Courtesy: Huffington Post
“It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one’s acts.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Many may be confused as to why this article is started off with a quote from one of the world’s most influential people to ever grace planet Earth, but it speaks volumes as to the myriad of issues that have arisen from the abyss in the Washington Redskins organization. There isn’t just one piece misplaced in the puzzle that is owner Dan Snyder’s product as the blame can be thrown in several directions. Usually, the trickle-down effect is what happens in situations like this, where the one with the most power is the one who deserves all of the blame.
But what if the one with the most [money] happens to forfeit control through a contractual agreement on his most prized possession to a totalitarian mastermind who’s desires are self-motivated and not for the betterment of his football team?
That is what the Redskins are facing right now. It’s what they’ve become accustomed to since the late Jack Kent Cooke passed from the world and Snyder became the owner of the D.C. sports franchise. It’s not entirely Snyder’s fault that he is dealing with an authoritarian in Shanahan, but it is his fault that he let him belittle his power.
Shanahan knew exactly what he was getting into before he took the Redskins job. He scouted across the league trying to pinpoint the exact spot that could not only garner him the most lucrative payday, but also the best opportunity to springboard his son, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, into the head-coaching discussing across the NFL. Shanahan knew the kind of owner that Snyder was and saw an opportunity to seize control over an owner who’s love the Redskins are a fan has almost surpassed his ability to treat them like what they are: a business.
It all started once Norv Turner was let go by the Redskins after making the playoffs for the first time in his career in 1999. Washington went 10-6, won a playoff game against the Detroit Lions and then tanked the following year in 2000 as Turner failed to finish the season before being fired. In comes Marty Schottenheimer. Another leader of men who believed in total control of the organization. It was his way or the high way in terms of player selection, schemes, etc. You name it, Marty owned it. But, he was a high-profile coach in one of the most high-profile cities in the United States. That’s what Snyder liked. That’s what he wanted. And just like Shanahan, Schottenheimer had the resume and name to back up any claims he decided to make in regards to purely football moves.
Schottenheimer went 8-8 and was subsequently let go by the Redskins following the 2001 season. Snyder had some interesting words for Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post in regards to his relationship with Schottenheimer.
“I like Marty and still do to this day,” Snyder said. “we are good friends, he’d still be here if he didn’t want to do it all. He was insistent on doing it all, that was something that I don’t think works, one guy can’t do everything, he was a machine on that front. He wouldn’t drop the personnel side and give us a chance at more of a team energy.”
“He’d still be here if he didn’t want to do it all.”
Those were Snyder’s words. Not anyone else’s. He made that statement about allowing a coach to usurp every authority he has in his organization. Sure, Schottenheimer was out of bounds, but Snyder shouldn’t have let it happen. It sounds like the more things change the more they stay the same.
In comes Steve Spurrier. One of the hottest names in college football as “the ‘ol ballcoach” was hired by Snyder to be the leader of his football team. High-profile doesn’t always translate to wins as Spurrier went just 12-20 in his two seasons with the Redskins before resigning with three years left on his contract. Spurrier wasn’t the dictator that Schottenheimer was or that Shanahan is, but his name commanded enough clout to consider him to be a deserving candidate for the job. Snyder can’t be entirely blasted for this move as he took a risk. It failed, but at least he looked for a new voice. A college coach who has yet to taste what the coaching ranks of the NFL were like.
Smart? Probably not, but not everyone can be Pete Carroll.
Snyder resorted back to his old ways and found a Redskins legend and essentially give him the kitchen sink, keys to the city and quite possibly naming rights to the city if he wanted to. Joe Gibbs returned to Washington for his second stint as Redskins head coach and seemingly asked for Snyder to allow him to gain total control of the football side of things. Snyder was essentially powerless in anything that wasn’t on the business side of football. While Snyder was focused on increasing the max capacity of FedEx Field to a then NFL-high 91,665 seats available, he allowed Gibbs to change the entire playbook, makeup and feel of this team.
Gibbs had some hits and misses. Clinton Portis, Sean Taylor, Santana Moss, Chris Cooley to name a few of the bright spots. The quarterback position was seemingly a ticking time bomb with the likes of Patrick Ramsey, Jason Campbell, Mark Brunell and Todd Collins lining up under center at different stages of his tenure. Gibbs retired in 2008 and paved the way for another inexperienced, yet big name coach to take over the reins of the franchise.
Jim Zorn brought a new offensive scheme, the fact that he played quarterback in the NFL and a positive attitude to the facility. He was a name. He wasn’t much else. He didn’t have control over the players he brought in much like previous coaches under Snyder as Vinny Cerrato was the general manager of the club. He suggested Zorn, who eventually lost his playcalling duties to Sherman Lewis — Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2009. Cerrato was canned after overpaying for cornerback DeAngelo Hall (6 years, $54 million) and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (7 years, $100 million) to try and spur the defensive side of the ball.
Courtesy: USA TODAY
Snyder saw what the organization looked like when the coach wasn’t as powerful. He saw the team struggled and didn’t believe in the coach’s message. Snyder watched as his product on the field diminished and resorted back to his old ways.
He brought in a guy who has become the bane of his existence.
Shanahan agrees to a five-year, $35 million deal and the package included his son, Kyle, as the offensive coordinator, Jim Haslett to handle the defensive coordinator duties, that the Redskins switch to a 3-4 defense from a 4-3 and total control of the players on his team and transaction decisions. Shanahan asked to be God of the Redskins and the devil he has become.
The Donovan McNabb era began in 2010 and ended in Washington just as quickly as the trade that sent two draft picks away did to grab him from Philadelphia. The Redskins went 6-10 under McNabb’s guidance before he was dealt to the Minnesota Vikings for two sixth-round draft choices. 2011 featured Haynesworth being traded to the New England Patriots, Clinton Portis being released despite being owed $8 million, a backfield that featured the likes of Roy Helu, Evan Royster and Ryan Torain and the guys handing him the ball off were John Beck and Rex Grossman. 5-11 in 2011.
Shanahan was the chief in the player personnel decisions and knew exactly what he was doing. General manager Bruce Allen is there, serving as a figurehead who isn’t allowed to due his job. It remains to be seen whether or not he is a good GM or if he is even allowed to do anything as Shanahan has determined what this team would look like whether good or bad.
And then comes Griffin.
Three first-round picks and a second-rounder are dealt to the St. Louis Rams move up in the 2012 NFL Draft to bring in the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner. Shanahan’s brilliancy in this situation was to concoct a move that looked like a calculated risk, but indirectly sabotaged the organization by sacrificing the future on one player. The best player coming out of college football. And if it didn’t work, he could blame Griffin.
Shanahan and his son completely rework the offense based on his Griffin’s strengths, which most coaches do anyway. It made sense. Put Griffin in the read-option offense and allow him to be RGIII. And it looked really good some games and really bad in others. The gimmick college offense was just that, but when the Redskins were 3-6 midway through the 2012 campaign, Shanahan gave up. He quit. He was in rebuilding mode. He knew this team couldn’t do it in his mind. By completely revamping everything the Redskins had done offensively with pocket passers like Grossman and Beck to more of a run-centric option offense, he could throw the blame Griffin’s way if it didn’t work.
Then they win seven-straight, finish 10-6, win the NFC East for the first time since 1999, Griffin wins the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and Shanahan looks like a genius.
Or did he?
Griffin left the game against the Baltimore Ravens aggravating a knee injury that caused quarterback Kirk Cousins to come in relief and win the game in overtime. Griffin did eventually return to the lineup and then the playoff game in D.C. happened against Seattle. Griffin, noticeably limping and with an enlarged brace on his right knee after a hit Haloti Ngata delivered to him back in December, tears his ACL and LCL in his right knee on a botched snap that put he Redskins behind the eight ball in that game and in 2013.
That’s his off-season. No… this was his off-season.
Courtesy: Washington Post
This advertisement is the Washington Redskins 2013 season in a nutshell. All hype, no changes made with a tremendous amount of pressure put on the shoulders of Griffin. Shanahan dodges another bullet.
Griffin handled it the complete wrong way as he embraced the media circus that followed, rather than staying humble like his family background would suggest. But, that just isn’t who he is. He is a high-profile player who belongs in the limelight. He put Baylor on the map.
Baylor.
That was his doing. And just like how one player can make or break a team’s success, one man can do the same when he’s given total control.
Mike Shanahan played RGIII when he was hurt. Griffin doesn’t have the same type of mobility he had last season, so they elected to make him more of a pocket passer instead of a read-option quarterback. The injury held him back on the ground all year and the read-option offense has struggled to hold some weight in year two across the league i.e. Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers.
By putting Griffin in the pocket more, the Redskins exposed their own quarterback for what he isn’t. Self-sabotage… Shanahan’s specialty. The efficient passer of 2012, threw 12 interceptions in 13 games and just four more touchdown passes in 2013. He coughed up the ball 11 times and was sacked 24 times over his last five starts.
Now, it’s time to pull him according to the man in charge.
Now, it’s Cousins’ time to audition and Griffin’s time to get healthy.
Courtesy: Slate.com
Griffin’s time to get healthy was the off-season and for the first six or eight weeks of this season. Shanahan effectively mismanaged Griffin, but found a way to deflect the blame his way. The head coach was putting his player in harm’s way for thirteen weeks and now will relieve him of that stress for the final three weeks of the season. Yet, all of his other teammates have to go out and try.
Want to create a schism in the locker room? This is how.
It puts Griffin on a pedestal where he is treated above and beyond every player in the organization. He embraces it, and the extra attention Snyder provided him, but it further makes Shanahan look like the team let the coach down and not vice versa.
Despite a lot of the blame being Shanahan’s no one is absolved in this situation. The difference between organizations like the Baltimore Ravens and the Redskins is ownership and the ability of the entire staff to know their respective roles among the division of power.
Case and point?
Cam Cameron.
After Washington’s overtime victory over Baltimore, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti had a meeting with head coach John Harbaugh virtually asking him to fire his best friend and if John wouldn’t do it, he would.
It was a huge risk. Firing an offensive coordinator before season’s end and a playoff berth still on the line. John made the decision because Steve saw that his product was suffering. He took action and the product became a champion.
Snyder doesn’t get that and probably will never think that way. Sure, every team gets lucky every now and then, but Snyder knows his team is hurting for change. They are hurting for success.
And when the stadium was essentially empty during the second half of Chiefs-Redskins Sunday, Snyder did what he’s doing right now with his team’s quarterback situation: sit back, relax and enjoy the show without making a comment.
The roller coaster ride has only begun in our nation’s capital. This off-season may lead to more disjointed behavior from the de facto “God” of the Redskins if Cousins goes 3-0 to finish 2013. Snyder let it happen. Now, he must fix it.
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.” – Thomas Paine
