Redskins Relieve Mike Shanahan of Duties

[Boone]

For Immediate Release
December 30, 2013

REDSKINS RELIEVE MIKE SHANAHAN OF DUTIES

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. – The Washington Redskins announced today that they have relieved Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan of his duties with the team.

“Redskins fans deserve a better result,” Owner Daniel M. Snyder said. “We thank Mike for his efforts on behalf of the Redskins. We will focus on what it takes to build a winning team, and my pledge to this organization and to this community is to continue to commit the resources and talent necessary to put this team back in the playoffs.”

“We are going to take a smart, step-by-step approach to finding the right coach to return the Redskins to where we believe we should be,” Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen said. “We will analyze accurately and honestly all of the decisions that were made over the past year."

The Redskins will hold a press conference at Redskins Park between noon and 12:30 p.m. ET

 

[Go Deep]

I hope everyone who wanted this is happy now. I wish I had the will power to forget about this team.

So who and how long now?

 

[Birdlives]

Problem #1, the goal of this organization should not be to "put this team back in the playoffs", it should be to win a championship. Snyder has always set his sights too low. Winning a division, getting to the playoffs.

He'd better seriously consider hiring a true GM before doing anything else. If a coach shows up at the podium with Snyder and Allen on either side of him, it's just another chapter in the ass-backwards approach of Snyder the owner.

 

[servumtuum]

Maybe I've missed something here but it looks like the title "Executive Vice-President" has changed hands.

 

[tshile]

Maybe I've missed something here but it looks like the title "Executive Vice-President" has changed hands.

You have a good eye...

 

[Elephant]

Maybe I've missed something here but it looks like the title "Executive Vice-President" has changed hands.

Yeah I saw this Tweet from Albert Breer earlier and just had to laugh then reply.


Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer 19m
I said yesterday that the Shanahan firing would likely lead to a front office restructure. Some speculation that Allen could be promoted.


Bschurm ‏@BS_elephant 2m
@AlbertBreer Not knocking, but Shanny was VP...that is FO so of course there would be changes in FO with the VP being fired.

 

[Fear The Spear]

So, is every assistant coach literally fired, too ?

Or just Kyle and Haz ? Burns maybe ?

 

[Burgundy Burner]

So, is every assistant coach literally fired, too ?

Or just Kyle and Haz ? Burns maybe ?

The only word so far is that Kyle Shanahan, Jim Haslett and Matt LaFleur have been fired.

 

[servumtuum]

That's an immediate upgrade in itself.

 

[Fear The Spear]

That's an immediate upgrade in itself.

Not if Burns isn't included......atrocious special teams would cancel out any improvements

 

[Lovethebeer]

Deja vu all over again.....

 

[Fear The Spear]

I hope everyone who wanted this is happy now. I wish I had the will power to forget about this team.

So who and how long now?

I did NOT want it, until the last few weeks.
The last few weeks' performance were inexcusable, and the cap is no excuse for what we've seen.
Not only that, but Shanahan had clearly lost the players respect. And when you lose that, it's over.

 

[Bulldog]

The players said they respected Shanahan but they didn't play well or hard for him.

Meanwhile players hated Jimmy Johnson but he got them to perform on the field.

It's a bottom line business.

Hiring your son to be the OC and then trading for McNabb had this regime off on the wrong foot back in 2010.

The team's desperation after Grossman/Beck in 2011 lead to the Griffin trade.

 

[SkinsFTW]

To be honest I overestimated Shanahan and I was one of the ones who wanted him least. I figured he'd get us to 8-8 to 11-5 every year and maybe a first-second round playoff loss. I was only partially joking when I said I'd rather if Snyder rehired Schottenheimer in 2010 but he surely would have done better. Hell, Norv Turner likely would have done better than 24-40 and 9-15 in the NFCE

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

Shannhan should never have been given the amount of control he had. period. we need a gm who is a football guy, let allen worry about the cap, get a personelle guy/ team builder in here and let him choose a coach.

 

[Elephant]

Shannhan should never have been given the amount of control he had. period. we need a gm who is a football guy, let allen worry about the cap, get a personelle guy/ team builder in here and let him choose a coach.

From what I take away from the Bruce Allen address to the media is that Allen is in full control. And it does not look like they will be rid of Morocco Brown either.

 

[Boone]

Shannhan should never have been given the amount of control he had. period. we need a gm who is a football guy, let allen worry about the cap, get a personelle guy/ team builder in here and let him choose a coach.

That's clearly not the plan so there's little point in continuing to rail for a 'football GM'. I think Allen believes he IS a football GM

 

[GSF]

That's clearly not the plan so there's little point in continuing to rail for a 'football GM'. I think Allen believes he IS a football GM

Based on the Allen press conference you appear to be correct.

 

[Go Deep]

According to Allen the decision to fire Shanahan was 99% certain after the loss to the Cowboys. He just wanted to see the losing streak snapped. WTF...what difference does winning two meaningless games make? This team was going in the right direction. In 2 to 3 years I firmly believe we would've been perennial playoff contenders. Next year might have been another tuff year(if we couldn't find the right FA's) but after that we would have been where we wanted. It would have at least been enough time to see this thing through.

Now, there's no plan, no coach. Allen said he's open to a coach who wants to do whatever he wants offensively or defensively. How long does this guy get and what's acceptable over the next 2 years?

 

[Burgundy Burner]

Highlighted the important parts below. Sounds like we will have two football GMs. I like the structure and think this may work. After seeing an earlier tweet that said Shanahan never took the advice of Brown and Campbell, now we can see what they will do in their expanded roles.

Bruce Allen: Control over personnel will be mine | ProFootballTalk

Bruce Allen: Control over personnel will be mine

Posted by Josh Alper on December 30, 2013, 2:50 PM EST

The departure of Mike Shanahan has Redskins head coach won’t be accompanied by a further shakeup in the team’s front office.

That was the message from executive vice president and General Manager Bruce Allen at his Monday press conference. Allen said that he would continue to work with director of pro personnel Morocco Brown and director of player personnel Scott Campbell in the wake of Shanahan’s firing and denied that there were any structural problems with the way the organization does business.

One thing that will change in the future is who has control over personnel decisions. Shanahan had a major role in those calls during his tenure, but Allen said Monday that “the control will be mine” moving forward in addition to asserting his prominent role in selecting the next coach. That will make for a different way of doing business in Washington and, should the Redskins stick to that mode of operation, it could impact which candidates are interested in pursuing the head coaching position.

There wasn’t much detail about what the team will be looking for in their next coach as Allen stuck to vague descriptors like “inspire and lead” and “sense of urgency” to describe what he’s looking for during the interview process. Allen also confirmed that many assistant coaches were fired. According to multiple reports, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and special teams coach Keith Burns are out while others, including defensive coordinator Jim Haslett and defensive backs coach Raheem Morris, will have their fate determined by the next head coach.