From a Super Bowl Winner to NASCAR Owner, How Joe Gibbs Managed the Epic Transition

One look here, one look there, and it becomes pretty clear that the world of the NFL and the world of NASCAR are as different as different can get. And yet, Coach Joe Gibbs has conquered the racetracks of stock car racing just as he did with the fields of football. Of course, he started in football and then made his way to NASCAR, and yes, there was a transition and re-wiring of approach. And yes, it wasn’t simple.

This was something that Gibbs opened up on a couple of years ago. On Cars and Culture, Coach Gibbs described how he transitioned from the NFL to NASCAR.

“In my world that I grew up in was football. I was a technical guy in football. Helped design the office, call plays on the sideline. I was a technical person there. When I moved over to racing, I didn’t grow up in racing. I loved it and admired it. I was a fan, but I didn’t grow up in it,” he said. “So immediately I said to myself, ‘Okay. I’m not a technical guy. What can I do to help the race team the most?'”

“And that is work with the people. It is picking the people, which is the most important thing that you’re involved in when it’s any kind of team sport. It was the people in football, it’s the people over here.”

Gibbs claimed his role is to help and pick the right people, to motivate them, and to work with the sponsors to ensure they have enough money to race with. “I tell everybody my thrill in football was every Sunday, being on the sidelines and calling a play. My thrill over here is the first of every month trying to pay the bills,” he joked.

Nevertheless, the Hall of Famer emphasized that it’s “exciting in both places.”

Could Joe Gibbs return to the NFL?

In 2023, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) and Arctos Partners made an investment into the NASCAR organization, which also made Joe Gibbs a limited partner in the HBSE. Interestingly, HBSE’s Josh Harris is also the managing partner of Washington Commanders, the old team of Gibbs.

However, these dots won’t lead to a path that will see Gibbs make his way back to the NFL through the Commanders. According to Forbes, Gibbs will have ‘a limited partnership of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.’

As a result, it seems for now, Joe Gibbs’ talents and management will primarily be focused on the organization he founded back in 1992, an organization that became the second most valuable team in NASCAR.

So for now, it seems Coach Gibbs will continue to enjoy the thrill of paying the bills on the first of every month.