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Things are looking up for Redskins Nation

tshile

Guest
3-13. Head coach fired, along with majority of his staff. Quarterback’s name drug through the mud; referred to by some as a potential coach killer. So much drama around the last 3 months of the season you’d be excused for thinking you were a fan of a soap opera.

Maybe the title is a bit misleading; most everything is up from rock bottom.

Lost in the conclusion of the Mike Shanahan era was the real analysis that, despite how messy our house appears at the moment it is finally in order. We have no coaching staff, how can it be in order? That’s a good question. Let me explain.

Dan Snyder has owned the Washington Redskins since 1999. In 2000 he brought in Marty Schottenheimer, gave him full control of the organization. After a year of that experiment Marty was fired. In came Vinny Cerrato, in what can easily be referred to as the Dark Years at Ashburn.

From 2001-2009 Vinny Cerrato functioned as a Yes-Man for Snyder. Whatever Snyder wanted to do, Cerrato made it happen. The organizational setup was so confounded that it’s impossible to separate Cerrato moves from Snyder moves; and given Cerrato’s press conferences it’s easy to pin them all on him, so we will. There were moments of hope, but they were false hope. Vinny Cerrato. Awful GM. Awful person. Die in a fire Cerrato.

Sorry, where were we? Ah yes, looking up!

Cerrato was fired mid-season in 2009, towards the end, and Bruce Allen was brought in. It was a precursor to the Mike Shanahan Era at Redskins Park. From 2009-2013 Mike Shanahan had final say on all moves; regardless of what comes out over the next few weeks about Shanahan not wanting to make certain moves, but Snyder insisting. Shanahan had full control. The bad moves ultimate rest at his feet. If he allowed Snyder to convince him to go against his gun, then that also rests at his feet.

Then came December 30th, 2013. On the heels of a 3-13 season full of drama Bruce Allen took the podium.

What Bruce Allen talked about was that Mike Shanahan had final say. That Morroco Brown and Scott Campbell had the paperwork to prove spot-on grading of free agents and draft picks; yet we are still lacking talent in too many positions. Like Mike Shanahan did when he was introduced as the man in charge, Allen gave Brown and Campbell a glowing review. What he implied was, that despite these spot-on reviews, Mike went a different direction in many cases. This is the same thing Mike implied when he took over following the Cerrato-Snyder crackerjack GM team.

He also announced, which seems to have been lost, an organizational structure for the Washington Redskins that has not been in place since Snyder took over the team. Bruce Allen will be Executive Vice President and General Manager. There will be a personnel department, consisting of Brown and Campbell, that will advise him on personnel. Allen will seek out a head coach. That head coach will evaluate the staff in place, get rid of those he doesn’t want and bring in those he does.

But final say will reside with Allen.

Ladies and gentlemen – on December 30th, 2013, the Washington Redskins finally announced an organizational structure we’ve been demanding for a long time. Remember this day.

If Allen sticks to his word this might turn out to be the most functional organization we’ve seen in a long, long time. We’ll have a coaching staff that will focus on winning the next game on the schedule, personnel staff focused on the future of our team, and a GM overseeing both departments and trying to strike the right mix of the two.

The stumbling block is that Allen isn’t known for being a personnel guy, so why him as a GM? The answer is simple – much like a head coach doesn’t have to be an offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and special teams coach, the GM doesn’t have to be able to pick the talent. He needs to be able to put the right people in place to do that. Mike told us Brown and Campbell, and their staff, had stellar grades of people over the years before he got here. Allen told us the same. There’s reason to believe that, if they are finally trusted, we’ll wind up with a significantly more talented roster over the long haul.

We’re finally doing things the right way. It was a long, painful, and slow path to get here, but screw it – we’re here now and that’s all that matters going forward.

Doing things the right way doesn’t guarantee success. It doesn’t deliver us a super bowl, or even a contender. It’s a step in the right direction; nothing more, nothing less.

When you’re 3-13, been a perennial loser for 14 years under the current owner, and seemingly always full of drama, steps in the right direction matter. They matter a lot.

The task at hand is now for Allen to delegate responsibility to the right people, and put the right people in place; To hold them accountable; To establish a vision for The Washington Redskins, a vision that is independent of the current coach and current players, but instead is a long term plan that is actionable as a football organization.

A vision that caters to building through the draft and growing your own talent.

A vision that means not letting any one individual, coach or player, be more important that the team and the mission.

Bruce Allen, The Football Gods have chosen you to answer years, and years worth of prayers.

Make no mistake about it. We’re watching you. Good luck.
 
Nice post tshile :cheers:

But you want to know how cynical I am right now? The first thought I had is that you've got to seriously question the judgment and capabilities of any man who actually WANTS to be Snyder's right hand man :)

On a more serious note, I'll believe this 'structure change' represents a totally different manner of doing things when I see the results. I'm extremely skeptical that a guy who's silently (as far as we know) observed the train wreck of the past year (maybe more) and did nothing to avert what we saw happen today is 'the answer'. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - the all-powerful and evil one (Shanahan) had 'total control'... that's what we're supposed to believe. The problem is, I don't believe that for a second. I think Snyder and Allen could've intervened at any time during the past 4 years if they felt Shanahan was blowing it, taking the ship off course, or otherwise screwing things up. As far as I can tell they didn't. So color me skeptical that Allen is the savior. But I'm glad someone is optimistic.
 
I dunno Boone if they did that Shanny's leak brigade would have gone into full on media onslaught mode and given how bad it is now can you imagine how much Snyder would have to endure and how much blame he would shoulder if they did that? The "7 coaches in 14 years" and "who would want to work with such a meddler?" cries would make today's chants pale in comparison. I really think to build any credibility whatsoever for the future that he won't meddle and do what he did in the past he pretty much had to let Shanahan crash and burn to this degree.
 
Nice post tshile :cheers:

But you want to know how cynical I am right now? The first thought I had is that you've got to seriously question the judgment and capabilities of any man who actually WANTS to be Snyder's right hand man :)

On a more serious note, I'll believe this 'structure change' represents a totally different manner of doing things when I see the results. I'm extremely skeptical that a guy who's silently (as far as we know) observed the train wreck of the past year (maybe more) and did nothing to avert what we saw happen today is 'the answer'. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - the all-powerful and evil one (Shanahan) had 'total control'... that's what we're supposed to believe. The problem is, I don't believe that for a second. I think Snyder and Allen could've intervened at any time during the past 4 years if they felt Shanahan was blowing it, taking the ship off course, or otherwise screwing things up. As far as I can tell they didn't. So color me skeptical that Allen is the savior. But I'm glad someone is optimistic.

I don't want to dive into all the leak stuff that supports what I say, because for every item I find one can find an item that refutes it. It's a fools game at this point, where people cherry pick the leaks that support them and ignore the ones that don't. And everyone that's been participating in this stuff has done it.

The one thing I'll say is that I truly believe there is a legitimate chance that Allen and Snyder sat back, and idly watched Mike Shanahan run the team the way he wanted. They gave it four years. After 3-13, they couldn't sit back and let Shanahan spend all the new salary space coming up.

I think Allen will set forth an actual vision. A vision a handful of people around here have been asking about over the last few weeks; what is the vision?

I think that will be answered over the next month. Allen has already started answering it today.

He sounds like he firmly believes in delegating. Bring in a HC that can be a leader. Bring in coordinators to run the different facets of the team.

I think we have a lot of core pieces in place and a culture, among the players, that can be built around. Griffin, Morris, Williams, Garcon, Reed, Kerrigan, Riley, Bowen, Amerson... these are all pieces to a bigger puzzle. A puzzle that will now be assembled by Allen.

Time will tell. I think today is the first day of the rest of our franchise's history :)
 
I believe Allen is a solid choice as for the personnel side I believe they can hire someone for that role.
 
Great post tshile!

We have all said we need a Football GM, well maybe, just maybe Allen is that man!!

I am sure yall all know that I was ready to burn the place to the ****ing ground if we didn't get rid of Shanny, and just like that our 3-13 season is behind us and I am ready to move onward and upward! Just not a retread coach ;)
 
Another reason you should join me in looking up

ESPN 980 - WASHINGTON D.C.

...
It was much worse four years ago. Jim Zorn and Vinny Cerrato’s final 2009 roster included an incredible 55 players who are no longer in the NFL. That includes players who were on IR and the Practice Squad at the end of that season but still, 55 players on one team no longer playing professional football a mere 4 years later. Wow, that was a true "cupboard is bare" situation. Throw in the miserable cap situation at the end of that year and if it wasn’t clear then, it should be now….they left the place in shambles.

While Shanahan isn’t leaving a roster full of superstars, there is an attractive young nucleus of Griffin, Morris, Garcon, Reed and Williams on offense with at least a couple of legit players/intriguing prospects on defense (see Kerrigan, Cofield, Amerson and Jenkins). There are others like Thomas, Crawford, and Thompson that may prove to be impactful but haven’t had the chance because of injuries and a few more like Hankerson, Riley, Baker, and Bowen that have showed occasional promise.

As far as draft picks, after one more RG3 first-rounder goes to St. Louis this year, they’ve got all of them after that. In terms of cap space, they’ll have more room under the cap than every team in the NFC except Chicago with roughly $28 million to spend if they choose to. Add to that, Shanahan will leave a roster full of team-friendly contracts. Don't underestimate the importance of that to a prosepective new coach. It's a major plus that there won't be any Albert Haynesworth or D-Hall 400-pound contracts sitting on the chest of the new coach when he gets here. For those that have written and spoken about how Shanahan has left the “football” situation in worse shape than Zorn, it’s not even remotely close to true. The toxicity of the place aside, the “football” situation should be viewed as a potential quick fix with just a few solid moves.
...

Things just aren't as bad as they've been in the past. So says the smartest football guy in the area. ;)

This team is not devoid of talent, yet sitting over the cap, like it has been over the 9 years prior.

Shanahan did many things wrong, but he didn't screw us.
 
Tshile, that was a great post.

Boone that was a great response.

I have no idea what to think so I'm going to go out and have a drink.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
 
This'll serve as Thread: Positive

Look back on the day - any video or pictures of Snyder?

Nope. Well, there are pictures of snyder but they're old and random ones, none of him today.

RightDirection++
 
Zorn was in over his head.

Shanahan is simply a grumpy 61 year old coach who has reached the end of the line.

Formerly a progressive offensive mind Shanahan has weighed himself down with 20 year old ideas. The league had caught up and passed him.

He's still doing 60 while other cars on the road are doing 75.

You could tell from the poor clock management and use of challenges early on that Mike was not the coach he used to be.

That was only reinforced by the Redskins being among the most penalized teams in the league.

In Denver, Shanahan's squads were most often disciplined and prepared, win or lose.

Off the field Shanahan was a hump to deal with.

He was in a constant stare down with the media at press conferences and never really seemed to embrace being here.

Players found their way into the doghouse and rarely found their way out.

I don't think it registered on Mike that this reflected poorly on himself as the GM and HC, as he picked players that didn't perform as expected and ones he couldn't motivate to improve and buy in.

Overall I will remember Shanahan's time here as rough.

There weren't a lot if warm and fuzzies from Mike towards anyone really.

He seemed defensive and hyper reactive to any criticism, and this goes back to before the Redskins drafted Griffin.

One of those tough media sessions lead to his now famous quote that he staked his reputation on John Beck being an NFL caliber qb.

That was definitely news to the Ravens who had him on their preseason roster as their #4 quarterback.

Given control over personnel and coaches he simply failed to build a solid foundation on offense, defense and special teams.
 
Nice post tshile :cheers:

But you want to know how cynical I am right now? The first thought I had is that you've got to seriously question the judgment and capabilities of any man who actually WANTS to be Snyder's right hand man :)

On a more serious note, I'll believe this 'structure change' represents a totally different manner of doing things when I see the results. I'm extremely skeptical that a guy who's silently (as far as we know) observed the train wreck of the past year (maybe more) and did nothing to avert what we saw happen today is 'the answer'. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - the all-powerful and evil one (Shanahan) had 'total control'... that's what we're supposed to believe. The problem is, I don't believe that for a second. I think Snyder and Allen could've intervened at any time during the past 4 years if they felt Shanahan was blowing it, taking the ship off course, or otherwise screwing things up. As far as I can tell they didn't. So color me skeptical that Allen is the savior. But I'm glad someone is optimistic.


Who says Allen didn't try to intervene? The last 2 months has been smoke and mirrors. I wonder if that's why things went so far south so fast this year.. Maybe Allen pointed out problems to Snyder all along and that's why he wasn't shown the door with Shanny. The two of them were connected from day 1, so unless Snyder saw Allen was clearly interested in a different direction, I can't imagine he would be retained.
 
No one knows or likely will ever know everything that went on. But Shanahan could've been given an ultimatum at any time ST. It's not like Snyder or Allen were powerless to address whatever the hell it was that was going on. Sorry, I just don't buy that they sat back and watched 'out of respect for Shanahan'. And there are a lot of possible explanations for Snyder wanting to keep Allen around, just like there were explanations for keeping Vinny Cerrato around for nearly a decade. Not all those possible explanations are positive.

I get everyone wants to flip the switch and be hopeful and positive. But firing the coaches doesn't magically fix anything. It just doesn't. As Allen himself said today, he's responsible for this mess as much as anyone. So I'm going to reserve the right to believe he may not be the guy to fix it until proven otherwise. I hope he does. But I'm done being made a sucker by Daniel Snyder and the people he surrounds himself with. I didn't hear much today that leads me to believe radical change is underway at Redskins Park. Allen, who everybody here up until today argued was 'just a cap guy and financial guru' is now going to become the 'football GM'. Now we suddenly believe that he doesn't have to be a football GM because he's going to create a 'personnel department'. I just don't think that makes a whole lot of sense. But hey, that's just me.
 
I feel ya buddy, but were in a lot better shape then we were when shanny got here as far as personel and cap, something can be said for that. Is allen clean in all this? No, but hes showm he can handle the numbers, now we'll see how he does with cash




Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk
 
Allen, who everybody here up until today argued was 'just a cap guy and financial guru' is now going to become the 'football GM'. Now we suddenly believe that he doesn't have to be a football GM because he's going to create a 'personnel department'. I just don't think that makes a whole lot of sense. But hey, that's just me.

My complaint about bringing in Allen 4 years ago before Sham was hired was that he spent most of his time as the puppet GM for Al Davis in Oakland (and Tampa as well I've heard Gruden made the decisions). I doubt choosing draft pics and making trades was in his job description there in Oakland and I'm not so sure he will be doing any more than Vinny was here. Giving the appearance of there being actual NFL people running the show and not Dan Snyder himself is the more likely idea going on here now, again. Snyder knows a lot about football now since he obviously must be smarter than Shanahan, an actual "NFL Genius", and all he needs is to put up a couple real NFL front men so he can go back to being a behind the scenes Jerry Jones.
 
I'm with Boone on this.

Until proven otherwise, it looks like Lucy has set the ball down again and what's disturbing? I see a whole lot of Charlie Browns in here,lining up the kick.
 
Tr1, that article makes my head hurt. Wtf
 
S
In a nut shell, it says what I think: Allen has been part of this debacle, as has the scouting guys. Why do they get a pass?

I mean obviously they shouldn't.

I can see making a case why Bruce should. But 13 year Morocco Brown? Sorry. No chance in hell.

So either Morocco sucks, or he's been wonderful for 13 years, but not great enough that anyone has listened to him--fantastic.
 
I swear if Art Briles is even given a courtesy interview, my head will explode.

I hope fans are smart enough to realize that no other team in the league would even consider him as a HC, right? Right?

He isn't Chip Kelly. Please tell me our fans realize this.

And if we bring in Art Briles for an interview, shouldn't we also bring in Alfred's college coach for an interview too? He's been just as vital to our team.
 

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