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I've seen a lot of (what I consider) very negative assessments of Jay Gruden recently. As much as possible, if you fall into the camp that wants to see Gruden gone, I'd like to hear some non-emotional rationales as to why you think Gruden can never get the Redskins back to glory, or at least to perennial playoff team status, and want him gone.
Personally, for those of you who have seen enough of Gruden, I find the timing of that conclusion curious? The Redskins are coming off perhaps their best draft in decades (my opinion) - and I believe Jay had a significant hand in that - and probably have one of their most talented and promising rosters in a long while.
I cleary fall into the opposite camp when it comes to Gruden. The last thing we need is to blow things up and start over. It's all we've done for 25 years and that approach has been an unmitigated disaster. You look at the perenially good competitive teams - and what they don't do is shed their head coach every 2-4 years. For that reason alone - short a couple of terrible seasons, I'm in favor of staying the course and not blowing it up.
Here's my attempt at a non-emotional good/bad assessment of Jay Gruden as a Redskins Head Coach:
The Good:
1. Gruden is independent. From the beginning of the Snyder era, we've bitched about the head coach getting undermined and steamrolled by the owner. That has not been the case with Gruden. He decided early on that RG3 could not be a long-term starter and he did something about it. He did it despite knowing what the org had invested in that gamble, and he did knowing Snyder was having Rob out to Snyder family BBQs every weekend. Gruden's got balls. I like that.
2. I believe Gruden has a 'football mind', is an 'X's and O's' guy, and that the players respect his knowledge and experience. I think he knows what it takes to win consistently and is in command of the lockerroom and players. Some call him a 'player's coach' and yeah, he likes to kid and keep it relaxed, but I don't think there's any question about who's in charge of our lockerroom.
3. Gruden is still young and if he can turn the corner and take it to the next level (yes - it's an 'if' as would likely be the case with any coach we'd replace him with), we could be set for years and years.
4. Gruden is an offensive genius. He gets a lot of criticism for a pass happy offense, perhaps well-deserved, but his pass happy offense is a thing of beauty with the right personnel. We've scored more than enough points during his tenure to make the playoffs every year. If we can get our defense to the same level as our offense (and I believe we are making progress in that direction), we will become a perennial playoff threat.
5. Gruden's teams have fought and not given up. Even when Gruden's teams have *seemingly* been out of contention, they have not mailed it in. They've played hard and fought down the stretch. That's a positive reflection of the HC's mentality.
6. Gruden clearly doesn't seek out or tolerate drama. We take this for granted, but given the ridiculous dramafest that comprised most of the Shanahan and Zorn years, we shouldn't.
7. Gruden loves being the head coach of the Washington Redskins. As far as I can tell, even through the tough times, Gruden is committed to being the HC of this team. He wants to be here. I like that in my head coach.
The Bad:
1. Well - we've made the playoffs once in 4 years. We were last in the division his first year, and third in the division two other years. We were close to a playoff spot in 2 of those seasons. But we all know close doesn't count. Based on results alone, despite winning some games, you can't argue Gruden's gotten it done to date.
2. The run game. I've been slow to get on board with this criticism, because I do believe the 'it's a passing league' characterization of the NFL. But looking at some stats of the most common playoff teams over the past decade recently, you can't argue with the data. Teams that make the playoffs most often have a top 10 running game. It may not be the most important factor, but the numbers indicate without that top 10 rushing ability, you aren't going to consistently make the playoffs. We haven't and we haven't. That's all on Gruden. I would assume Gruden himself understands this - hence, the drafting of Guice this offseason.
3. Game management. Gruden still makes too many in-game mistakes for a 4 year head coach. Not enough urgency in the 2 minute drill or at the end of games. Poor use of timeouts. Failing to maintain late leads that should allow us to secure a win. Curious playcalls at crucial moments. Penalties that, while not directly the fault of the HC, ultimately have to lie at his doorstep. He's had his share of all of these at times.
My positives list is a lot longer than my negative one and that makes clear where I stand. Gruden is a solid NFL coach. No - it's true - he hasn't made the Skins a perennial playoff team. Not yet. He has been an average to (on a good day) above average NFL Head Coach. But I think he can be a lot more than that. I know some of you will point to the fact that this HC or that HC came into a town (Philly for example) and 'turned them around in one season'. It does happen. But Gruden has had some unique hurdles during his 4 years that have made our 'turn around' tougher. He inherited a dysfunctional team and franchise and a QB who was doomed to fail. He dealt with that decisively. He had to rely on a very talented young QB, but one with an apparently fatally bruised ego who never wanted to be a Washington Redskin and who failed to show up when it counted most in big games. He's had to navigate some very challenging schedules, ones that a team finishing .500 really in fairness shouldn't have been saddled with. And he experienced injuries in season 4 that would've had the best of NFL Head Coaches struggling.
I still like and believe in Gruden. I think this would actually be the absolute worst time to cut bait on him. We appear to finally have a defensive staff that knows how to build a competent defense (I know some of you will argue that's more 'wishful thinking' than fact) and have an exciting rebuilt DL. We have taken steps to build a competent, if not great rushing attack, drafting OL and RB talent. We've secured a viable replacement starting QB. And we've had some very good if not great drafts adding some impressive young talent to our roster. We are a rising team in my opinion and you don't fire your head coach when your team is on the rise.
This is how I see it. I'm sure many of you will vehemently disagree
Personally, for those of you who have seen enough of Gruden, I find the timing of that conclusion curious? The Redskins are coming off perhaps their best draft in decades (my opinion) - and I believe Jay had a significant hand in that - and probably have one of their most talented and promising rosters in a long while.
I cleary fall into the opposite camp when it comes to Gruden. The last thing we need is to blow things up and start over. It's all we've done for 25 years and that approach has been an unmitigated disaster. You look at the perenially good competitive teams - and what they don't do is shed their head coach every 2-4 years. For that reason alone - short a couple of terrible seasons, I'm in favor of staying the course and not blowing it up.
Here's my attempt at a non-emotional good/bad assessment of Jay Gruden as a Redskins Head Coach:
The Good:
1. Gruden is independent. From the beginning of the Snyder era, we've bitched about the head coach getting undermined and steamrolled by the owner. That has not been the case with Gruden. He decided early on that RG3 could not be a long-term starter and he did something about it. He did it despite knowing what the org had invested in that gamble, and he did knowing Snyder was having Rob out to Snyder family BBQs every weekend. Gruden's got balls. I like that.
2. I believe Gruden has a 'football mind', is an 'X's and O's' guy, and that the players respect his knowledge and experience. I think he knows what it takes to win consistently and is in command of the lockerroom and players. Some call him a 'player's coach' and yeah, he likes to kid and keep it relaxed, but I don't think there's any question about who's in charge of our lockerroom.
3. Gruden is still young and if he can turn the corner and take it to the next level (yes - it's an 'if' as would likely be the case with any coach we'd replace him with), we could be set for years and years.
4. Gruden is an offensive genius. He gets a lot of criticism for a pass happy offense, perhaps well-deserved, but his pass happy offense is a thing of beauty with the right personnel. We've scored more than enough points during his tenure to make the playoffs every year. If we can get our defense to the same level as our offense (and I believe we are making progress in that direction), we will become a perennial playoff threat.
5. Gruden's teams have fought and not given up. Even when Gruden's teams have *seemingly* been out of contention, they have not mailed it in. They've played hard and fought down the stretch. That's a positive reflection of the HC's mentality.
6. Gruden clearly doesn't seek out or tolerate drama. We take this for granted, but given the ridiculous dramafest that comprised most of the Shanahan and Zorn years, we shouldn't.
7. Gruden loves being the head coach of the Washington Redskins. As far as I can tell, even through the tough times, Gruden is committed to being the HC of this team. He wants to be here. I like that in my head coach.
The Bad:
1. Well - we've made the playoffs once in 4 years. We were last in the division his first year, and third in the division two other years. We were close to a playoff spot in 2 of those seasons. But we all know close doesn't count. Based on results alone, despite winning some games, you can't argue Gruden's gotten it done to date.
2. The run game. I've been slow to get on board with this criticism, because I do believe the 'it's a passing league' characterization of the NFL. But looking at some stats of the most common playoff teams over the past decade recently, you can't argue with the data. Teams that make the playoffs most often have a top 10 running game. It may not be the most important factor, but the numbers indicate without that top 10 rushing ability, you aren't going to consistently make the playoffs. We haven't and we haven't. That's all on Gruden. I would assume Gruden himself understands this - hence, the drafting of Guice this offseason.
3. Game management. Gruden still makes too many in-game mistakes for a 4 year head coach. Not enough urgency in the 2 minute drill or at the end of games. Poor use of timeouts. Failing to maintain late leads that should allow us to secure a win. Curious playcalls at crucial moments. Penalties that, while not directly the fault of the HC, ultimately have to lie at his doorstep. He's had his share of all of these at times.
My positives list is a lot longer than my negative one and that makes clear where I stand. Gruden is a solid NFL coach. No - it's true - he hasn't made the Skins a perennial playoff team. Not yet. He has been an average to (on a good day) above average NFL Head Coach. But I think he can be a lot more than that. I know some of you will point to the fact that this HC or that HC came into a town (Philly for example) and 'turned them around in one season'. It does happen. But Gruden has had some unique hurdles during his 4 years that have made our 'turn around' tougher. He inherited a dysfunctional team and franchise and a QB who was doomed to fail. He dealt with that decisively. He had to rely on a very talented young QB, but one with an apparently fatally bruised ego who never wanted to be a Washington Redskin and who failed to show up when it counted most in big games. He's had to navigate some very challenging schedules, ones that a team finishing .500 really in fairness shouldn't have been saddled with. And he experienced injuries in season 4 that would've had the best of NFL Head Coaches struggling.
I still like and believe in Gruden. I think this would actually be the absolute worst time to cut bait on him. We appear to finally have a defensive staff that knows how to build a competent defense (I know some of you will argue that's more 'wishful thinking' than fact) and have an exciting rebuilt DL. We have taken steps to build a competent, if not great rushing attack, drafting OL and RB talent. We've secured a viable replacement starting QB. And we've had some very good if not great drafts adding some impressive young talent to our roster. We are a rising team in my opinion and you don't fire your head coach when your team is on the rise.
This is how I see it. I'm sure many of you will vehemently disagree
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