By hiring Scot McCloughan to be their general manager, the Redskins, at long last, may be transforming themselves into a team that builds for sustained success rather than always searching for a quick fix. McCloughan (pictured above, right) is a seasoned scout who has been given autonomy and authority to implement his skill set, and he’s always been energized by the search to find players. The future of player acquisition and retention bodes well for a team that has been challenged in that area.
I worked with McCloughan for a few years in Green Bay, and after he left I would see him regularly at league events. Scot is immediately likable; he’s always ready with a “Hey bud!” and an ever-present chaw of tobacco in his cheek. Whether in draft meetings or in chatter among the group, he was in his element talking about players (in sometimes NSFW language) and did so with conviction, even if he went against the consensus.
Scot now becomes the fifth current general manager from the scouting tree of former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, joining Ted Thompson (Packers), John Schneider (Seahawks), John Dorsey (Chiefs) and Reggie McKenzie (Raiders)—and, at some point soon Wolf’s son, Eliot, who is the director of player personnel for the Packers. will be another. The elder Wolf, who hired me on the business side in Green Bay, was very direct in interviewing scouting candidates. After a few pleasantries, he would simply send the candidate to a dark room with a clicker and a sheet of paper to “write up” a player. Scouts were hired, or passed over, based on that scouting report. As Ron would sometimes note about a prospect, “He can’t play,” the GM would look at a potential scout’s report and say, “He can’t scout.” There was great clarity in his minimalist approach.
While some members of Wolf’s scouting tree are more aggressive in free agency than others, all were schooled in the philosophy of 1) building an infrastructure of young, reasonably priced players through the draft; 2) trusting coaches to play and develop young players; and 3) securing contract extensions with ascending core players before they reach their leverage point of free agency. The Redskins have now acquired the institutional knowledge not only of McCloughan, but also of Wolf, Thompson, Dorsey, Schneider and McKenzie—to say nothing of McCloughan’s subsequent experiences with the 49ers and Seahawks. For a team that has lost often in recent years, this is a nice win for Washington.
People in the league were aware of McCloughan’s issues with alcohol for some time, and
he publicly addressed them in an ESPN The Magazine story in early December. The topic required vulnerability in the team’s interview process. There had to be open and honest communication, but Scot also had options, and he wasn’t going to rush to sign up for the wrong job. He needed assurances from Daniel Snyder and Bruce Allen that there wouldn’t be interference from the top and that everyone would be patient with his plan ...
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