Buffalo in Super Bowl XXVI. Gibbs’ only championship-game losses came at the hands of the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII and the New York Giants in the 1986 NFC title contest.
In 12 years, the Gibbs-led Redskins compiled a 124-60-0 regular-season record and a 16-5 record in 21 post-season games. His combined .683 winning percentage is surpassed only by Vince Lombardi (.740) and John Madden (.731).
Gibbs is the only coach to have won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks, Joe Theismann (XVII), Doug Williams (XXII) and Mark Rypien (XXVI). Under Gibbs, Washington won 10 or more games eight times and had only one losing season (7-9 in 1988).
Gibbs, who was born November 25, 1940, in Mocksville, North Carolina, is a graduate of Cerritos (California) Junior College and San Diego State. Assistant coaching jobs took him to San Diego State, Florida State, Southern California and Arkansas in the college ranks and to the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Diego Chargers before Gibbs got his first head coaching job with the 1981 Redskins.