"I fired the wrong guy" ---Dan Snyder

[Homercles82]

Right, because the Saints defense looked SO good the last couple years with their offense put up big numbers.

Dam right on. Sharper and Gregg Williams have this Saints D playing better than ever. They are a legit Super Bowl contender if not THE contender in the NFC this year after the manhandling of the Giants.

[kschles]

I'm glad GW didn't get the job and we tried to find a young new guy, regardless of the poor turnout.

GWs D looks great, playing with a O like the Saints have.

Actually, Jim Zorn is 5 years older than Greg Williams. I know hindsight is 20/20, but it appears that the reason no one gave Zorn a chance to move up to a coordinator job, is that he just isn't good enough. The only ones who couldn't see this are the Dynamic Duo.

Don't you think Williams would have been a better choice (although why he would want to work for Snyder and with Cerrato is beyond me)?

[loren]

Actually, Jim Zorn is 5 years older than Greg Williams. I know hindsight is 20/20, but it appears that the reason no one gave Zorn a chance to move up to a coordinator job, is that he just isn't good enough. The only ones who couldn't see this are the Dynamic Duo.

Don't you think Williams would have been a better choice (although why he would want to work for Snyder and with Cerrato is beyond me)?

Would Williams have been a better choice? Maybe because when Gibbs retired all they talked about was continuity? Maybe because everyone, the players (offense and defense), the fans, wanted him to get the job, and were fired up to go out the next year and tear it up with him at the helm? Because his defense was awesome? Because he'd had head coaching experience (as opposed to, say, coaching ONE POSITION)?

Yeah, I think Williams might have been an alright choice.

[Skins24]

What GM/coach in their right mind would want to come in and work for him unless he (Danny) signed a contract saying he'd stay outta the way?

Gibbs came and worked for him and isn't that what happened with him? He'll get his way. He always does.

(plus with the names being mentioned...I can see Dan doing something similar to when Gibbs was here)

[paintrain]

Grilliams ego was too big for Redskins Park. It wasn't going to work with him and Snyder co-existing. George Michael said that there's no way they'd be able to work together. Also, he's the defensive version of Norv, good coordinator, terrible HC.

[TK]

In George Michael interview a couple week's back...He said that is the reason GW didnt get the Job. Gw wanted Collins to be the starter and Danny Boy wanted to next coach committed to JC.

GW had the job. It was his to loose. All he had to do was tell Dan during the interview what he WAS going to do. Instead he just talked about what he HAD done. Some he was given another interview. Same thing happened. So he got a 3rd interview & still did the exact same thing.

[Dirk Diggler]

GW had the job. It was his to loose. All he had to do was tell Dan during the interview what he WAS going to do. Instead he just talked about what he HAD done. Some he was given another interview. Same thing happened. So he got a 3rd interview & still did the exact same thing.

Uh -huh. GW was asked what his plan was for 2008 and the future and he had no plan? Sorry aint buying it. There is no more prepared coach in the league and you can see that every Sunday.

So Sean Payton took 250K off of his salary so they could hire Gregg Williams, the man with "no plan" for his 2009 Saints defense?

[ADF]

Who says??? We will be lucky to get anybody with Snyder trying to control him. Anything is better than what we have now and that's Dan Snyder as GM.

and his blanket Vinny Cerrato :eaglesuck

Anybody who remembers life under Casserly. That's who. Is being better than Vinny the only standard? How about actually being competent. What's the point of going back to the Dana Stubbfield, Dan Wilkinson, James Washington, Al Noga, Alvin Harper, Ethan Horton, Sean Gilbert and Stanley Richards era? Help me out if I'm missing some. Then there are the drafts. I don't want to hear anything about deferring to Norv Turner. If he can't stand up to Norv, then what can he do with Snyder? Casserly is a great guy, but we'd still be in trouble if we can't do better than him.

[Rocky21]

He also said he made a mistake firing Marty like he did.

I have NEVER heard Snyder say anything like this. I'm going to have to call Bull**** on this.

[Dick Edds]

I really think Vinny wanted credit for winning because if they won with Williams, Gibbs would still get credit.

An astute observation, I think there is something to that.

totally agree ... it was all ego and pride that got in the way (probably on everyone's part). Gibbs laid the foundation for continued success here in DC. Think back to that run in '07. Now I know we got are butts kicked by Seattle. But imagine if we had of stayed with GW and AL last season? We could have started Todd and let him play till JC was ACTUALLY ready to beat him out for his job, or if TC got hurt (which was bound to happen). After all, we were still using the same Gibbs/Saunder running game for the first 8 games last year, when our OL was healthy and CP was being mentioned for MVP. That was continuity. As soon as this coaching staff decided to change the blocking schemes and convert the running game to a WCO style, we looked lost, had players get injured (I think partly because they were unsure of what to do), etc.

I believe that we would have picked up where we left off and the offense would have continued to improve, it was a successful offense with TC at the helm. Vinny was determined to bring the WCO to Wash ... Vinny convinced Dan that Zorn could fix JC, even if it meant playing him regardless if he were the best QB on the roster, its like we HAD to play him to get our money's worth.

These things right here were selfish and not in the best interest of the team. As soon as Gibbs was out of the picture, Vinny was the only one who had Danny's ear ... and he convinced him to make these changes. I think GW could have co-existed with Danny. We could have made another playoff run.

I know its coulda, woulda, shoulda ... but this time, DAN HAS TO GET IT RIGHT! We have no option but to start over and build this team the right way. I'm not sure whether we need to blow it up, or if we just need to heavily focus on the OL for the next 2 years to get on the right track ... BUT DAN HAS TO GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME.

if that means rebuilding and blowing up the roster, so be it ... but publicly announce the plan for the future. The fans deserve to know how we are moving forward ... and if Dan wants his season ticket holders back, he's gonna have to be more transparent and start holding the appropriate people accountable for the damage they have done to this team, the fans and the reputation of the organization as a whole. Rant over. Hail.

EDIT: RE the coaching staff: this is mostly speculation on my part.

[RED06]

In George Michael interview a couple week's back...He said that is the reason GW didnt get the Job. Gw wanted Collins to be the starter and Danny Boy wanted to next coach committed to JC.

Dude, stop making up stuff. When and where did GW ever say that? You have a link? You guys are soooo funny how you still try and sneak little things in about the QB. No QB will do well under these circumstances Colt, Colllins, JC, Tom Brady, insert anyone. It's a complete circus around here with this franchise. So please stop making up stuff just to post your own personal feelings towards JC.

Sunday should have shown you that the problem is NOT the QB

RED06

[ntotoro]

Yeah, if they were unimpressed with Williams' contributions but were blown away by Zorn...well, there you go.

That's kind of my outlook. Williams had one bad year. Zorn's Offense hasn't ever actually been good at all. It's like these people feigning anger that Zorn is stripped of playcalling when it's plain as the nose on my face that he's no good at it. I mean... seriously, people.

Even Zorn is still in-denial over the whole thing.

[ntotoro]

Then I guess every quarterback we've had since 1991 is a coach killer.

Actually, that's probably not too far off. The only decent QB we have had in that entire time span is Brad Johnson. Green had promise, but chose to leave, then got injured, which opened the door for Warner.

[rk3025]

Wiliams wanted to win and Snyder and Vinny did not!

New Orleans team are Super Bowl caliber.

We've heard that quote before. Snyder told Casserly years after he let him go that he should have let Norv go instead before the 2000 season.

Has Snyder already said that to Gregg Williams this season? Williams refused to accept 2 things were a given: Vinny Cerrato and Jason Campbell. And so he didn't get the job.

Discuss.

[deejaydana]

and look what a great job Williams is now doing, albeit as a DC, down in New Orleans. ***sigh***

[Dirk Diggler]

totally agree ... it was all ego and pride that got in the way (probably on everyone's part). Gibbs laid the foundation for continued success here in DC. Think back to that run in '07. Now I know we got are butts kicked by Seattle. But imagine if we had of stayed with GW and AL last season? We could have started Todd and let him play till JC was ACTUALLY ready to beat him out for his job, or if TC got hurt (which was bound to happen). After all, we were still using the same Gibbs/Saunder running game for the first 8 games last year, when our OL was healthy and CP was being mentioned for MVP. That was continuity. As soon as this coaching staff decided to change the blocking schemes and convert the running game to a WCO style, we looked lost, had players get injured (I think partly because they were unsure of what to do), etc.

I believe that we would have picked up where we left off and the offense would have continued to improve, it was a successful offense with TC at the helm. Vinny was determined to bring the WCO to Wash ... Vinny convinced Dan that Zorn could fix JC, even if it meant playing him regardless if he were the best QB on the roster, its like we HAD to play him to get our money's worth.

These things right here were selfish and not in the best interest of the team. As soon as Gibbs was out of the picture, Vinny was the only one who had Danny's ear ... and he convinced him to make these changes. I think GW could have co-existed with Danny. We could have made another playoff run.

I know its coulda, woulda, shoulda ... but this time, DAN HAS TO GET IT RIGHT! We have no option but to start over and build this team the right way. I'm not sure whether we need to blow it up, or if we just need to heavily focus on the OL for the next 2 years to get on the right track ... BUT DAN HAS TO GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME.

if that means rebuilding and blowing up the roster, so be it ... but publicly announce the plan for the future. The fans deserve to know how we are moving forward ... and if Dan wants his season ticket holders back, he's gonna have to be more transparent and start holding the appropriate people accountable for the damage they have done to this team, the fans and the reputation of the organization as a whole. Rant over. Hail.

EDIT: RE the coaching staff: this is mostly speculation on my part.

The day GW was excluded from consideration back in late Jan08, there was a thread started called "Where Williams went wrong" and this is what I had to say:

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?p=4827192#post4827192

I think people are overanalyzing this thing. Every coach has holes in their resume. Every coach lets players leave, signs some duds, and drafts some duds if they've been in any one place long enough. People are grasping for answers and I think it's relatively simple: Now that Cerrato is in charge he wants to bring in his own guy, blaze his own trail. It would be much easier to sell GW as the right choice but he hasn't been perfect and you could sell him as the wrong choice if you were so inclined too.

This is what new GMs do everywhere. I mean hell, Tony Dungy got fired so Bruce Allen could bring in his own guy. Schottenhemier got fired after a 14-2 season. Jerry Angelo couldn't wait for Dick Jauron to have one bad season so he could get Lovie Smith in there.

It comes down to ego and credit. And there's only one way Cerrato's going to get credit in the long run if the team succeeds - if it's his guy in place. Cerrato has taken more crap than anyone in 10 years here - even more than Snyder. This is his chance to prove everyone wrong.

[TotalRecall]

We've heard that quote before. Snyder told Casserly years after he let him go that he should have let Norv go instead before the 2000 season.

Has Snyder already said that to Gregg Williams this season? Williams refused to accept 2 things were a given: Vinny Cerrato and Jason Campbell. And so he didn't get the job.

Discuss.

Letting Greg Williams go away is probably the only good decision they made. His bend-but-don't-break defensive philosophy and arrogance were frustrating itself. And making him HC would be awful.

BTW, Norv Turner is the only Redskins HC under Snyder with a winning record. So, it wasn't Norv's fault. I'm not saying he's a great coach, but he's not as bad as some here make him out to be neither.

Snyder and Vinny should get most of the blame for the past 10 years.

[Dirk Diggler]

Letting Greg Williams go away is probably the only good decision they made. His bend-but-don't-break defensive philosophy and arrogance were frustrating itself. And making him HC would be awful.

When coaches coach hard and win, they are "confident in their philosophy." When they lose they are "arrogant." GW got excellent results here 3 out of 4 seasons. We used to put teams away. Now we let leads slip away. But yeah, letting him go was good. :doh:

[TotalRecall]

When coaches coach hard and win, they are "confident in their philosophy." When they lose they are "arrogant." GW got excellent results here 3 out of 4 seasons. We used to put teams away. Now we let leads slip away. But yeah, letting him go was good. :doh:

This is the best defense we had in YEARS!! :doh:

Under GW (ranking in points allowed):

-----------------------------------

2004: 5th

2005: 9th

2006: 26th

2007: 11th

2008 (@ Jags): 21st

2009 (@ Saints) : T-6th (5 games)

Under Blache (ranking in points allowed):

---------------------------------------

2008: 6th

2009: 8th (6 games)

The reason why you perceive the defense giving up a lead is because of our AWFUL OFFENSE inability to score points and maintain possession!!!

If the Saints offense wasn't so good, then GW's poor defensive strategy would be revealed again! The Saints offense through 5 games has 169 min. and 16 sec. time of possession. The Redskins offense through the first 5 games has 139 min. and 36 sec. time of possession. Through 6 games, the Redskins offense has 162 minutes and 26 sec. time of possession. When the defense has to play a lot more minutes, then yes it makes their job a lot more harder!

And under Gibbs/GW, we didn't "put teams away". If we won, it was usually barely a win.

[Dirk Diggler]

This is the best defense we had in YEARS!! :doh:

If the point is to actually win games, then no this is not the best defense we've played in years, not even close.

In 2009, we've played the New York Giants and 5 tomato cans. The Giants completely dominated our defense and we couldn't get them off the field. The 5 tomato cans didn't and that's why our ranking is relatively high right now. If you think our defensive ranking is staying in the top 10 with the meat of our schedule (Dallas 2x, Philly 2x, Denver, Atlanta, so on and so forth), then son -- you don't know what you're talking about.

Please be sure to bump this thread at the end of the year so we can talk about our defensive rankings later.

Under GW (ranking in points allowed):

-----------------------------------

2004: 5th

2005: 9th (carried team to playoffs)

2006: 26th

2007: 11th (carried team to playoffs)

2008 (@ Jags): 21st

2009 (@ Saints) : T-6th (5 games)

Under Blache (ranking in points allowed):

---------------------------------------

2008: 6th

2009: 8th (6 games)

Our 2004 ranking when you subtract points against for defensive TDs by the opposition and special teams TDs (points given up when GW's defense is not on the field) our ranking actually vaulted to #2 I believe. And the Saints 2009 defense goes to #5. I haven't looked into the other years but I suppose I could if you actually made a salient point.