“Okay, you hogs, let’s get running down there.”

So last minute, Steve asked me to come up with some kind of Friday weekend post.  So, there is not much to write my typical offbeat post this time of year. The only person who would read 500 words on the Washington Valor, the XFL and the AAF (that’s the Alliance of American Football for those who don’t know),  is probably me.  So those are off the table. The team’s not really done anything stupid for a few weeks.  Literally, it’s been three weeks since they fired that guy who they said was behind the cheerleader scandal.  Three weeks of smooth sailing for the Redskins, not bad.

So, uniforms? …

I kid.

I got it.  I will talk about Joe Bugel, and how I’m happy he is finally getting the credit he deserves.

If you didn’t hear, Boss Hog is getting the “Paul ‘Dr. Z’ Zimmerman Award” for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL.  Which is a mouth full to say.  They would have been better to just call it the something like “The NFL Coaching Hall Of Fame”.  But you know writers, they had to name it after one of their own.

Bugel is getting this award and it’s long past due.  Every Redskins fan, even the tween-age ones, will tell you that without a doubt the Redskins offensive line of the 1980’s was the greatest O-line ever built.  Most of that O-line belongs in the hall of fame, I know it, you know it, and my co-worker who’s a Cowboys fan he knows it because I keep yelling that fact at him every Monday morning.  If we fans had our druthers we would probably have a life-size bronze statue of the Hogs in one of the corners of Fed Ex Field.

Joe Bugel deserves all the credit in the world for developing such a talented group of linemen. And even when he came back for Gibbs second run, you could tell watching him on the sidelines that he still had that passion for coaching.

But Joe’s not the only one getting recognition. Redskins former receiver and cornerback’s coach Thomas is also getting in on the action.  I am going to be honest. I didn’t know a lot about Thomas, so I had to do some good old-fashioned internet research.  Dude, how did I not know about this guy who coached both Art Monk and Darrell Green!  That’s awesome!  Even more impressive is that he is still coaching the secondary out in Kansas City.

Thinking about those guys makes me realize that while the great teams of Redskins past were talented rosters, that supporting staff that Gibbs had around him must have been a nice crutch for the head coach to lean on at times.  You can clearly see some parallels to what Jay Gruden’s had with much of his staff, where he’s got some talented position coaches, in guys like Bill Callahan and Jim Tomsula, and Sean McVay a few years ago.  We will probably be seeing Callahan winning one of these awards himself some day.  In a league where it’s often hard to find a competitive edge, having a few keys, trusted, position coaches are vital towards building a team identity and a strong roster.