WP/WISE: The Coldest Shoulder

[Skins24]

back 2 mediocrity

You have to get away from it first before you can go back :laugh:

We haven't been away since '92

[mi6]

The Skins have two major problems ... Dan Synder and Vinny Cerrato.

[COWBOY-KILLA-]

I think the entire Redskins fanbase, players, coaches, and staff have been through extraordinary circumstances since Nov. and then the seasons done and JOE leaves. We're all a little shellshocked from everything and this coaching process/debacle has just poured gasoline on an already emotional fire. I appreciate how Wise try's to tie it all in.

[LoudMouth12thMan]

Ugh. Hire a coach you clearly don't think is the right man for the job to be your head coach for the next X number of years because the team needs him on some ethereal level in order to keep healing from the death of a teammate?

Mike, due respect, but you weren't in the room with GW and Snyder. Not in the interviews, not for the past 4 years. You THINK you know GW was the best man for the job, but you don't KNOW.

Ah .... never mind.

I don't think he meant that in the sense that Williams was needed on a spiritual/healing level for the players. The simple fact is that some, if not many, seemed to say that they thought Williams should be the next coach. Now whether or not they were just saying that publicly to be PC only God knows. It just seemed that to continue on the roll that the team was on late in the season, the obvious choice would've been Gregg and the current staff. Maybe it was more complicated then that, and maybe that's why Danny is changing some things. We don't know. That's the problem. We don't know. But we should know, and we deserve to know especially in light of the death of Taylor and the fact that everyone on that team, in the organization, and the fans came together in a special way after his death. It's a unique situation that needed to be handled delicately, and it has been handled in a manner as completely inverse to delicate as it could've been handled.

It's a hard pill to swallow, but this is the kind of owner we've got. He hasn't changed, and the way in which he's handled this HC hunt so far has convinced me of that. I'd like him got to explain to someone why he didn't listen to the voice of the people or the players. I'm hoping that he will become more of a presence in the media. Sadly, I think he'll be the same old media avoiding hermit that he's always been. Maybe we the fans and media read too much in to the "continuity"/"if it ain't broke don't fix it" comment. If he'd have commented throughout this process, there wouldn't have been such a backlash IMO. :2cents:

[panel]

Ridiculous to tie Sean's passing in with giving GW the job. Let Sean rest in peace. Yes, the team rallied around that last year, but you have to let him rest in peace and not make every decision revolve around the impact of his passing.

completly agree!

[CGSKINS]

UnWise Mike needs to shut the **** up!

Can we please move on.

[SkinsFTW]

I don't know why anyone would choose to blast the writer for stating what is obviously the truth.

After the death of Taylor, which supposedly brought them all together, you'd think the owner would handle this a little better than to leave them all in the dark for weeks, when he really had no intention of hiring Williams in the first place. I mean, Taylors funeral was barely a month before Gibbs quit the team.

[F Landry]

Ugh. Hire a coach you clearly don't think is the right man for the job to be your head coach for the next X number of years because the team needs him on some ethereal level in order to keep healing from the death of a teammate?

Mike, due respect, but you weren't in the room with GW and Snyder. Not in the interviews, not for the past 4 years. You THINK you know GW was the best man for the job, but you don't KNOW.

Ah .... never mind.

Non-homer Translation:

I am going to blindly follow this ownership like a sheep to its herd because they pay my bills.

Better. :doh:

[Jumbo]

Non-homer Translation:

I am going to blindly follow this ownership like a sheep to its herd because they pay my bills.

Better. :doh:

Uh, overlooking your "translation" for a moment, what do you mean by they pay his bills?

[F Landry]

Uh, overlooking your "translation" for a moment, what do you mean by they pay his bills?

Since Danny bought out the place the homer-isms have gone through the roof, is all I meant.

EDIT:

Okay, maybe my message was a little harsh and too personal. I apologize for that, I've had trouble managing my feelings regarding the recent firings of our coordinators.

Of course, its not valid excuse, I just ... have trouble with this team lately. I need to probably give myself a temporary Redskins-break.

[Oldfan]

Wise: For everyone other than Snyder, this job search hasn't been about Gibbs at all. It's been about Taylor and how the team and coaches banded together to reach the playoffs without him.

An absurd reach and another media hatchet job.

[DixieFlatline]

For all those that think Wise is saying the search is about Sean Taylor, I ask you to read the lines after that.

For everyone other than Snyder, this job search hasn't been about Gibbs at all. It's been about Taylor and how the team and coaches banded together to reach the playoffs without him. The healing was still progressing when Gibbs suddenly left. Williams was seen as the one link that could keep the chain of emotional recovery together.

How else to explain the vilification of Jim Fassel, an otherwise fine fellow with a Super Bowl appearance on his r¿sum¿, on local talk radio shows and online chat rooms, even the ones run by the team? Or the mass anointing of Williams, whose previous head coaching experience consisted of what everyone agrees was a disaster in Buffalo?

He's not saying it should be that one, only commenting that it appears to be that way. Because he goes on to say, how else can you explain the backlash about Fassel or everyone rooting for Gregg.

I also don't think he's arguing that its a huge mistake not to hire Gregg. He admits he wanted Gregg, but then goes into a number of reasons why Snyder ultimately decided against that. The main thing that he blasts Snyder on is how the decision was handled. i.e. not communicating with Williams after the interviews, etc.

[Oldfan]

He's not saying it should be that one, only commenting that it appears to be that way. Because he goes on to say, how else can you explain the backlash about Fassel or everyone rooting for Gregg.

How about the obvious? Skins fans liked Gregg for the job and didn't like Fassel. The Sean Taylor explanation is just barely credible.

And the phone call that never came for 11 whole days -- to tell him what? "if you haven't read the papers, Gregg, the search is still on and you are still a candidate?"

[@DCGoldPants]

I think given their football pasts. The smart money would be on Williams being a better coach this time around, over Snyder being a better owner this time around.

That's all.

I can't imagine this has all been part of some grand plan going well. Especially since they wanted to talk to some other coaches but were blocked by their respective teams.

Sadly, it "appears" that Mr. Snyder doesn't have an ally in the NFL world who isn't on his payroll.

[DixieFlatline]

How about the obvious? Skins fans liked Gregg for the job and didn't like Fassel. The Sean Taylor explanation is just barely credible.

And the phone call that never came for 11 whole days -- to tell him what? "if you haven't read the papers, Gregg, the search is still on and you are still a candidate?"

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I saw it as the level of negativity in the reaction by people was raised because of the emotion we've gone through with Taylor's death. The underlying reason why we wanted Gregg is still the same.... we liked him for the job...but the emotional reaction is enhanced.

[DixieFlatline]

I can't imagine this has all been part of some grand plan going well. Especially since they wanted to talk to some other coaches but were blocked by their respective teams.

Sadly, it "appears" that Mr. Snyder doesn't have an ally in the NFL world who isn't on his payroll.

I concur with this. I was pretty surprised to hear we were interviewing people for lateral moves (hence the reason they can be blocked). The plan or seemingly lack thereof would be comical if it didn't involve my beloved Redskins.

[Larry Brown #43]

In fairness to Wise, what I took from this piece is not that Snyder HAD to hire Williams. It's that GW should have been treated better and not left dangling in the dark for nearly two weeks after his last interview.

As Wise says, it's one thing to do that to an outside candidate, but it's another thing to do that to someone who has meant to this team what Williams has meant.

I'm missing why this is such a preposterous notion.

[scruffylookin]

Wise is offbase on this one.

As far as I'm concerned, what happened in November of 2007 through January of 2008 is in the past. We should not be hiring (and thankfully we're not) our next head coach based on alleged "coming together" during a time of crisis.

The next head coach should be a man who can build a Super Bowl Champion. That's the goal. That's the objective. Again we need to hire the best coach we can to win a Super Bowl not the most qualified coach to coach THESE players and THIS team because I don't think this team as built is going to win a Super Bowl.

If there is a player or players on this team who can't play for Jim Fassel or Ron Meeks or whomever, GET RID OF THOSE PLAYERS. Don't appease them by hiring the guy they liked but is not the best choice.

[cphil006]

Snyder has made this team fall backwards.... fast....

[Buck812]

It amases me at how many times snyder can prove he is totally incapable of winning.... Making money, yes.... Winning, no ...... Bet as a kid he never even won a game of tic tac toe.

[Oldfan]

The next head coach should be a man who can build a Super Bowl Champion. That's the goal. That's the objective. Again we need to hire the best coach we can to win a Super Bowl not the most qualified coach to coach THESE players and THIS team because I don't think this team as built is going to win a Super Bowl.

I agree. And, we fans lack sufficient information on the coaches available to make judgments on who would make the right choice. I like Jim schwartz because I know he's very intelligent, but I don't know what else he brings to the job. So, I'll ride with Snyder's choice and hope he makes the right one this time.

[kovachs]

Non-homer Translation:

I am going to blindly follow this ownership like a sheep to its herd because they pay my bills.

Better. :doh:

The mod's are defacto employees of the Redskins, ergo they act accordingly. And that's cool with me, somebody's gotta pay the bandwidth bills, but their track record is one of boosterism.

[Om]

I don't think he meant that in the sense that Williams was needed on a spiritual/healing level for the players. The simple fact is that some, if not many, seemed to say that they thought Williams should be the next coach. Now whether or not they were just saying that publicly to be PC only God knows. It just seemed that to continue on the roll that the team was on late in the season, the obvious choice would've been Gregg and the current staff. Maybe it was more complicated then that, and maybe that's why Danny is changing some things. We don't know. That's the problem. We don't know. But we should know, and we deserve to know especially in light of the death of Taylor and the fact that everyone on that team, in the organization, and the fans came together in a special way after his death. It's a unique situation that needed to be handled delicately, and it has been handled in a manner as completely inverse to delicate as it could've been handled.

It's a hard pill to swallow, but this is the kind of owner we've got. He hasn't changed, and the way in which he's handled this HC hunt so far has convinced me of that. I'd like him got to explain to someone why he didn't listen to the voice of the people or the players. I'm hoping that he will become more of a presence in the media. Sadly, I think he'll be the same old media avoiding hermit that he's always been. Maybe we the fans and media read too much in to the "continuity"/"if it ain't broke don't fix it" comment. If he'd have commented throughout this process, there wouldn't have been such a backlash IMO. :2cents:

I'll re-read his piece to be sure, but my sense was he was basically saying the ONLY reasonable hire was GW, and cheaply used the Sean Taylor tragedy to prop up his argument.

My general response was that Wise, like everyone else NOT named Snyder, Cerrato and maybe one or two others who have been part of the process, is not in a position to make a fully informed call on that.

That's it.

Non-homer Translation:

I am going to blindly follow this ownership like a sheep to its herd because they pay my bills.

Better. :doh:

Old story, LLF. Fact is you don't know what you're talking about.

But since you backed off this in subsequent posts, I'll just take your later comments at face value and chalk it up to misdirected frustration.

The mod's are defacto employees of the Redskins, ergo they act accordingly. And that's cool with me, somebody's gotta pay the bandwidth bills, but their track record is one of boosterism.

You don't know what you're talking about either. Point blank.

And apparently you haven't read many mods' posts over the past few days, because if you had, you'd realize how off base you really are.

[Blondie]

I'll re-read his piece to be sure, but my sense was he was basically saying the ONLY reasonable hire was GW, and cheaply used the Sean Taylor tragedy to prop up his argument.

My general response was that Wise, like everyone else NOT named Snyder, Cerrato and maybe one or two others who have been part of the process, is not in a position to make a fully informed call on that.

Om, I re read the article AFTER the poster made the statement to which you responded above.

I agree with you.

I think his use of Sean's name and tragedy was a cheap shot.

Again, I say TACKY.

[nneece]

Ugh. Hire a coach you clearly don't think is the right man for the job to be your head coach for the next X number of years because the team needs him on some ethereal level in order to keep healing from the death of a teammate?

Mike, due respect, but you weren't in the room with GW and Snyder. Not in the interviews, not for the past 4 years. You THINK you know GW was the best man for the job, but you don't KNOW.

Ah .... never mind.

None of us where in the room with GW and Snyder. We do not know what transpired. Maybe GW is not the man for the job. But, a couple of things: the ST death certainly plays into what this team does at this point because it is a part of their history (I know you said nothing about this but others have), Snyder talking about continuity in a press conference is a joke, and the process is exceptionally flawed- how Snyder handles people like GW and hiring OC and promoting DC before putting HC into place. Promoting Vinny is another serious flaw- Snyder and Vinny are of the same opinion and share 1 brain when it comes to making personnel decisions for this organzation.