WP: How Bill Parcells could have ended up coaching the Redskins

[88Comrade2000]

How Bill Parcells could have ended up coaching the Redskins

[thebluefood]

From what I've read, a big factor in Gibbs calling it quits was health issues (the demand of it all was wearing him down in a concerning way) but I didn't know about the Front Office's interest in Reeves and Parcells. Would have been nice to have one or the other here - especially the latter since he proved to be someone who could work with teams in less-than-idea situations (which the Redskins were certainly in by 1993). 

[Voice_of_Reason]

"“Whether they would have taken this job, I don’t know,” Casserly admitted. “But it was the Redskins, and the Redskins was a glamour job.” - Casserly

 

How times have changed.  

 

I still maintain that the biggest reason for the collapse of the 'skins in the 90's is 2-fold:

 

1. Casserly is an idiot.  He wasn't a good GM here, and he wasn't a good GM in Houston.  Bethard build those teams, he sorta rode along.  

2. Norv Turner is a gutless wonder of a HC, but an AWESOME OC.  He's the living embodiment of the Peter Principal.  

 

I had then, and have now, no problems hiring Turner.  He was the hot young coordinator, and his offensive genius is absolutely unquestioned.  And at that time, nobody knew that he just absolutely couldn't be a HC.  He got 3 shots at it, and failed all three times.  But we didn't know that then.  

 

And, just to stave off the "It's Dan's Fault" comments, in this case, it wasn't until it was.  Turner had already proved himself a bum of a HC by the time that Dan bought the team. But Dan couldn't do much about it because of when he bought the team.   And then the unthinkable happened: Norv WON.  In 1999, the 'Skins went 10-6, and won a freaking playoff game.  Nobody expected that. 

 

So Dan couldn't fire Norv (which he should have done anyway), but instead loaded up on a bunch of over the hill players like Bruce Smith and Deion Sanders.  Then he meddled with Brad vs. Jeff. 

 

Norv was a passable coach with outstanding talent if everything was working.  When one thing went sideways, his teams fell apart.  Dan kicked over the apple car. Boom.  We were done with that. 

 

I don't blame Dan for firing Norv.  Never had.  Guy was a loser as a HC.  Had to be fired eventually.  I do blame him for about 1000 other stupid ass things he's done through the years.  But not that one.

 

[88Comrade2000]

On 8/24/2017 at 2:51 PM, Voice_of_Reason said:

And, just to stave off the "It's Dan's Fault" comments, in this case, it wasn't until it was.  Turner had already proved himself a bum of a HC by the time that Dan bought the team. But Dan couldn't do much about it because of when he bought the team.   And then the unthinkable happened: Norv WON.  In 1999, the 'Skins went 10-6, and won a freaking playoff game.  Nobody expected that. 

 

So Dan couldn't fire Norv (which he should have done anyway), but instead loaded up on a bunch of over the hill players like Bruce Smith and Deion Sanders.  Then he meddled with Brad vs. Jeff. 

 

Norv was a passable coach with outstanding talent if everything was working.  When one thing went sideways, his teams fell apart.  Dan kicked over the apple car. Boom.  We were done with that. 

 

I don't blame Dan for firing Norv.  Never had.  Guy was a loser as a HC.  Had to be fired eventually.  I do blame him for about 1000 other stupid ass things he's done through the years.  But not that one.

 

Dan made the stupid mistake of saying once he took control. "If Norv made the playoffs, he would return."

 

He should've said, he would discuss the future after the season but wouldn't commit to anything.  I think Dallas wanted him.  We could've traded Norv for picks.  Noone would've faulted Dan from moving on, even after a playoff birth. A new owner, wanting his own coach; they would say.

[scruffylookin]

I guess anything is possible. 

 

But as the article goes on to say, the Redskins by 1993 were a mess. This is hindsight of course. I thought they were going to just continue to cruise along at the time. I recognized that Dallas and San Fran were dominant but felt the Skins belonged in the next tier below them. 

 

It became clear though looking back that the 92 team was running on fumes and the whole thing collapsed in 93. That would have happened even if Gibbs stuck around. They were old and slow. The modern NFL passed them by.

 

Then the hard cap hits in 94 and the whole team has to be replaced (essentially). 

 

I am not sure Parcells or Reeves would have been interested walking into that mess in 1993.  

[skinzplay]

Always hated those Giants teams that Parcells led (competitive spirit does that to a guy). They were well-coached all around, though, and he always had some damn good coordinators and position coaches on his staffs.That's one thing I always liked about him, even if I hated those teams. Different breed/era of coaching. Frankly, I miss it.