The Gruden Files - Year Two

[DieselPwr44]

Norv Turner made the playoffs. And he couldn't lead water over Niagra.

True. But Norv also had a stacked roster too that he gradually ran into the ground.

Everybody(well maybe not fansince and a few others) says that we have players(street free agents,draft picks and udfa's) playing above their heads right now.

That has to come from good coaching and leadership. That's a credit to Jay and his staff....it sure as hell isn't from the night janitor....lol

 

[Ax]

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Can't fight physics brother.

 

[Ax]

It's the leadership of Daniel Snyder.

 

[MikeSr619]

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Can't fight physics brother.

sure, but if every time you did something good someone ran in and reminded you of a mistake (even 20 years ago) would you really want to constantly hear it?

 

[DieselPwr44]

It's the leadership of Daniel Snyder.

Tr1 just went into convulsions.

Call the paramedics!

 

[Smoot Point]

Will they let him have # 10 in Dallas ?

I think stevenaa mentioned he needed a good coach. A lot could change depending on where certain coaches go, but I really respect Mike McCoy in San Diego. However, he has a good shot at places like Denver (has family there) and Houston (ditto).

A lot of his time in development here was spent taking mental reps and strengthening leg muscles around damaged ligaments... Maybe he also needs to rethink Terry Shea as a QB mentor... It doesn't seem to be working for him.

 

[Ax]

sure, but if every time you did something good someone ran in and reminded you of a mistake (even 20 years ago) would you really want to constantly hear it?

Well, I couldn't kick my Dad out of his own house.

This is what message boards are. They're leading the way to the deterioration of fan behavior/interaction.

 

[redskins26]

I think stevenaa mentioned he needed a good coach. A lot could change depending on where certain coaches go, but I really respect Mike McCoy in San Diego. However, he has a good shot at places like Denver (has family there) and Houston (ditto).

A lot of his time in development here was spent taking mental reps and strengthening leg muscles around damaged ligaments... Maybe he also needs to rethink Terry Shea as a QB mentor... It doesn't seem to be working for him.

I was thinking about that last night it would be beneficial for him to sit behind Phillip rivers and study him for the next 2-3 years

 

[McD5]

And for another point of view...

Washington's Jay Gruden should be coach of the decade - Orlando Sentinel

As well as he's done this season, Jay Gruden should not be NFC coach of the year. He should be coach of the decade.

Gruden did the truly impossible.

He ended Dan Snyder's man crush on Robert Griffin III and lived to tell about it. Almost as amazing, Gruden turned Kirk Cousins into a touchdown machine.

Gruden's Job One was to turn Griffin into Steve Young. The coach quickly concluded that was impossible. More importantly, Gruden detected that the locker room resented how RG3 had been coddled.

 

[Ax]

There's a name for posters of posts like that.

But, I don't want to get banned.

 

[Smoot Point]

It's the leadership of Daniel Snyder.

I'll say that I find very little to complain about concerning Daniel Snyder over the years... He obviously made some bad decisions and entrusted the franchise to the wrong people at times, but he hasn't been "impatient" since Gibbs 2 era... He made a good call in getting rid of Cerrato & while there were some concerns about Bruce Allen in the beginning, that move has evolved into the hiring of Scot McCloughan (who credits Bruce Allen with being a big part of bringing him here).

I get that a lot of people hate Snyder, and I won't fault them for feeling this way. However, he has evolved into a decent middle-of-the-pack owner and I think we can look at about 10 owners around the league who are far worse right now...

Here is a quick list of owners I'd consider worse and the reasoning, but mostly the reasoning has to do with Snyder limiting his meddling and the hiring of McCloughan:

1) Cleveland Browns - Jimmy Haslam... I don't think I need to explain.
2) Philadelphia Eagles - Jeffrey Lurie... Gave full control of organization to a mad-man, then ditched him after one year of a multi-year extension.
3) 49ers - Jed York... Dismantled Personnel, then Coach, and team totally sucks now with no real hope.
4) Chargers - Alex Spanos... Is he moving the team or not?
5) Titans - A bunch of idiots... Clearly idiotic people in charge.
6) Rams - Stan Kroenke... How is Jeff Fisher still the coach?
7) Bucs - Glazer brothers... Divided interests in Manchester United, lack of success.
8) Miami - Stephen Ross... I should probably have him higher on the list.
9) Dallas - Jerry Jones... Pretty close to Snyder, but he is the epitome of a meddling owner. No GM to speak of here.
10) Detroit - Ford family... Just fired personnel and VP. Lived with Matt Millen as GM for ages.
11) NY Jets - Woody Johnson... Recently, he has been better. I'd say Snyder is about in this range.

Now, there are a few teams that I'd say need more time to really gauge the owners... Raiders, Bills, Jaguars, etc...

I think Snyder is clearly middle of the pack and improving. We just need to see McCloughan build longterm success, and we might have an owner that even the most critical of fans won't be embarrassed to talk about.

 

[Ax]

For the record, I've never hated Snyder. I was just being a smart ass.

 

[Henry]

True. But Norv also had a stacked roster too that he gradually ran into the ground.

Everybody(well maybe not fansince and a few others) says that we have players(street free agents,draft picks and udfa's) playing above their heads right now.

That has to come from good coaching and leadership. That's a credit to Jay and his staff....it sure as hell isn't from the night janitor....lol

Yeah, not that I'm quite ready to go to the mat for Gruden yet, but there are a few differences between 1999 and today.

In 1999 we were the second healthiest team in the league.

This year, the Redskins are the second-most injured team in the league.

Our strength of schedule/division were pretty much the same back then as today. We just out-lasted everyone else back then. This year, we're out-playing them. I wouldn't call Gruden a great coach just yet, but our 2016 campaign is, in my opinion, significantly more impressive than our '99 effort. Everything aligned perfectly for us that year. I wouldn't say that about this year.

 

[Smoot Point]

I wouldn't categorize Dan Snyder's feelings for RGIII as a "man crush"... Robert Griffin III is in his 4th season and this was the 1st year that the deal to bring RGIII to the team didn't impact the draft. An owner doesn't like to see their investment wasted. Cousins really didn't look all that better of an option than RGIII until around week 8... I wouldn't credit Gruden with changing Daniel Snyder's mind, I'd credit Kirk Cousins.

 

[Smoot Point]

Also, I'd say our level of competition has still been crap... So, 9-7 is good, but it isn't worthy of any coaching accolades.

 

[Ax]

Well, if the rumors were true that Gruden preferred Kirk 10 minutes after he walked through the door, then he showed how spineless he I was for not making the switch then.

 

[redskins26]

Well, if the rumors were true that Gruden preferred Kirk 10 minutes after he walked through the door, then he showed how spineless he I was for not making the switch then.

he wanted to try to make it work with Griffen. I heard he preferred colt
When the patriots practiced with us prior to 2014 Brady and some members of the Pats staff said Cousins was the best QB on the roster

 

[Ax]

Well, suffice it to say that he NEVER believed in Griffin.

Just like he doesn't believe in Morris.

 

[stevenaa]

As far as Gruden only doing well this year because of the coaches that were brought in, you might consider how Gibbs would have faired without Buges and Petibone, Peccatiello and others. A Head Coaches job is to orchestrate the team. Guide and motivate. Gruden isn't coaching at a Hall of Fame level, but he's made significant improvements this year over last, and the last half of the year over the first half. Arrow trending up. It's laughable that some want to assign him the blame for all things bad but give no credit for the successes.

 

[Om]

Well, suffice it to say that he NEVER believed in Griffin.

Just like he doesn't believe in Morris.

I guess the question then becomes whether a coach should "believe" in the players the fans think he should, or the players he, his staff, the GM, the other players and the organization at large live and work with every day and rely upon to make a living.