BUSY NASCAR OFF-SEASON; Joe Gibbs is back in football, but what abut that new points system.(Competition)

Byline: AL PEARCE

Joe Gibbs is back in football, but what about that new points system?

Joe Gibbs realized it was time to examine his priorities when his word no longer carried much juice at Joe Gibbs Racing. In a nutshell, that's why the architect of three Super Bowl wins and two NASCAR titles has returned to coach the woebegone Washington Redskins.

Gibbs' return to pro football after 12 years and the first change to NASCAR's points system since 1975 combined to make the first week of January among the most eventful off-season weeks in recent memory.

First, the ol' coach changes addresses:

"My race team was getting ready to roll me over in a corner,'' the 63-year-old grandfather said half-jokingly at a Jan. 8 press conference. "The first time J.D. [his son and JGR president] said, `No, we're not doing that,' I thought I've gotta go someplace where they'll listen to me.'' Gibbs could have pressed the issue and gotten his way. But he's smart enough not to undermine the boss- especially when he hand-picked him. Knowing his Nextel Cup teams were in good hands, Gibbs began considering the one thing he'd often said he'd never do.

In late December, after the NFL's regular season, Arthur Blank, owner of Home Depot and the Atlanta Falcons, flew to Charlotte to meet with Gibbs. The Falcons needed a coach, and Blank felt his personal and business relationships with Gibbs might carry the day. While at lunch, though, both men got calls saying Steve Spurrier had quit as Washington's coach. Blank immediately knew he didn't have a shot at Gibbs in Atlanta. Within eight days, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder had signed Gibbs to a five-year, $15 million contract.