Firing Mike Shanahan will get the Redskins nowhere
the Redskins nowhere
Unless Dan Snyder makes some major changes at the top.By CHRIS CHASE 18 hours ago
There’s an old Groucho Marx line about not wanting to join any club that would have him as a member. Redskins fans should treat the team’s latest coaching search with the same healthy skepticism. Any man who thinks it’s a good idea to work for Daniel Snyder is a man whose decision-making ability needs to be questioned.
Why would anyone willingly enter Snyder’s circus, knowing that an ignominious exit within two-to-four years is the guaranteed end game? That decision would either have to be about money or power, neither of which are bad on their own, but often create a toxic mix at Redskins Park.
Presumably, Snyder has a list of desired coaches that he started calling the instant Mike Shanahan walked out of his office on Monday. He should tear it up. He’s traveled each of those paths before. In the past 13 years, Snyder has hired …
• … the disciplinarian with a sterling resume. Marty Schottenheimer was fired after one season — still Snyder’s biggest mistake as owner.
• … the college hotshot looking to bring his offensive genius to the NFL? Well, Steve Spurrier finished 5-11 in his second, and final, season. Not too good!
• … the unknown coordinator lurking as a diamond in the rough? Jim Zorn was rough alright, but he was more Cubic Zirconia than diamond.
• … the two-time Super Bowl champion who would finally clean up the mess? Mike Shanahan lasted four seasons. A improbable seven-game winning streak at the end of 2012 was his only achievement. Leaving in Robert Griffin III in last year’s wild card game will be the legacy he leaves.
Only one of Snyder’s coaching decisions has worked, and that was one he didn’t have to make. When Redskins legend Joe Gibbs decided to return to the sideline, he didn’t add to the three Super Bowl titles he won in his first tenure. But even though his second go-round in Washington is widely considered a failure, Gibbs brought the team to the playoffs twice and managed to escape after four seasons with his good name still in tact. The further it gets from Gibbs 2.0, the more impressive it looks.
So where to next? Snyder has gone big, small, legendary, near-legendary, Super Bowl-winning and Super Bowl-wanting. There’s only one direction to go now: He needs to take the decision out of hands.
The problems in Washington start at the top, namely in that Snyder either surrounds himself with personnel “yes” men like Vinny Cerrato or cedes control to power-hungry coaches like Shanahan. That needs to stop. The key to bringing Washington back from NFL irrelevance and quadrennial coaching searches is to fundamentally change the structure of the organization.
Hire a general manager — a real one who gets final say. Have that general manager hire a coach. Snyder’s only role should be to cut the checks and serve as mediator when the GM and coach disagree. With that power structure in place,the chaos would be minimized.
That means no hiring Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden. They’d probably want to shop for the groceries. That means no palling around with RG3’s college coach, Art Briles. It means giving up power for the good of the franchise.
In a letter to Redskins fans released minutes after the Shanahan firing was announced, Dan Snyder wrote, “Redskins fans deserve a better result.”
They do. Make sure they get it by standing out of the way.
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