I just watched a DVD of Alex Gibbs from a coaching clinic in May 2007 for offensive line coaches where his topic of discussion was the outside zone play. After watching the video, here are some things I came away with:
* Gibbs has his way of doing things and that is pretty much that. He believes the system that he coaches should stand alone and not be meshed with other systems because his system is based on timing and repetition and it requires plenty of practice.
* I don't believe Gibbs would have agreed to come out of retirement if he wasn't going to be allowed to implement what he believes will work for the Texans. He's coming in with a purpose and my guess is that purpose is to teach and implement his zone concepts and that extends to not just o-linemen but also RBs (how to approach the read and the initial decision) and WRs (in blocking).
* I now see why RBs are devalued in this system. He wants his RBs to make their decision by their 3rd total step (it takes 1.5 steps to get the ball on the handoff) and the decision in the wide zone is to bounce it outside or cut it back. To be a successful RB it takes burst, decisiveness and guts to hit back inside with authority. Making a good read is essential as well. It doesn't necessarily take an elite back to do these things. RBs who dance around (Morency) after taking the handoff won't fit into this scheme.
* If you are a WR and you aren't interested in getting after the safety on zone plays when it comes to blocking, then he won't be a fan of yours. And you don't want to be on his (bleep) list.
* If the RBs and the offensive linemen are not working in tandem, then this scheme will look very bad from time to time. In other words, RBs can make the linemen look bad if they don't make the proper reads.
Gibbs isn't going to be the offensive coordinator and he's not picking the players. I do, however, think he has the complete and total trust of Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak and I think that they will be more than happy to consult with him on which guys are good fits. More importantly, I think Kubiak basically went to "the master" to get him to install the system that he wants and get it going properly before he (Gibbs) bows out.