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Gibbs Finalizes Coaching Staff

Head coach Joe Gibbs officially announced his coaching staff on Tuesday, an impressive list that as promised has a blend of youth and experience. Gibbs will depend on two assistant head coaches: former Buffalo Bills head coach Gregg Williams for the defense and long-time Gibbs associate Joe Bugel for the offense.

Gibbs, Williams and Bugel will have coordinators on staff as well.

Don Breaux, another long-time Gibbs associate most recently with the Carolina Panthers, will serve as offensive coordinator. Former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Greg Blache will be the Redskins' defensive coordinator in 2004--to go along with his duties coaching the defensive line.

Although many of the coaches have been at Redskins Park for most of the last month, Gibbs preferred to announce the entire coaching staff all at once.

Below is the complete list of Gibbs' coaching staff:

OFFENSE

Joe Bugel: Assistant Head Coach-Offense

Don Breaux: Offensive Coordinator

Earnest Byner: Running Backs

Jack Burns: Quarterbacks

Rennie Simmons: Tight Ends

Stan Hixon: Wide Receivers

Ernie Zampese: Offensive Consultant

Bill Lazor: Offensive Assistant

Coy Gibbs: Quality Control/Offense

DEFENSE

Gregg Williams: Assistant Head Coach-Defense

Greg Blache: Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line

Dale Lindsey: Linebackers

DeWayne Walker: Secondary/Cornerbacks

Steve Jackson: Third Down/Safeties

Kirk Olivadotti: Defensive Assistant/Special Teams

SPECIAL TEAMS

Danny Smith: Special Teams Coordinator

STRENGTH/CONDITIONING

John Dunn: Head Strength/Conditioning Coach

John Hastings: Strength/Conditioning Coach

Bobby Crumpler: Assistant Strength/Conditioning Coach


*Below is a brief bio of each coach:

Gregg Williams Assistant Head Coach-Defense

Williams comes to the Redskins after serving the last three years as Buffalo's head coach and 11 years before that as an assistant coach with the Tennessee Titans organization. The trademarks of his defenses were always toughness and resilience. Last year, he led the Bills to the second-best defense in the NFL. Previously, he developed the Titans into one of the league's best defenses, particularly in the 1999-2001 seasons.

Joe Bugel Assistant Head Coach-Offense

Bugel came out of retirement to return to Washington with Gibbs. He will oversee the offensive line this season as well as serve as assistant head coach. Bugel coached the Redskins' offensive line from 1981-89 and developed such players as Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Mark May, George Starke, Jeff Bostic and others into the famed "Hogs." Bugel went on to serve as head coach of the Phoenix Cardinals (1990-93) and Oakland Raiders (1997), before returning to his roots as offensive line coach with San Diego from 1998-2001.

Danny Smith Special Teams

Smith previously served as Buffalo's special teams coach for the last three years under Williams. His unit was third in the NFL in kickoff coverage in 2003, as well as finishing in the top 10 in field goal percentage, points per game and both gross and net punt averages. Prior to joining Buffalo, Smith served as tight ends coach in Detroit (1999-2000) and special teams/defensive backs coach in Philadelphia (1995-98).

Don Breaux Offensive Coordinator

Breaux is another long-time Gibbs associate who served as running backs coach for the Redskins from 1981-93 and worked with the likes of John Riggins, George Rogers and Earnest Byner. After leaving the Redskins, he was the New York Jets tight ends coach in 1994, then moved on to coach tight ends for the expansion Carolina Panthers from 1995-2002.

Greg Blache Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line

Blache is a 16-year coaching veteran and spent the last five years as defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. In 2003, the Bears finished 14th overall and fifth in the NFC in defense. His defenses were consistently strong against the run—finishing second in run defense in the NFL in 2001—and ranked high in forcing turnovers. Previously, he was the defensive line coach for Indianapolis (1994-98) and Green Bay (1988-93).

Earnest Byner Running Backs

Byner returns to the franchise that he helped win a Super Bowl in 1991. Since retiring from football in 1997, he has served as player development coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. As a player, Byner played 14 years—five with the Redskins from 1989-93—and finished his career ranked 16th on the NFL's all-time rushing list. In 2002, he was named one of the 70 Greatest Redskins.

Jack Burns Quarterbacks

Burns coached for Gibbs from 1989-91, serving as an offensive assistant and receivers coach. He was also offensive coordinator for Minnesota in 1992-93. From 1997-2002, he coached in the Atlanta Falcons organization, serving as either quarterbacks coach or wide receivers coach. In his career, Burns has coached the likes of Art Monk, Gary Clark, Ricky Sanders, Chris Chandler and Michael Vick.

Stan Hixon Wide Receivers

Hixon has been wide receivers coach at LSU since 2000 and as an associate head coach in 2003 helped the university win a share of the National Championship last season. He has also served as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, South Carolina, Appalachian State and Morehead State. Among the NFL players he has coached include Josh Reed and Dez White.

Rennie Simmons Tight Ends

Another long-time Gibbs associate who returns to Washington, Simmons was an assistant with the Atlanta Falcons for the last seven years, coaching the offensive line (2001-03), tight ends (2000) and wide receivers (1997-99). Simmons got his start as a coach under Joe Gibbs in 1981 and coached tight ends for eight years. He succeeded Bugel as offensive line coach in 1990 and coached wide receivers in 1992-93.

Ernie Zampese Offensive Consultant

Zampese coached with Gibbs when both were assistants under Don Coryell at San Diego in the late 1970s. While Gibbs moved on to the Redskins, Zampese went on to develop high-powered offenses with San Diego (1983-86), Los Angeles Rams (1987-93), Dallas Cowboys (1994-97) and New England Patriots (1998-99) as offensive coordinator. He was a consultant for the St. Louis Rams in 2002 but retired following that season.

Dale Lindsey Linebackers

Lindsey returns to Washington for his second stint, previously coaching linebackers for the Redskins from 1997-98 under then-coach Norv Turner. For the last two seasons, he has served as defensive coordinator with the San Diego Chargers. He has coached 29 seasons overall, with NFL stints in Cleveland (linebackers, 1974), Green Bay (linebackers, 1986-87), New England (defensive line, 1990), Tampa Bay (linebackers, 1991), San Diego (linebackers, 1992-96) and Chicago (linebackers, 1999-2001).

DeWayne Walker Secondary/Cornerbacks

Walker was previously the defensive backs coach for the New York Giants for the last two seasons and helped develop young cornerbacks Will Allen and Will Peterson. His only previous NFL stint was as a secondary assistant with New England from 1998-2000, when he coached Pro Bowlers Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy. Walker has a lengthy college coaching career. He coached the secondary at Utah State (1993), Brigham Young (1994), Oklahoma State (1995), California (1998-2000) and USC (2001).

Steve Jackson Third Down/Safeties

Jackson previously served as a safeties coach and third-down coordinator for the last three seasons in Buffalo under Williams. As third-down coach, he organized and implemented the team's third-down package on defense. Jackson was a defensive back for the Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers from 1991-99.

Kirk Olivadotti Defensive Assistant/Special Teams

Olivadotti will begin his fifth season with the Redskins and will oversee defensive quality control as well as assist on special teams. He has served as a quality control and assistant defensive backs coach in the last two seasons. Olivadotti has worked as an assistant under some of the league's best defensive coordinators in Ray Rhodes, Kurt Schottenheimer and Marvin Lewis.

Bill Lazor Offensive Assistant

Lazor joins the Redskins after spending last season with the Atlanta Falcons as their offensive quality control coach. He previously served as offensive coordinator/QB coach for the University of Buffalo from 2001-02 and supervised a number of areas as an assistant coach at his alma mater Cornell University from 1993-2000. He played quarterback at Cornell and set 26 school passing and total offensive records.

Coy Gibbs Quality Control/Offense

Coy, son of head coach Joe Gibbs, will coach for the first time in the NFL after a successful tenure as a driver on the NASCAR Busch Series circuit. He brings the same determination and work ethic that he poured into auto racing. Coy was also a standout linebacker at Stanford from 1991-94.

John Dunn Head Strength/Conditioning Coach

Dunn began his NFL career as an assistant strength and conditioning coach under Joe Gibbs with the Redskins from 1984-86. For the past seven years, he has been the head strength and conditioning coach for the New York Giants and helped them to become a strong and well-conditioned team, especially deep into the season. Dunn joins John Hastings and Bobby Crumpler, who remain on the staff from last season.

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