I think most of us agree that getting a real GM and setting a direction for the franchise is probably the most critical thing this team has lacked for the past decade.
Neo, I agree with your line of thinking. Ron Wolf might be on my short list of people to call but he's no spring chicken and I'm not sure how plugged into the league he is at this point having been out of action for several years. I would want to consult him though as to see what we should be looking for in our next GM.
We should also resist the urge to set the way back machine and get someone like Casserly. His time has come and gone. We should look seriously at organizations that have had success in building teams. We need to learn from them and bring in someone from one of those organizations who has had success. Failing to lure one of the “big names” away we could still get a highly qualified person who is waiting in the wings in one of those organizations and who is ready to take the next step.
Maybe we can't get Ozzie Newsome (Ravens) but we might get his right hand man. Same thing for guys like Jerry Reese (Giants) or Tom Heckert (Eagles). I might even give a guy like Floyd Reese a look. He was the GM for the Oilers/Titans from 94'-06 and works for the Pats now.
Once we get the right GM in place THEN we search for the right coach. I don't like the WCO but if the GM does then we need to find the coach that believes in that philosophy. That way the GM knows what type of players to bring in. The Coach and GM need to collaborate on the Offensive and Defensive coordinators with the final say going to the coach. Final say on personnel issues will go to the GM but it should be a collaborative effort.
At that point I'd let the GM and coach do their jobs knowing that I've done everything I could to make things work. I would be involved (because I own the freakin team) but I would stay in the shadows as much as possible. I would know that a new coach with a new system and new players may take some time to come together. I would give them that time with the understanding that what we want is sustained success and not some all or nothing grab for a one season run at the Super Bowl. At the end of each season we would sit down and discuss what we need to do going forward and if changes need to be made.
How does that sound?
All of those ideas sound reasonable and potentially productive directions to pursue in the interests of extracting the Redskins from the mire they are in.
There is, however, a a problem associated with the successful
implementation of plans such as those you have outlined. There first has to be an admission that the course you have been following is either a.) wrong, b.)mis-directed, or c.)non-productive. Any directional change not predicated on this admission is almost guaranteed to be either a cosmetic designed to enhance appearance or an exercise in CYA.
(Informational aside: in the marketing industry, the cosmetic type of improvement is called re-branding; the change of enough surface-level aspects of a product's "appeal" without having to resort to the trouble of changing the product itself to make it appear to be an attractive choice. Certain well-known individuals well established records of creative genius in this industry are closely involved with the Redskin organization-perhaps if contacted they can offer more detailed information.)
I have noticed an apparent reluctance, bordering on refusal, to make one of the admissions outlined above-either a.) wrongness "Hey, do you think we ought to try something else?", b.)mis-directed "Are we doing this right?", or c.)non-productive "This ain't workin' dude." This refusal seems to be universal-it exists throughout the coaching staff, the FO-every level of the organization-all the way to the top, where it is so intrinsic a personality component that an admission of this type would herald the coming of the Apocalypse.
Long story short; not while the big "D" holdeth the reigns, my friend.