Random Commanders Thoughts

[Om]

Do you think Gruden had a good rookie year? I remember the board not being very happy with his penchant to call players out routinely...and then, there was that dreadful performance by his team on the field. No improvement in any single facet of the team.

I must be from an alternate universe.

Forgive me.

No need to ask forgiveness. You just missed the point.

You wrote "Gruden had a piss poor rookie year, and blaming it all on Robert is a joke."

No one did.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Well....this can of worms is open again.

Handled him right how? By talking shit about him to the media but treating everyone else with kid gloves? By airing out his weaknesses to the media so that everyone knows where he struggles yet coddling Cousins when he threw 3 or 4 interceptions in a game?

Or was it the Lions game? We all know he left Robert in there to get destroyed and almost immediately threw him on to IR and in to street clothes.

But, even then, did he stop talking about him? NOPE! Gruden LOVED to trash Robert. Sure, Robert has issues just like Cousins, Reed, Morris, Jackson, etc. But Gruden keys in on ONE guy every time to talk shit and make them look bad.

There is no way in my mind that the keying on Griffin was right. I thought it was a terrible thing to do then, and I still think it was. I was HOPING that it might be a tactic to show Griffin how it looks when he comes out and say stuff, but it clearly didnt work and had zero positive merit. That being said, he hasn't done it since. Sure... it COULD mean that the only person he would treat that way was Griffin. OR it could be a rookie head coach learning from a stupid display of public 'coaching.' That is something we may never know, unless he writes a book later in life or something.

 

[Goaldeje]

No need to ask forgiveness. You just missed the point.

You wrote "Gruden had a piss poor rookie year, and blaming it all on Robert is a joke."

No one did.

Eh, I think lots of people do/did.

 

[McD5]

[video]https://vine.co/v/iEuWDALX79J[/video]

 

[Primus Porcus]

Didn't he pretty much do it again with Morris? "We need to make him the lead dog" - gives him 5 carries. "We need to establish Alfred as our lead guy, he's earned it" - continually not give him the ball or run horrible plays for him. he has a track record now of doing this and its something that I would look at going forward if I was any player on this team.

but, then again, he doesn't have anyone from 2012 that he didn't pick up himself of feel chummy with.

I don't seem to remember any public attack of Morris, in fact what you pointed out is public confidence. What happens at practice, what he's seeing on film, what the position coaches and Callahan tell him after meetings could all contribute to him going back on that.... There are a ton of difference scenario's that could happen to cause a coach to say one thing in a press conference, then do something different.


This could easily be a quick deception in the hopes that the opposing coaches are keying on Morris during the game, and it opens up other opportunities. Just a hypothetical.

 

[Om]

Eh, I think lots of people do/did.

Can you point to an example?

 

[Om]

[video]https://vine.co/v/iEuWDALX79J[/video]

McVay sucks in man coverage.

 

[Goaldeje]

Can you point to an example?

I don't feel like going through all of McD5's post history, but considering he has yet to admit Gruden is anything other than infallible, I'm thinking he might be a good place to start.

 

[Primus Porcus]

so, if I say "Derek is my best friend" to everyone but when it comes down to it I am the exact opposite, do you consider me to be an honest person? If I continue to lie about you and our friendship to the public about how great we are but treat you like dirt and shove you to the side whenever you could be valuable, are you going to consider me a person with integrity?

Ask Bellicheat ANYTHING about a player or their performance and I bet he tells you squat. Same with Gibbs, Parcells, and most of the great coaches. They don't lie or sell their players out.

A statement like that between you and I is personal. A coach coming out and saying what he might honestly believe, that Morris needed more carries, then to see more and more of it not solving the problem is professional. I don't know what conversations are had behind closed doors. For all we know it's what he actually thought was needed, but it changed. There are plenty of times I've absolutely put a public display of support out for people who work for me, only for them to do something that proves me wrong, or causes me to go in a different direction.

Again, this is all speculation on my part, but I personally don't think this is cut and dry, he's a bad coach. I think coaches come out and say things all the time. I think players also have struggles, forcing coaches to go in other directions.

And if you were to walk around saying I'm your best friend, we're the best of pals, yet I lie to you, I talk bad behind your back, I ask you for favors and don't return them, causing you to have had enough and walk away.... then I'm not holding up my end of the bargain. You would be justified in a change of heart. If Morris' play is receiving a failing grade, then that has to be taken into account.

 

[Primus Porcus]

I really am not trying to paint a negative picture about Alf. He's a hell of a good guy who brought us all a TON of positive memories.... but our run game was terrible last year. Reports have come out saying that the feel was the bad run game was as much, or even more, due to the RBs, as it was the O-line. That holes were consistently missed, that cutback and plays were not executed. That paired with Morris being in a contract season, teamed with the fact that Jones was a rookie, caused Morris to not be the feature back we all wished he could be.... and I believe Gruden felt the same way, just production killed that theory.

 

[Primus Porcus]

I don't think its cut and dry either that he's a bad coach...but I also don't think its cut and dry that he's a good coach either. Winning the division last year was more on Cousins coming around, Reed living up to potential, picks Scot made, and a poor division.

Morris may not have played the best...but who does when they get 6, 4, 2, 8, 6 opportunities? Like I said, he has a track record of saying one thing and doing the other.

"Robert Griffin is our starting QB"
"You have to feed Morris"

you know how you don't get your words twisted or have to explain why you didn't do what you said you would? Don't say anything you aren't 100% on. Simple as that. Gruden loves to be in front of the camera, he wants everyone to think he is doing the best and giving all the right answers. but at the end of the day, he is fallible. he makes a lot of mistakes in public that he shouldn't while criticizing people for making mistakes of their own.

I can't argue that. His public persona has left a good amount to be desired. With that, his results at as a coach, and not a public image or speaker, have been positive. Over his tenure, we've improved every year. We've had multiple production records set, and we've set bench marks when it comes to offensive production. If he didnt have a single press conference since he had been hired, we'd be looking at him as the future coach for many many years to come.

 

[McD5]

I don't feel like going through all of McD5's post history, but considering he has yet to admit Gruden is anything other than infallible, I'm thinking he might be a good place to start.

I've never said that RG3 was the only problem. Nor have I ever seen anyone else say that either.

There were a lot of problems on that roster and with the assistant coaches he inherited from Shanahan. RG3 wasn't the only problem. There was also a toxic environment of drama and losing that he had to battle.

As far as "pantsing" RG3, I'm not an overly-sensitive person. That didn't bother me at all.

Some people respond better to encouragement and coddling, and some need to be called out in front of everyone to get their ass in gear. This is pro football. Not ballet.

 

[Henry]

Gruden was brought in to develop Griffin. Not only did he fail to do that, he failed publicly and spectacularly.

Fortunately, Cousins doesn't suck, so the team isn't suffering for it. In the end, that's all that matters.

Now Griffin is gone and he's someone else's problem. I don't even know why Reid feels the need to keep writing about this, especially considering no one involved, other than Shanahan, was interested in talking about it. Maybe Reid owed Shanahan a favor or something.

In any case, Shanahan just needs to shut up.

 

[McD5]

so, what you are NOW doing is defending Gruden calling Griffin out in public because he doesn't need to "coddle" and "this isn't ballet" but you are not holding Gruden responsible (yet again) for ANYTHING involved in it.

Responsible for what? Calling out a player that was underperforming? I want our HC to hold everyone accountable, even the owner's favorite.

Why would I get upset about that? That's what every fan wants of their HC.

 

[Henry]

Responsible for what? Calling out a player that was underperforming? I want our HC to hold everyone accountable, even the owner's favorite.

Why would I get upset about that? That's what every fan wants of their HC.

He repeatedly aired out the dirty laundry at press conferences. That just plain dumb, on many levels.

I would expect a professional coach to know not to feud with a player through the press like that. That's just common sense. i don't care what the player is like.

 

[Goaldeje]

Responsible for what? Calling out a player that was underperforming? I want our HC to hold everyone accountable, even the owner's favorite.

Why would I get upset about that? That's what every fan wants of their HC.

No. Every fan wants to win. Period. As Henry said, Gruden failed, utterly, to win with Griffin. He is fortunate Kirk played great last year - fortunate to the point that I suspect he would be unemployed if that gamble had not worked.

I maintain that leaders do not call out people in public. Gruden is improving as a leader and as a football coach, but his rookie year was a disaster. If he shows similar levels of improvement this year as he did between his rookie and second year, we might be on to something here.

But make no mistake, he was a disaster his first year here. As a leader and as a football coach.

 

[Elephant]

If Griffin had told him that he was hurt? Really? WTF?

A blind person could see he was hurt. That might be the single stupidest comment I have ever read.

I was in the first row of the stadium that night and could not tell the extent of the injury.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Gruden was brought in to develop Griffin. Not only did he fail to do that, he failed publicly and spectacularly.

This is something I fail to accept. There is NOTHING associated with the team, Gruden, Griffin, Snyder, ANYONE that said Gruden was brought here to 'fix' Griffin. As far as I'm concerned, Gruden was brought here to be the coach of the Washington Redskins, and I haven't seen anything to lead me to believe otherwise. Is this honestly something that has come out or is this all media and message board speculation?

 

[Elephant]

Gruden was brought in to develop Griffin. Not only did he fail to do that, he failed publicly and spectacularly.
In any case, Shanahan just needs to shut up.

Why does this notion keep getting bandied about? You have proof that Gruden was hired to "develop" Griffin?

I am no Gruden apologist, but the idea that Gruden was hired to develop Griffin is absurd. He was hired to coach a football team, not develop a single player.

And by fail...you mean he was incapable of bringing a sub-par talent along? Yeah, I guess he failed...let's see if anyone else can coach the uncoachable. Hue Jackson should have a good time with that one.

 

[McD5]

Some of the opinions I see here amaze me.

1. Our HC wasn't brought here to work with only one player. He was brought here to win SBs. It doesn't matter who the players are. Play the best, regardless of draft position. And win.

2. Griffin was playing poorly and making everyone else around him worse. He made the O-line look worse than it was, and he cost our WRs financially.

3. Anytime I played sports, our HC would single out anyone who did poorly. Drop a pass? Do 25 pushups. Come late to practice? Stay after and run a mile. In front of everyone.

I'm thankful that we have a coach with the balls to do that. Especially to the owner's favorite.