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ES Coverage: Bruce Allen Press Conference (FINAL)

JimmiJo

By JimmiJo
in The Stadium

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JimmiJo

JimmiJo

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ES Coverage: Bruce Allen Press Introductory Conference

12/17/09

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VICTORY!!!

Greetings my friend, and oh what the new day has brought.

My name is JimmiJo, your friendly neighborhood Warpath Confidential reporter. But for this event, I am back with the family to bring you ES Coverage for today's press conference.

I will soon be joined by my partner, Murf. Together we will ask the tough questions that you have for the new general manager. Either that, or we will be the guys doing our best to get on camera in the background.

And with our mugs, this may not be the best course of action.

So, where were you when you heard the news that Cerrato was gone, and how excited did you become on hearing it? I was on the road and got an e-mail from my boss at Warpath. After the car came to a stop in the ditch I drove into, I rushed to turn on the radio to confirm it was in fact being reported.

I guess I'm saying it was a little surprised. That it came the same week I tried to give Cerrato some credit for recent moves is my typical dumb-luck.

In my defense, I have been writing for some months that if owner Dan Snyder felt the heat enough from the fans, he would pull the trigger.

So, take a moment and take a bow because as far as I am concerned, you are responsible for Vinny going, and for the team having a real general manager.

One of the questions I have is; why now? Why do this with only three weeks left in the season. No-one was clamouring for Bruce Allen, so you have to kind of think it is to land the coach they want before someone else does.

I reported earlier on a rumor that Gruden's people say it is likely he is coming. The St. Peterburg Times agrees.

However, there are folks here are Redskins Park who think it will be Mike Shanahan.

You can be sure that Allen will be asked about the next coach.

Before it gets too late, feel free to post a comment, or suggested questions. We will do what we can.

Stand by...

:helmet:

AUDIO

To listen to comments from Bruce Allen click HERE

To listen to comments from Jim Zorn click HERE

To listen to comments from Andre Carter click HERE

To listen to comments from Devin Thomas click HERE

To listen to comments from Mike Lombardi click HERE

:helmet:

BRUCE ALLEN'S COMMENTS

After the press conference, new general manager Bruce Allen spoke with the media. Here's what he had to say:

On if he’s had the chance to talk with friends and family members about his new role:

“You know, it’s not just alumni with some of these people. They’re not just Redskins alumni, they’re my extended family. I have gotten some of their responses, and ironically, my phone broke. But I can’t wait to have the conversations with them because they’ve reached out to my family members already and there’s some excitement.”

On what his dad would be thinking right now:

“The future is now. Beat the Giants.”

On how Allen sees his role over the next three weeks:

“I see my observing. You know, seeing how things transpire. You all cover the team, and usually a coach comes in – whether it’s an assistant coach, head coach or a front office person – and it’s February. You don’t get to see ‘this is how we do it.’ Well, I’m going to learn how we do it. I’m going to learn what we do here. My ideas and things I’ve done … there might be some better ideas how to make sure we’re doing something that’s going to help this team be more productive. S I think it’s a great opportunity to get a head start on 2010.”

On his preference, as far as which offense his teams generally run:

“I believe it’s the coaches who generally make that type of decision. So the head coach will make the decision what type of offense he is going to run, as well as implementing offense, defense and special teams.”

On what he looks for in a head coach:

“You answered your own question – it’s the leader of the team. He’s the leader of the organization throughout sports. The Dodgers were better when they got a better manager. Period.”

On how soon he plans on getting his ‘finger prints’ on this franchise:

“My finger prints are Redskins finger prints. I’m not looking for any other identity other than being a Redskin. I’m going to take this season as it comes. I do like the fact that we do have a game coming up Monday night – a home game for the Redskins wearing the burgundy and gold – it’s going to be special. I’m already looking forward to the game. I hope we celebrate afterwards.”

On how much time he plans on spending with Jim Zorn:

“We’ll spend a great deal of time. That’s what we were meeting about earlier, we were scheduling.”

On whether he got a good vide from his initial conversation with Zorn:

“Yeah.”

On whether this is a dream job for him:

“You know, everything I’ve done since I graduated college, I’ve focused on that task at hand. So when I was with the Buccaneers last year, I wasn’t dreaming of a different job. Dreaming of getting a first down or a touchdown, maybe, but not that. It’s really all come together in this week. The feelings while telling my mom, telling my brother, telling my kids and seeing their eyes light up and understanding the message made it special.”

On his relationship with Daniel Snyder prior to this:

“It was professional. I met him when he got the team. I believe it was at a league meeting. I’ve had conversations with him over the years about the Redskins, and we talked about the tradition and how proud he is of it.”

:helmet:

MIKE LOMBARDI'S COMMENTS

Are there certain tendencies of a Bruce Allen team? If you look at the teams that he’s put together, are there things that stand out?

ML: “Obviously the coach has a lot of say in what he runs. Y’know, Bruce doesn’t bring the offense or the defense to the team. It just becomes a situation where the coach — say, with Jon [Gruden], it was a West Coast Offense — and Bruce has great respect for coaches, and he values their opinions and he values their input.”

You have the perspective of an outsider. From where you’re looking, how do you judge this move for the Redskins, to bring in Bruce Allen?

ML: “Obviously they had to do something. I mean, they had to help their fanbase. They had to send a message to their fanbase, to the alumni, the Redskins players, and I think this is a great move to do that. The players all, you know, from the era of Bruce, he’s familiar with every player. He has relationships with them, he’s very well liked by all the players. So therefore, it’s very comfortable for them to bring him back. So that answers the alumni, the fans certainly recognize Bruce: his brother’s a former Senator in the state of Virginia, so … you know, there’s a comfortablity with him. And then the heritage of the name, so I think that this is a great move for them.

“And then Bruce comes with a winning background, so those are things that just kinda echo into the whole program and I think it’s the first step.

“I mean, they had to do something this year to kinda help themselves politically, PR-wise, and ultimately get back to the win column.”

Let’s say you were the guy sittinG up there answering the questions today. What pieces would you be comfortable building off of that are already in place?

ML: “My philosophy have always been that the game’s won with the offensive and defensive lines. I think that ultimately you’ve gotta have a great quarterback, and then the next place you go is offensive and defensive line. And I think that the Redskins going into the season, in spite of Vinny Cerrato proclaiming it as a playoff team, the offensive line was below caliber. They had too many injuries, too many guys that really were on the edge in terms of being able to be durable. And I think that you have to repair that before you can really compete. To win on the road in the NFL, you have to be really good in the offensive line.”

Click here for the full interview with Mike Lombardi.

:helmet:

JimmiJo's Corner

“Obviously this is an exciting day for me, and for my family. If you told me 35 years ago that I would be standing here at New Redskins Park, I don’t think I would bet on that. It’s exciting because of the tradition, the comfort of coming home. Everybody who knows me knows that the principals of football in my mind are simple – it’s a team. Fifty-three men, everybody in the building going in the same direction, for the same common purpose – to win.”

With those words, we got to meet the new general manager for the Washington Redskins, Bruce Allen.

For starters, I like the twinkle in his eye. At first glance he seems to bring some intensity to the job. He spoke of the importance of passion for the job, the importance of team, and the importance of competing in the NFC East.

And something tells me he knows what it means to play Dallas. After all, his dad is responsible as anyone for the intensity of the rivalry.

During the presser we learned that this move has been in the works for some weeks. According to Allen, he and Snyder have spoken on more than one occasion trying to shape Allen’s role and duties with the team.

Allen is the general manager (the first Redskins GM since owner Dan Snyder bought the team). And to hear Snyder tell it, Allen has the final say on football operations.

“Obviously, Bruce has the authority and when you make a decision, he makes the decision, the club makes the decision,” said Snyder.

I wanted to flesh this out a little bit, so I asked Snyder how his role would change having a GM. Specifically, will he be less involved in day-to-day operations.

“In terms of the past, I’ve not been involved as people may have thought,” said Snyder. “In terms of the future, obviously, we’ll be counting on Bruce to lead the way and we’re excited to have a seasoned NFL veteran with a lot of experience.”

Interesting.

Allen was asked directly about potential coaching changes, but he wasn’t showing his hand. Instead, he said he is going to take the remainder of the season to assess what he has in terms of coaches and talent.

“I just met [Zorn],” he said. “Were going to see how we can beat the New York Giants on Monday night. There will be plenty of time after the season to speculate…”

Coach Zorn did not know in advance that Vinny Cerrato was going to leave, or that Bruce Allen was coming.

“This morning my reaction was a bit shocked because it was the first time I had heard about anything with Vinny,” said Zorn. “And then later on, I had the chance to hear about Bruce. We had a chance to sit down this afternoon before practice and visit. We’re on our way.”

Zorn understands that he has three weeks to win Allen over if he has any shot to stay as coach, but is more concerned with beating New York Monday.

“With me, my concern is Monday night. My concern is with our football team. Right now, I won’t be able to control that issue except by winning and showing my competency. Then it will be up to the observations and skills that Bruce has, and I’m just going to leave that up to him.”

Something tells us that Allen will probably not select Zorn to stay. Just a hunch, but we don’t think so.

There are reasons to feel good about Allen:

- Cerrato is gone

- The team has hired a bonafide general manager

- Allen has been a GM already, and is reported to be a very good administrator

- The next coach is probably a big name coach with a winning record

There are also reasons to feel not so good about Allen:

- He has not led the most successful teams. His record is not outstanding

- He is not known to be a very good personnel guy. His forte is administration, not players.

- His reputation is that he does not buck ownership

Still, I like the hire. I like the family connection. I like his message of team and passion.

Now, we get to sit back and wait for a coach to be named. In the meantime, we still get to watch three more games.

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ZRagone

ZRagone

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I imagine the reason its done NOW is this way he has the ability to start evaluating all these guys on the roster NOW, during the season, during live games, during practices, face to face and in person rather than simply relying completely on game tape and what interviews he can manage during the off season.

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TK

TK

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My money is still on Shanny with buying out Chucky' ESPN deal as the back up plan if Shanny ends up in Dallas. Dan likes both of them, but the ESPN makes Shanny perhaps more affordable. With it being December which is like Kryptonite to the Cowboys, it makes sense for Dan to force Vinny out now to get a head start on landing Shanny.

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