I keep hearing people say that it's a dysfunctional organization - and I am not sure that's really true. There are reports of tension and conflict - and there is always going to be some of that when you are 3-7. I don't know that our stepping back this year (especially given some of the unusual circumstances that have contributed to our lack of success this season) equals a dysfunctional organization. Of course, I'm not listening to the DC sports media spewing conspiracy and venom 24/7. I heard Dan Lebotard on ESPN spewing last evening - he felt that RG3's comment about the Eagles 'knowing what was coming' in the first half was some huge intentional throwing of the coaching staff under the bus. I didn't read it that way at all and it's shocking to me when people take a comment like that which could be almost innocuous and turn it into the team imploding and there being a war between coaches and players. I think our world view is pretty skewed from some of the dysfunctional stuff we've seen over the years, but I don't think the lockerroom or culture is in anything like the horrible shape a lot if folks are implying it is. Of course no one except the folks involved know for sure, but mostly I see a team that's not playing well but that still appears to be fighting and mostly supporting one another.
This is just my opinion - but there have been quite a few people (here, among other places) pointing out problems dating back to early in the offseason, we've been saying that these were things to look for, that there might be something to this, that there might be more to these sporadic quotes, that individually you can easily write them off as poor word choices or frustration or whatever but that when you combine them all, given Griffin's intellect, they start to paint a picture. We said they were things worth noting and keeping an eye on. Well, here are - at 3-7. Rumors of the coaching staff being on their way out the door, rumors of Griffin not being happy, players being put on the inactive squad when they're healthy, players speaking out about coaches (directly in the case of Keith Burns or indirectly in others)...
I sure hope you're right that it's all just media drummed up controversy. That these quotes are being taken out of context. That the picture a few of us has have been saying exists is just us being negative, or haters, or being brainwashed by dumb media people, or whatever it is you and everyone else here thinks of it.
Ultimately we'll know what the real answer is if Shanahan gets to be the coach next year or not. If he's not here then it's crystal clear what is going on - a 22 year old is calling the shots behind the scenes. Those of us that have been pointing towards tension, signs of a power struggle, and problems between the staff and our new star player will have been right.
I'm sure many people will be able to justify the move. I, however, will see an organization basing its head coach on the opinions and feelings of a 22 year old with less than 32 games experience because he's a valued marketing figure of the team, and to me that's the definition of the type of dysfunction that brought us to the point where no one wanted to be the coach of this team in 2008.