He resigned as coach and team president of the Redskins today, three days after a playoff loss ended an inspirational late-season run that followed the death of safety Sean Taylor.

The 67-year-old Gibbs said Redskins owner Dan Snyder tried to persuade him to stay on during a conversation that lasted until about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"My family situation being what it is right now, I told him I couldn't make the kind of commitment I needed to make," Gibbs said during a news conference, standing a few feet from the three silver Super Bowl trophies he won during his first tenure with the Redskins. "I felt like they needed me."

One of his grandsons, Taylor, was diagnosed with leukemia a year ago at age 2. Gibbs frequently talks lovingly about his "grandbabies," and he made an overnight trip to North Carolina on Sunday to be with his family, interrupting the postseason routine of meetings that usually follow the final game of the season.

"I had real good visits with everybody, and at that point when I started back to D.C. and got on the plane that afternoon, I kind of had a real strong feeling in my heart of what I felt like I should do," Gibbs said.

He had one season left on the five-year, $27.5 million deal that lured him out of his first NFL retirement and away from his second career as a NASCAR owner.

Instead of coaching, Gibbs will shift into a role as an adviser to Snyder.

"I tried very, very hard to try to convince Joe not to retire," the owner said. "This is something none of us wanted to see happen. But all of us respect it and understand it."

Gibbs went 31-36, including 1-2 in the playoffs, in his second stint with the Redskins, always maintaining he intended to fulfill the contract.

"I hate to leave something unfinished. I made an original commitment of five years. I felt bad about that," Gibbs said, his voice occasionally choking with emotion.

"It's one of the few times in life I felt like I walked away from something. But I also felt like ... 'Hey, I need to be in a different situation.'"

The news startled players, who left Sunday's final team meeting certain Gibbs would return for the final year of his contract.

"That's part of this business — it's full of surprises," safety Pierson Prioleau said. "Most of us suspected he would be back, and he'll definitely be missed."