2014 Coaching Search Rumors

[Lanky Livingston]

From Dan Helie, one of the more knowledgeable guys out there:

covered Jay Gruden when he was QB & Head Coach of AFL Orlando Predators. Great offensive mind who sees game from QB's eyes.

 

[Primus Porcus]

It's going to be fun to watch all the hand-wringing, second guessing, and hair-splitting by all the folks who've been preaching positivity 24/7 for a month

Your 'football GM' has made his choice. I like the move. So come on everybody - get on the positive train with me! There's plenty of room!

Btw - who has said Jim Haslett is the DC going forward? All we've heard is that they retained him 'in case the new coach wanted him to remain'. Has there been official word to the contrary? Or are we just assuming Gruden will want him in that role?

I'm still here

 

[tshile]

It's going to be fun to watch all the hand-wringing, second guessing, and hair-splitting by all the folks who've been preaching positivity 24/7 for a month

Your 'football GM' has made his choice. I like the move. So come on everybody - get on the positive train with me! There's plenty of room!

Btw - who has said Jim Haslett is the DC going forward? All we've heard is that they retained him 'in case the new coach wanted him to remain'. Has there been official word to the contrary? Or are we just assuming Gruden will want him in that role?

hey now

still positive about the structure of the organization. positive about the gruden hire.

skeptical about keeping the remaining staff but that's just speculation and who knows, maybe shanahan was the problem and not those guys... hard to tell when you're not the one in the meetings and at redskins park all day every day.

I am happy to see you've joined us though! You did some kicking and screaming, but it's the destination that matters most in this case

Or perhaps they've been vetting head coaches since midseason when it was clear how bad we were? I don't buy the 'good old boy club' idea. I think this was a well-researched hire, and they knew who they wanted. They interviewed more people in case he said no.

I can buy into that.

 

[Primus Porcus]

It's a bright, new day for the Maroon and Black.

I'm MBObsessed!

lol, can you explain to me how Gruden is any way comparable to Zorn?

 

[Ax]

Eh, let a penis be a penis.

HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!!!

 

[fanboyof91]

I remember when Jay coached the Orlando Predators...

 

[Primus Porcus]

He's not. You're reading too much into a little joke.

If we keep most of the staff, we should see better results in the first year, right? Or does the new coach get a pass on 2014?

Reading into it because there's been quite a few people making that comparison. We absolutely should see better results... 3 - 13 is about as bad as we can get. That being said, I cant say fire him after 1 season with a new system. That's not fair. New offense, potentially new defense, and a lot of new faces is going to need time to mesh.

 

[Docsandy]

It's going to be fun to watch all the hand-wringing, second guessing, and hair-splitting by all the folks who've been preaching positivity 24/7 for a month

Your 'football GM' has made his choice. I like the move. So come on everybody - get on the positive train with me! There's plenty of room!

Btw - who has said Jim Haslett is the DC going forward? All we've heard is that they retained him 'in case the new coach wanted him to remain'. Has there been official word to the contrary? Or are we just assuming Gruden will want him in that role?

I've never left the positive train. Just glad all this is over and we can move forward.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

I like this hire, he has an awesome reputation here, down to earth guy.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Quick Takes: Jay Gruden - Washington Redskins Blog - ESPN

Some interesting stuff there, including:

I know Jay Gruden’s brother, Jon, is high on Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins. During an interview I had with him before the Monday night game against San Francisco, Jon Gruden brought up his name unprompted. Does that mean his brother is equally high on Cousins? Don’t know.

I am not high or low on this. I think Gruden has potential. I'm not sure the coaching search was completely kosher (get the best man for the job instead of sort of having a favorite), because I do wonder about keeping so many coaches who had connections with Jay Gruden. That said, I can always hope that a bad process has good results with some blind luck. I hope he will be able to help RG3. I will be interested to hear the contract details (heard 5 years on the radio this morning, but no more detail than that). The next interesting stage: the final formation of the coaching staff (hearing something about Raheem getting DC, and speculation on where Haslett ends up then - someone said perhaps with some kind of assistant head coach title... would not make me excited). After that... schemes... personnel... it's going to be a very interesting offseason.

*Of course - the other way to look at this is the execution of a plan that they believe in (having this set of coaches ready if they liked Gruden's plan and it meshed with their line of thinking). As always, we as fans know what we know - very little - and can only speculate. Whatever the reasoning... hopefully the franchise is heading in the right direction!

 

[Chris]

There is no way to go but up. I'm in!

(How's that for positivity?)

 

[servumtuum]

I'm not trying to browbeat anyone into adopting my view, but here's my response. Gruden is not Kyle Shanahan. They're different guys with different personalities, backgrounds, and I'm sure strengths and weaknesses. You choose one and not the other for 1000 different reasons. Bruce Allen apparently didn't think Kyle was the guy. What more do you need to know about that? As far as experience, you're cherry-picking. Gruden has HC experience, albeit not at the NFL level, but he does have experience and has had tremendous success as a head coach. And I wish people would really look at what Gruden has accomplished with the Bengals offense - the stats are impressive. And they've gotten better every year. In what way does Gruden resemble Zorn in ANY WAY? Zorn had no record of accomplishment as a coach at any level. No one other than the Redskins would have even interviewed Zorn for a head coaching position, while Jay Gruden (whether you think it's a bad thing or not) was being considered for that job by multiple teams. Your criticisms of the Bengals offense, sorry, but the stats don't back up your statements. There is no guarantee that any head coach selection will work out. But painting this as some head scratching move, sorry, I couldn't disagree more.

Boone, you and I tend to emphasize different aspects of coaching in our perspectives-I think you are more oriented toward the "Rah-Rah" motivational part while I look more for a football strategist/technician and there's nothing wrong with that-I think both are necessary components. In this post, though, you make a couple of what I think are very valid points about the whole Gruden hunt.

How much effect having him as the Bengals OC had on their offensive production may be, to a certain extent at least, debatable however the offensive production of the Bengals since his arrival must be at least partly his doing. The Bengals averaged only three points fewer per game in 2012 than we did with a healthy Griffin and were ranked 12th in points per game and for any team the OC must take credit/blame for a large part of that. And that was with Andy freakin' Dalton at QB. The kid has some skills but we ain't talkin' Brees, Rodgers, Brady, Manning level QB here.

I do have questions I'm looking to be answered, concerns that bother me about how his meshing with the Redskins team will work out but Boone brings up another good point. There was a mad rush by four NFL teams to snag an interview with Gruden.

Four NFL teams.

Four NFL teams needing a head coach saw enough there to try their best to grab Jay Gruden and get him to coach their team. That alone tells me that there is something to the idea the guy is good at what he does. He may not be the "This would be my personal favorite" of everybody but to dismiss him out of hand as a mistake, IMO, is itself a huge mistake.

Unless you want to take the position that you are a better judge than four experienced NFL team front offices.

You can, of course, but consider my eyebrows raised at that level of hubris if you do.

 

[tshile]

Chris Cooley ‏@thecooleyzone 45m

Evveryone knows im the biggest sean mcvay supporter out there. Sean is an extremely smart football person and will be a hell of a OC.

 

[Chris]

Chris Cooley ‏@thecooleyzone 45m

Evveryone knows im the biggest sean mcvay supporter out there. Sean is an extremely smart football person and will be a hell of a OC.

He sounds perfect to coach up Jameis.

 

[SkinsFTW]

Your criticisms of the Bengals offense, sorry, but the stats don't back up your statements. There is no guarantee that any head coach selection will work out. But painting this as some head scratching move, sorry, I couldn't disagree more.

Well they did get spanked all 3 times they've been to the playoffs and there have been questions about his playcalling. With RG3 looking so bad running a passing first offense how will he do under Gruden passing 2/3-3/4ths of the time? My bet is that we will sound like Dallas fans crying about Garret in the 2nd half of games, kinda like we were at times with Kyle, but worse. Griffin requires the running game and it was obvious this year, Gruden is known to disregard the running game even when the game is still close.


Jay Gruden's departure benefit for Andy Dalton, RBs - ESPN

"Farewell to the days of passing in the playoffs on third-and-1s. Say sayonara to deep routes on fourth-and-3. "

"In all three of Cincinnati's playoff games with Gruden coaching, the Bengals handed the ball to their running backs on just 25 percent of the overall plays. That's far from balance."

Cincinnati Bengals did not run enough vs. San Diego Chargers - ESPN

"Offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth campaigned hardest to incorporate the run. Over the final eight games of the regular season, the Bengals ran the ball more than 30 times in a game seven times. In the first eight contests, they topped the 30-carry mark only three times.

On Sunday, in their biggest game of the season, the Bengals only rushed 25 times. That's remarkably low considering how their 38 rushes for 164 yards were a key reason why they beat San Diego in Week 14.

So, did the Bengals run enough against the Chargers on Sunday?

Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis says "no."

"I don't care if it's a passing league or not, like I've said since the beginning of time, when the playoffs start, championship teams are built off running the football and stopping the run," Green-Ellis said. "Those things you've got to do. I don't care if they keep changing the rules or if they keep becoming a passing league.

"That's playoff football." "

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Jay Gruden runs a more traditional West Coast Offense; pass to set up the run. Short, quick patterns that get the offense moving and open up running lanes. Griffin is the ideal QB to run this offense, see Young, Steve. Mobile, big arm, pinpoint accuracy (yes, I'm convinced the knee was what was wrong with Griffin's accuracy this year). If Griffin fully gets over the surgery this offseason (it often takes people a full season to get their legs back after a major knee surgery) - look for him to have a breakout year. 4000+ yards through the air and 30+ TDs. Garçon will feast on defenses with the quick slant, and maybe even someone like Kelvin Benjamin will fall to them in the 2nd round (if he comes out).

If Gruden can get those types of numbers out of Andy Dalton, I can't wait to see what he does with a QB like Griffin. And the biggest benefactor of them all just might be Alfred Morris....Ahman Green, Roger Craig, Shaun Alexander, just to name three - RBs who have dominated in the WCO. Put Morris immediately in that category. He has the vision and quickness to take advantage of the running lanes created by this offense, and the crushing power to punish secondaries who come up to tackle him. It only helps the passing game when your RB is beating up the safeties and corners.

I feel like one of the main problems Kyle & Mike had in their time here was two clashing philosophies; Kyle ran a more traditional WCO, while Mike ran his run-heavy version of it. These conflicting strategies worked well together in 2012 when Griffin was healthy, but the offense had no real identity when he wasn't. Now, they will have an identity, and Griffin and Morris will explode because of it. Get ready folks, and hold onto your hats.

This could all be speculation and Gruden will flop out in two years like the rest of them...or not. I think this guy is the next in line to be one of the great HCs in the league, and he's starting here. Young and hungry!

 

[SkinsFTW]

The more i read about the guy the more i read about happy Bengals fans that he's gone. Yes HAPPY BENGALS FANS. They've been worse than us and they are happy the dude is gone. Not a great sign, IMO.

Comments are at the bottom of this article:
Why Jay Gruden is (is not) qualified to be a head coach - Cincy Jungle

"Please change this article and delete the negatives. Then print out enough copies for all the teams with coaching vacancies. Buy some wine baskets, place the letters with the baskets, and ship them to those teams. Send me the bill, I’ll reimburse you."

"Let Us Pray....…. that someone takes Gruden off our hands."


"Gruden would make a GREAT head coach for a Pop Warner team. I think his experience in the Arena Football League would translate very well.

Clearly the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree. It’s just too bad it’s a crabapple!"

 

[servumtuum]

Just picked up this tweet from Sportspyder.

Zac Boyer ‏@ZacBoyer 23m
Jay Gruden's agent, Bob LaMonte, said the opportunity to work with Robert Griffin III was a large selling point in choosing the #Redskins.

 

[Boone]

The more i read about the guy the more i read about happy Bengals fans that he's gone. Yes HAPPY BENGALS FANS. They've been worse than us and they are happy the dude is gone. Not a great sign, IMO.

Comments are at the bottom of this article:
Why Jay Gruden is (is not) qualified to be a head coach - Cincy Jungle

"Please change this article and delete the negatives. Then print out enough copies for all the teams with coaching vacancies. Buy some wine baskets, place the letters with the baskets, and ship them to those teams. Send me the bill, I’ll reimburse you."

"Let Us Pray....…. that someone takes Gruden off our hands."


"Gruden would make a GREAT head coach for a Pop Warner team. I think his experience in the Arena Football League would translate very well.

Clearly the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree. It’s just too bad it’s a crabapple!"

Numbers, stats, and results vs. fan commentary? Think I'll stick what the actual data shows.

 

[Boone]

This looks like a post-2004 Buccaneers coaching reunion...including the GM.

I'm trying to remember anything memorable about that group up to 2009 when Allen got fired.

Was Jay Gruden the head coach? Sort of makes a difference in my book. Different team, different circumstances, different coach, different city.

No way of knowing how this will go.