Succes Story

JOE Gibbs

Super Bowl Champion, Hall of Fame Coach (1996), NASCAR (Team Championships 2000, 2002).

Joe Gibbs is a champion. This humble man from North Carolina has reached the pinnacle of success in two different sports. As the beloved Washington Redskins head coach, he took his team to four Super Bowls in 12 years, winning three of them. He resigned in 1993 in order to spend more time with family.

Along with many of those family members, Joe formed the Joe Gibbs Racing Team. Now, he’s a NASCAR champion. In 2000 his driver, Bobby LaBonte, won the Winston Cup (NASCAR’s championship) and two years later his teammate Tony Stewart won the championship. They continue to be among the top NASCAR drivers. In addition, Joe’s back at the helm of the Redskins.

His journey to the top has not been without its challenges. In 1979, while a backfield coach with the San Diego Chargers, his wife, Pat, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She nearly died on the operating table and was left with partial facial paralysis. But the tumor was successfully removed.

In 1983, a business investment gone bad left the Super Bowl champ deeply in debt. With much faith and patience, he fulfilled every one of his financial obligations. “I am proof that God will work through adversity,” says Joe. “He loved me through all of it and I wound up stronger as a result.”

He is active in various charities. He founded Youth for Tomorrow, a residential group village for at-risk teenage boys and girls in Virginia.

One question Joe Gibbs’ enjoyed answering during his twelve-year tenure as head coach of the Washington Redskins was, “How did you get the job?” To which Joe glibly responded, “I have no earthly idea! Just strictly through God’s blessing, I guess.”

Indeed, Joe’s rise to success in two major sports - the NFL and NASCAR - is nothing short of remarkable. Born in a small town in North Carolina, Joe had always dreamed of coaching in the NFL. His pursuit of this dream led him through the ranks of NCAA football and into the NFL, where seventeen years after starting out, he was named head coach of the Redskins. Over the next twelve years, Joe led the team to four Superbowl appearances and three championships. In 1996 he was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But even though Joe had conquered one sport, he wasn’t about to bow out yet.

Biggest Regret
One of Joe’s biggest regrets stemming from his football career was the time he had to spend away from his family, particularly his two sons, JD and Coy. The main reason he got into NASCAR once he retired from football was to work alongside his sons. “I missed so much of their youth because I was spending all of my time at Redskins Park," admits Gibbs. "It got to the point where I felt like my sons would grow up and not know who I was." Continuing his championship streak, Gibbs’ team has gone one to win two Winston Cups - the highest honor in NASCAR - and shows no signs of slowing down yet.

So what makes Joe such a champion? In Joe’s opinion, the turning point in his life came in 1972 when he recommitted his life to God. Although he had been a Christian since age nine, Joe walked away from God during his teen and college years. He still believed God existed but he just wasn’t living for him. As Joe started into his coaching career in the NCAA, he began to run into people whose lives had been changed in miraculous ways by God. The more he began to interact with these people, the more Joe realized his own life didn’t measure up. Joe was further impressed with this fact when he and his wife Pat had their first son, JD, Joe started asking himself what kind of father or husband he could be without God and he didn’t like the answer. So one night, he went to church and recommitted his life to God. Joe hasn’t looked back since. “Establishing a personal relationship with Christ is so important, because it affects every other decision you make in life,” Joe says. Judging from the path Joe’s career has taken from that point forward, he appears to be right.

Have a Game Plan
Joe finds the Bible - what he calls “God’s Game Plan” - particularly helpful in giving him direction. As one would expect from a former coach, Joe frames his approach to Christianity in terms of sports. “We’re playing in the game of life, and God is our head coach. But if we’re not studying the game plan, that’s like the Washington Redskins not studying their game plan. And that’s crazy!”

Have you been trying to play the game of life without consulting the playbook? How about turning to Jesus, our Head Coach, for help? If you don’t know Jesus, we encourage you to pray the following:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be. Amen.

Is it the desire of your heart to make this prayer yours?

If yes, pray now and according to his promise, Jesus Christ will come into your life.