PFT: Daniel Snyder says he can now "sleep at night"

[BGO]

After more than a decade of owning the Redskins, Daniel Snyder seems to be finally figuring out the wisdom of stepping aside and letting the professionals do their job.And he knows it.Snyder recently told Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com that the...

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[Jugband McGillicuddy]

Y'know, we've all piled on the Dan at some point. And chances are it was deserved. But the one thing I really respect about the man is that he learns from his mistakes and makes adjustments. Granted, most of the adjustments to this point haven't WORKED, but he is making them.

Forgive me in advance if I really want to see Shanahan/Allen as the second coming of Gibbs/Beathard. And if Danny can force himself to just write the checks as Mr. Cooke did, we'll be in pretty damned good shape.

 

[hail2skins]

Well, but this one quote from Marvez's article is interesting:

“I learned – and I think this has to do with Joe Gibbs – the most important thing for me personally is to have a head coach who is extremely competent,” said Snyder, referring to Zorn’s renowned predecessor. “That’s what I’ve got with Mike. It creates an opportunity for me to be extremely hands off and not have to worry.”

Maybe I'm just reading too much into this. And make no mistake, its good to have an experienced guy like Shanahan leading the sidelines. But there are going to be likely many more times in Snyder's ownership when he is going to have to hire a new head coach, and someone with Shanahan's pedigree isn't necessarily going to be available. Are we going to be continually hiring retreads? Or, hopefully, Snyder isn't THAT gunshy from the failed Zorn experiment and does again take a chance someday on an assistant to be a HC.....with a bit more due diligence in the hiring process.

 

[Jimbo]

I find it VERY HARD to believe Danny had trouble sleeping at night. We suffered through sign-gate and sue-the-hard-luck-season-ticket-holder-gate and he made mistake after mistake because of his own arrogance. Sure, he FINALLY made the correct decision because EVERYBODY was saying the SAME THING. Get rid of Vinny, get rid of Zorn, get a REAL GM and hire a proven HC. I think 9 out of 10 fans would have done the same thing.
It's nice that Danny can enjoy the moment but it was his own stubbornness that prevented it from happening sooner. Maybe it will pay off and maybe it won't but even if it doesn't, we won't have the drama because the fans and the players and alumni are ALREADY much happier.

 

[CounterTrey]

Sorry Jimbo I don't buy that at all. Gibbs decided to keep on Vinny and that joke continued because Gibbs endorsed it. Also Gibbs got and had whatever he wanted including a gargantuan coaching staff with sky's the limit on salaries. A lot of fans were unhappy and wanted Vinny gone but if Gibbs isn't saying that then what the hell would any reasonable person expect Snyder to do...NOT trust in "St Joe"? Come on, be realistic. Snyder has canned Vinny twice now, it's completely realistic to assume he would have allowed it again if his HC had any juice at all (ie polar opposite of Zorn) and wanted it done.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Y'know, we've all piled on the Dan at some point. And chances are it was deserved. But the one thing I really respect about the man is that he learns from his mistakes and makes adjustments. Granted, most of the adjustments to this point haven't WORKED, but he is making them.

What adjustments has he made until now, exactly? Seems like the same mistakes, over and over and over since he took over the team, eleven years ago.

I think he has known what a good owner should do: hire a GM and let them do the work. Just two years ago he hired his O and D coordinators before hiring his head coach. How the eff does someone who learns from their mistakes (firing Schotty, hiring Spurrier) eff up the HC search so badly?

My opinion is this: Snyder WANTS to be Al Davis, with his hand in everything. He WANTS to be the one who puts the team together, so he can get all the glory. This is why he had Vinny around in "Head of Football Operations" or whatever bogus title he gave him, so he could puppet him around. I don't think Snyder is learning from his mistakes - I think he is finally realizing he's just not that good at pulling the strings, and his desire to win has finally outweighed his desire to tinker.

 

[CounterTrey]

I think he is finally realizing he's just not that good at pulling the strings, and his desire to win has finally outweighed his desire to tinker.

Isn't that by definition learning from his mistakes? It might be a begrudging surrender but it still qualifies as learning from his mistakes if he's willing to change tack the way he has.

It's also not a stretrch of the imagination from my POV to think that Snyder was so clueless that Vinny had him convinced that he was doing thing the right way. Vinny was like that evil little bird on Snyder's shoulder. That's not good either, but it is just as plausible as Snyder being an ego-maniacal Powermad narcissist who would rather play by his rules and build the team than follow conventional wisdom and wipe the slate clean followed by the hiring of top notch guys like Allen and Shanahan. I can guarantee you Snyder didn't come up with Zorn on his own.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Isn't that by definition learning from his mistakes? It might be a begrudging surrender but it still qualifies as learning from his mistakes if he's willing to change tack the way he has.

No - there is a difference between learning from your mistakes and giving up because you've finally been defeated. If I try to jump off a 10 foot ledge, and break my ankle, then come back and do it again when my ankle heals 9 times in a row - if I finally say 'you know what, this hurts too much, I think I'd rather get down safely than get down the badass way' and then I take the stairs, I haven't learned from my mistakes.

Also, I don't think Snyder is that dumb. I mean, he's the owner of a billion dollar company. You don't get to that position being dumb.

 

[Jimbo]

Also, I don't think Snyder is that dumb. I mean, he's the owner of a billion dollar company. You don't get to that position being dumb.

The guy is not dumb at all but arrogance can cloud your decision making and make you appear dumb.

As for Gibbs keeping Vinny, I'm not convinced it was all Joe's decision.

I guess the bottom line is that Danny seems pleased as punch now, NOT because he knows these guys will produce a playoff team, even though he has to like the prospects, but because he now has a real live professional FO in place.

 

[redskins26]

since he can sleep and hasnt slept in 11 years i guess he is do for a 2 year sleeper?

 

[kirbster]

As for Gibbs keeping Vinny, I'm not convinced it was all Joe's decision.

Joe held all the cards when he was hired and could've done virtually anything he wanted at that time. If Joe had wanted Vinny gone, he would've been out of there in 2 seconds flat. No way on earth would Snyder have not done whatever Gibbs wanted.

 

[CounterTrey]

No - there is a difference between learning from your mistakes and giving up because you've finally been defeated. If I try to jump off a 10 foot ledge, and break my ankle, then come back and do it again when my ankle heals 9 times in a row - if I finally say 'you know what, this hurts too much, I think I'd rather get down safely than get down the badass way' and then I take the stairs, I haven't learned from my mistakes.

Also, I don't think Snyder is that dumb. I mean, he's the owner of a billion dollar company. You don't get to that position being dumb.

Sorry Lanky but you're just off on this one. If he changed his method of getting down after breaking it 9 times and -although it took him a while to get it- he finally took the safe route, then again by definition he FINALLY learned the lesson. If he hadn't he would just keep jumping and breaking that ankle and NEVER use an alternative means of descent because he'd still be convinced that jumping was the right method of descent and he'd keep rationalizing ways that it was going to work THIS time. No when you surrender you effectively are saying "OK I was wrong, I thought this would work, but clearly I was wrong and I'm ready to try it your way now."

If Snyder's not that dumb (or manipulated by his friends whom he proudly proclaims Vinny is one of his best) and Gibbs wasn't on board with it then it is the one and only secret Snyder's crew has ever been able to keep in entirety and it's the best kept secret in Washington Sports. I don't buy it.

Kirbster is right, Gibbs had absolute Carte Blanche to set things up however he wanted. That's been a big misconception for a while anyway...the meddling. Hell, he was gonna give freakin' Spurrier another year.

 

[mugsy27]

im sure sarge must be relieved!!!

 

[servumtuum]

As long as he keeps his fingers out of the Redskin football pie, he can either sleep like a proverbial baby, or writhe in nightmare-filled agony-I'll be unconcerned either way.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Sorry Lanky but you're just off on this one. If he changed his method of getting down after breaking it 9 times and -although it took him a while to get it- he finally took the safe route, then again by definition he FINALLY learned the lesson. If he hadn't he would just keep jumping and breaking that ankle and NEVER use an alternative means of descent because he'd still be convinced that jumping was the right method of descent and he'd keep rationalizing ways that it was going to work THIS time. No when you surrender you effectively are saying "OK I was wrong, I thought this would work, but clearly I was wrong and I'm ready to try it your way now."

If Snyder's not that dumb (or manipulated by his friends whom he proudly proclaims Vinny is one of his best) and Gibbs wasn't on board with it then it is the one and only secret Snyder's crew has ever been able to keep in entirety and it's the best kept secret in Washington Sports. I don't buy it.

Kirbster is right, Gibbs had absolute Carte Blanche to set things up however he wanted. That's been a big misconception for a while anyway...the meddling. Hell, he was gonna give freakin' Spurrier another year.

I disagree. I think he's wanted to be the one to put a team together, so he's continued with his ways because of his arrogance. He knows that hiring a solid GM will do the trick - there is a ton of empirical evidence in the league supporting that hypothesis. He is switching his ways now because he's realizing he'd rather win than be the GM.

 

[kirbster]

Thus he's learned from his mistakes and is changing his ways! You've proven exactly what CT and I are saying.

 

[Special K]

As long as he keeps his fingers out of the Redskin football pie, he can either sleep like a proverbial baby, or writhe in nightmare-filled agony-I'll be unconcerned either way.

Lol. That's about where I'm at with all this. I personally don't care how Dannyboy sleeps at night. My only concern is 1) whether or not he sticks to staying the crap out of tinkering with the Skins and letting the professionals do their jobs and 2) keeping his writing hand healthy so he can sign checks.

 

[fansince62]

the interesting thing is that these days...perspective on owners is rather like the same for a team: a reset happens every Summer. and a chance for redemption.

 

[Sarge]

The little bastard doesn't sleep..........ever.

He lies on his bed with his eyes open dreaming of ways to screw things up more

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Thus he's learned from his mistakes and is changing his ways! You've proven exactly what CT and I are saying.

Naw, I disagree. There's a small difference, but there's still a difference. If you make a mistake knowing you're making it, its no longer a mistake, its now bad judgment. Danny has been conceited this whole time, thinking he's got the football smarts to put a competitive team together because he WANTS to. Its been fantasy football to him.

I mean, come on! Its been 11 years! If you guys are right, and he's really been making the same mistake for 11 years, he's certifiably insane. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."