When Joe Gibbs quit the NFL to start a NASCAR team in 1992, he was entering uncharted waters. But he also knew exactly how to go about it. Since he wasn’t aware of the technicalities of race strategies or engineering, Gibbs focused on hiring the right people who could take the team forward. This extremely crucial job was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But he had an ace up his sleeve.
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Gibbs had plenty of experience in spotting and roping in talent much before coming to NASCAR — the way he used to identify and hire the right 22-year-olds for his teams in the NFL. Among his many coaching stints, Gibbs had served as the head coach of the Washington Redskins (from 1981 to 1992 and then from 2004 to 2007). He won three Super Bowls with the team.
In a 2015 interview with Sports Illustrated, Gibbs spoke about the essence and skill of finding the right people for the job, and its importance.
“Picking people is the hardest thing that we do in life. All of us that have teams want to pick the right people,” said Gibbs.
He detailed how as an NFL coach, he rated character as a key attribute, ahead of talent. Surprisingly, it was almost always the free agents who were more obsessed and dedicated to the team than the others for Gibbs.
“That [free agency] means somebody else had either cut them from their team or they weren’t seen as good enough to be drafted. Yet with us, they fit the role. They were people who came to work early and stayed late. They meant a lot to the team. They were willing to pay a price,” elaborated Gibbs.
Not a lot of people today are willing to set their personal goals aside for the common good of the team they play for. Gibbs believes that it is his job to find such people for Joe Gibbs Racing. Evidently, he has done a stupendous job.
What excites Gibbs about his role in NASCAR
Joe Gibbs Racing has won five NASCAR Cup Series championships since 1992. The success can be attributed to to the maturity of Gibbs to realize his strengths and play to them.
“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,” said Gibbs.
A discussion about the leadership at Joe Gibbs Racing cannot go by without mentioning Dave Alpern. Currently, the team’s president, Alpern, joined the outfit in 1992 as an unpaid project intern. He has seen the organization grow from 18 members to over 500 now. Alpern’s impact on the team’s marketing side has been monumental.
Tim Carmichael, the team’s Chief Financial Officer, is another key person who has been with the team for over two decades. By hiring such dedicated and talented people, Gibbs has crafted a lasting legacy for himself in motorsports.
