skins4eva

I agree with the psychoanalytics here. I've always felt that Snyder is crippled by anxiety and massive insecurity. In that sense, I feel sorry for the guy. As an owner of the team we all loved at some point, however, I feel compelled to inform you that I don't think there's any hope for him. He's 55 years old. He's owned the team for 20 years. Not once--not once--in 20 years has he made the right decision at the right time for this franchise. He doesn't operate and make decisions based upon a cold assessment of facts and circumstances. Rather, his emotions and impulses govern. And unfortunately for us, his emotions and impulses are all wrong. I am more convinced than ever that we will continue to be a laughing stock of a franchise and indeed the entire American sports world for as long as this man-child owns the team. If he's in relatively good health, we are staring down the barrel of another 30-40 years of this. And nothing I've seen in the previous 20 has given me even a modicum of hope that the next 30-40 will be any different. The best thing we can do for Snyder is not support the team. If the support stops and the fan base comes close to disappearing, perhaps the rational side of his brain (to the extent he has one) will step in and override the emotional side. And he will be forced to make difficult ego-less decisions. Again, I haven't seen anything to suggest that's possible. But, I will also acknowledge that we are nearing the end of the road collectively as a fan base with his stewardship. For years people would argue on this board that Dan is a good owner--he spends money and wants to win sooooooo badly. And every time the going got tough, he would reach into his bag of marketing tricks and pull out another rabbit (Spurrier, Gibbs, Shanahan, etc.). I think that bag is very close to empty. And he is sitting on a kingdom of s@#!. All of his worst fears have been realized insofar as his ownership of the team goes: his peers laugh about him behind closed doors, he is vehemently hated by fans and media alike. Fans have left in droves. He is approaching Sadam-in-the-spider-hole level of isolation. Unfortunately, for reasons you point out and are probably quite accurate, I don't think Snyder has the self-awareness or emotional intelligence to get himself out of this. My guess is that many who have loved this franchise (Gibbs, et. al) have tried, and have probably come away with the realization that they can't get through to him. So, his circle of advisers consists of paid lackies (Bruce Allen) and useful idiots (Joe Theismann). It's a sad state of affairs.

This is kind of where the rubber meets the road for the Dan Snyder era. Many of us rejoiced when Dan fired Vinny and brought some structure to the org. That was of course window-dressing. As Dan stares down the barrel of a completely lost season with opposing fans taking over the stadium for eight games, one has to imagine that he has come to the realization that serious and fundamental changes must be made. The biggest concern I have is that underneath it all, Dan is a very insecure person, and he just simply doesn't know how to relate to people or communicate with them. In other words, he doesn't know who to turn to and routinely turns to folks who tell him what he wants to hear and are happy to take his money. Should be interesting to see what happens as the year unfolds. Callahan is an old school coach who I think will quickly end the carefree camp Gruden days. This team was consistently unprepared and the horror-show second halves suggest they weren't well conditioned on top of everything else. I think the implementation of some discipline and accountability should yield a product on the field that is far more respectable. That would be enough at this point.

Sage advice.

I'm kind of shocked by it really. I'm not surprised given what we saw on the field. But Callahan actually said: we will adjust practices to focus on what the opponent will has done and will be doing on Sunday. The implication of course is that neither the offense nor the defense were practicing against the likely formations/packages that they would face. Clearly, Callahan didn't think Gruden was running a tight ship where discipline and accountability were paramount. Just optically, Callahan sounds more like a head coach and frankly sounds far more intelligent than Gruden ever did.

Callahan's press conference is a real stinking rebuke of the Gruden Era. Callahan is too much of a gentlemen to explicitly throw Gruden under the bus, but make no mistake, he's doing it implicitly. He's suggesting there will be "tweaks" to the level of focus, preparation, and practice and what is expected of players. That's really something when you think about it.

Bruce Allen is an extension of Snyder, and Snyder isn't firing himself. Bruce is simply Vinny Cerrato 2.0. He's Danny's faceguy, spokesguy, bag man, squash partner...Dan Snyder doesn't have the maturity or emotional intelligence to figure this out. He never will. There is no hope until Snyder is gone.

Paulsen is an idiot. He’s also consistently wrong about everything.

This is true to a point. But, Jay selected one horrific DC after another during his tenure here. Bottom line: Jay got Jay fired. He’s not head coach material. Never was. I remember when we announced his hiring six years ago. And I remember thinking we would go nowhere with him at the helm. He doesn’t seem capable of managing a team and coordinating all that is required at the HC level. He had to go. No question. Soft practices, soft players, constant mental mistakes, horror show 3rd quarters for six freakin years! Jay’s a nice guy, etc. But just a god-awful head coach.

Cousins is who we all thought he was. I had said it for years: in big games, he gets that deer-in-the-headlights look and you know it's over. He's way to regimented and inflexible. With a guy like Kirk, as soon as something doesn't go according to plan, he has zero ability to emphasize. I actually think he shuts down mentally. How else to you explain one of the worst throws in NFL history against GB in week 2: a backpeddling int into double coverage in the endzone on first and goal. Or the knee he took near the end of the half when he played with us. Kirk tightens up and freezes in big moments. Call it performance anxiety. Whatever you want to call it, it was plain to see for anyone who cared to take a look. The Vikings have not been raked across the coals enough for the decision.

Norv was a terrible coach. He has a long and storied history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We always had one beautifully scripted offensive drive under Norv and then he didnt know what to do for the next 50 minutes of the game. As others have said, the day Dan Snyder bought this team is the day this franchise sunk into the abyss. The abyss seemingly is infinite. I keep thinking we've reached the bottom and then another basement level gets added on.

Assume there must be some reasonable basis for going out with a report like that. Clearly, Gruden and staff have lost the support of the players. It's obvious to watch on the field. Players know they are not being put into a position to win and as a consequence, they see no reason to give maximum effort.

Have you read that book: “How to make friends and influence people?”

Because he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Gruden is just too dumb for this job. That is the one clear takeaway from his six years here.

Love the patented hurry up by Gruden! That guy is such a stone cold loser. He and Snyder have a lot in common.

Of all the crazy crap I’ve seen on this board, your posts are number 1 sir! Congratulations! That’s really, really hard to do!