ASHBURN, Va. – Move over, Bill Parcells. Joe Gibbs has a new toughest opponent: his own legacy.

Nothing was more evident Thursday when Gibbs was given an unprecedented hero’s – no, a savior’s – welcome as the returning coach of the Washington Redskins.

“I reached a point in my life where you love the thrill of trying to do something that’s almost undoable,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “Certainly this is probably as close to that as you can get.”

Gibbs emerged from a five-limousine parade and was greeted by cheers and the blare of a horn playing “Hail to the Redskins” as he strode down a path lined with orange cones and barricades. One fan held a white sign that read: “Joe Gibbs God, Mr. Snyder Genius, Being A Redskins Fan Priceless.”

Back after 11 years, Gibbs said that if there was one thing that made him hesitate, it was the thought of returning to the place where he won the three Super Bowl trophies that shone so immaculately in front of his news conference podium.

“There is no net,” Gibbs said with a panicked laugh. “I’m going to pray a lot. There’s nothing down there. There’s nothing going to catch us. That’s maybe the biggest thrill of it – knowing how hard it is, but getting a chance to do something super-hard.”

Gibbs explained his decision to return in a packed auditorium that included several of his former players, including Mark Moseley, Gary Clark and Joe Jacoby. Auxiliary monitors and speakers were set up in the hallway. Such measures have never been used before at Redskins Park.

Only Michael Jordan’s two comeback news conferences – returning to the NBA to join the management of the Wizards, then the end of his retirement as a player 20 months later – have surpassed such hype in the sports world of the nation’s capital in recent years.

“I didn’t wear my Super Bowl ring,” said Gibbs, holding up his hand. “This is all new. The past don’t buy much, other than relationships. I’ve got to prove myself all over again.”

Just to drive home the point, Gibbs referred to the fact that his former Giants nemesis Parcells had the league’s top-ranked defense this season with Dallas.

Falcons hire Mora

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Falcons have reached agreement to hire San Francisco defensive coordinator Jim Mora as the team’s head coach, a source said Thursday night.

The Falcons will make an announcement Friday morning, said a source close to the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mora, the son of former New Orleans and Indianapolis coach Jim Mora, was a finalist for the San Francisco job last year before the 49ers hired Dennis Erickson.

Mora met with Falcons owner Arthur Blank in his Buckhead office Wednesday for the first time. He interviewed the previous week in Atlanta with Falcons general manager Rich McKay but had not yet met Blank.

Dan Reeves was fired Dec. 9 as the Falcons’ coach, and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips took over on an interim basis. Atlanta finished 5-11, but Phillips went 2-1.

News of Mora’s hiring caught quarterback Michael Vick, reached at his offseason home near Newport News, Va., by surprise.

“I hadn’t heard anything about that,” Vick said.

Mora, 42, has worked the last five years as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator. He spent the 1997 and ’98 seasons coaching San Francisco’s secondary and held the same job with San Diego in 1986-88.

Mora’s first job came with the Chargers in their pro personnel department.

Besides drawing interest from Atlanta, Mora also interviewed with the Chicago Bears, and his name was mentioned among those in line for the Oakland job.

Atlanta interviewed three defensive coordinators besides Mora – St. Louis’ Lovie Smith, New England’s Romeo Crennel and Pittsburgh’s Tim Lewis, whom Steelers coach Bill Cowher later fired.

Mike Mularkey of Pittsburgh was the only offensive coordinator to interview.

Blank didn’t interview any college coaches, though ESPN.com reported Thursday that McKay had contacted representatives of LSU coach Nick Saban.

Saban’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, did not immediately return phone calls.

“In my opinion, it doesn’t matter who contacts him,” LSU athletic director Skip Bertman said. “He’s pretty much committed to staying here. With kids in junior high and a wife that’s happy, he likes the situation he has. I don’t think this is the time for him.”

Mora was a finalist for the 49ers’ job last February and interviewed in Carolina after the Panthers fired George Seifert after the 2001 season. His San Francisco defense this year ranked 13th in yardage allowed and 21st in scoring.

The Falcons finished last in defense, allowing a franchise-record 6,108 total yards. After losing 23-16 to Philadelphia on Nov. 2, Atlanta was on pace to allow the second-highest yardage total in NFL history.

After the season ended, Blank and McKay insisted that the Falcons’ problems on defense wouldn’t eliminate Phillips as a candidate.

Phillips, hired in January 2002, helped the Falcons move from 30th to 19th in total yardage in his first season, and Atlanta advanced to the second round of the playoffs as its defense ranked third in takeaways, fourth in sacks and ninth in points allowed.

Everything unraveled this year, though, as the Falcons lost Vick to a broken right leg in preseason and dropped seven straight games entering a Week 10 trip to Giants Stadium.

Atlanta beat New York 27-7 to make Reeves just the sixth coach to earn 200 career victories, but the team lost its next three before Vick make his first start of the season – a 20-14 overtime win over eventual NFC South champion Carolina.

AP-ES-01-08-04 2138EST