Shanahan must do one thing only.

[Larry Brown #43]

We certainly know the costs. Portis....Lavar....possibly Haynesworth and others who feel like they are above the team because of their special relationship with the owner.

This is what I was referring to in the post directly above yours. And this is exactly what needs to change if Shanny is to have any chance of success here.

[Forever21]

Well said Art.

You're taking from a purely coaching aspect and others have come at your post with things about Snyder but your post wasn't about those aspects.

I think you're right and if we can assume for a moment that Snyder will give Allen/Shanahan the time and space to do their jobs then you're absolutely right about what Shanahan has to do.

[authentic]

one of the best threads in a while....Very good comments. I agree 100%!

[Thirtyfive2seven]

Wow. Dead on analysis. I couldn't agree more. The skins don't want or need players that don't want to play in Pre-Season.

[Hitman#21]

We need a franchise QB bottom line. With that will be in great shape, and JC is not a franchise QB.

[authentic]

We need a franchise QB bottom line. With that will be in great shape, and JC is not a franchise QB.

Absolutely.

[Larry Brown #43]

You're taking from a purely coaching aspect and others have come at your post with things about Snyder but your post wasn't about those aspects.

How are the things about Snyder not relevant? The whole arrangement is contingent upon how much authority Snyder gives Shanahan. We're told that Shanny has 100% control, and that's great. Two years from now, will Snyder still be supportive of Shanny's 100% control? If so, wonderful.

[TheLongshot]

I thought the answer to the title was going to be, "Just win, baby".

Course, that's part of it. Success breeds confidence that things are heading in the right direction. Also, not changing things up every couple of years helps as well. Players are less likely to complain about things being done their way if the team is winning. I'm actually amazed that we aren't seeing bigger fractures on this team considering how everything went down this season. In a lot of ways, it is a tribute to Gibbs and to Zorn to a certain extent that the team is that much together. (Note that the guys who were the biggest complainers about the way the Redskins were doing things were guys who weren't here under Gibbs (Taylor, Haynesworth)).

As for Snyder, I don't see how people think that ownership is the problem. While Snyder is certainly responsible for hiring people who haven't done a good job here, what he provides for his staff is unparalleled. Despite the lack of success the past few years, he's still good at selling players and coaches on being here. He understands the history here and he tries hard to recapture the better days. Just about everyone who works for him in the football end has the freedom to get the players that they want to get, with the full support of the owner.

The problems have come with the people who run the football operation not always making the best decisions. Under Snyder, Gibbs came the closest, tho it seemed he overreached himself in 2006 and the team has paid a heavy price for that, especially when he knew that there was an endpoint. Vinny tried to repair some of that, but he was unable to take care of the short term needs and didn't feel secure about his job enough to let the head coach do his job.

Basically, Snyder gives enough rope for the people under him to hang from. Unfortunately, most of them got their head stuck in the noose more often than not. It is going to be a challenge for Allen and Shanahan to avoid that pitfall.

[skinsarethebest]

As for the original post, I definitely agree. A very strong "general" point.

But when I think of the one thing that's been lacking these past few years (well, decade), I boil it down to something even more "nuts and bolts" ... We need an OFFENSE, and more specifically, a vertical passing game.

Ironically, despite the fact that our last two coaches made their names as offensive gurus, and we've had more than our fair share of so-called experts in that area (from Gibbs to Saunders to Zorn to Lewis), why is that ever since Marty took over, we've essentially been stuck playing the equivalent of Martyball since then?

Run... short pass... run.. 2-yard gain... 4 and out... you get the picture.

If we can somehow just get out of that mold, then we are on our way. And of course I know there are incremental steps to get there... getting an O line, finding the right QB, etc. But the philosophical shift we need to make, more than anything, is just committing to reinvigorating our anemic offense.

That, in my book, would be a successful 2010 campaign.

[Destino]

I rarely get to do this: I agree with Art on this.

[rdsknbill]

What a great analysis Art!

There is a thing that we coach called "Firing the brain" . Yea, I know it is only HS lacrosse, but I think it is something that holds true at any level of coaching.

It is basically a philosophy that states "Expect nothing, Earn EVERYTHING!" No one player is bigger then the goals of the team. Are there leaders on a team? Absolutely, but they are a direct extension of the coaching staff, and the convey their expectations to their team mates. That is their job as captains.

Rise as a team, fall as a team, but ALWAYS remain a cohesive unit with a solid leadership structure.:2cents:

[Chris Worthy]

Art, I hope one of your new years resolutions was to post here more often.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

With the right leadership it can be an asset. If Shanahan needs a certain player, Snyder will bend over backwards to make sure he gets what he needs. As far as entertaining players after they are signed, that needs to stop. That has been a detriment to the organization.

Do other teams NOT do this? This is what I don't get.

Has Belichick ever gone to Robert Kraft and said, "I need an inside linebacker!" and been denied? Has this happened in Dallas? In Houston?

Hell, have the cheapskate Steelers or Colts ever failed to address a position of need?

There are basically five or six teams that seem to let budgets rule on positions of need these days - Oakland, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Jacksonville and maybe San Fran come to mind. But this belief that other teams don't go after talent is just weird.

The difference (as far as I can tell between Snyder and everyone else) is that in other cities, someone says, "We need a disruptive defensive tackle...." and then they try get a disruptive defenseive tackle either through the draft or free agency.

With the Redskins, someone says, "We need Albert Haynesworth...." and Dan Snyder writes him a check equal to the gross national product of Honduras.

Are we sure we have the right plan?

[TheLongshot]

Well, Belichick doesn't need to go to Kraft, since he has full personnel control. In Dallas, Jerry Jones isn't going to deny himself.

Hell, have the cheapskate Steelers or Colts ever failed to address a position of need?

Course, they have had fewer needs in recent years, which is partially because of the stability in their organizations. It is easier to fill needs when you have fewer of them because you aren't changing the plan every couple of years.

There are basically five or six teams that seem to let budgets rule on positions of need these days - Oakland, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Jacksonville and maybe San Fran come to mind. But this belief that other teams don't go after talent is just weird.

I'd add the Cardinals in there. Despite their recent success, Bill Bidwell is still penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to getting and keeping talent.

The difference (as far as I can tell between Snyder and everyone else) is that in other cities, someone says, "We need a disruptive defensive tackle...." and then they try get a disruptive defenseive tackle either through the draft or free agency.

With the Redskins, someone says, "We need Albert Haynesworth...." and Dan Snyder writes him a check equal to the gross national product of Honduras.

Are we sure we have the right plan?

No, with the Redskins someone says that they need a disruptive defensive tackle and it takes a couple years to find that disruptive DT because they aren't exactly at your local Wal Mart and come at a premium when they are available.

[hailskins11]

It happened to Marty, Spurrier, Gibbs and Zorn. It happened with Raye, Nolan, Lewis, Edwards, Blache and even Williams to a degree.

The thing that ultimately has caused this team the greatest problem. The thing that ultimately will always keep it from being any good. It's the only thing Shanahan MUST correct to create a chance at being any good.

That thing?

Players believing they know more about football and what a successful scheme is than the coaches. Though I'm the first to stand up and scream at the insanity of some of the things our guys have done, the fact is, a great percentage of our problem over the years has been buy in from every player.

I understood it was crazy to believe in blocking from the outside, in as Spurrier did. But that he never got everyone on the same page crushed his ability to run an offense. I heard Cooley say, about a man who'd run the No. 1 offense repeatedly in this league, "We supposedly have this great system...."

No one has come here, fresh pedigree, college pedigree, Hall of Fame pedigree or any other level of success or failure and gotten the players to buy in completely. They are always sniping. Complaining. I know better. Use me thusly.

Even when you are inclined to believe they are right, the simple fact remains, to win in this league, you need all pieces functioning AS ONE. Haynesworth may be GREAT, and individually superior to everyone in football, but if he won't give his heart to a system, he won't be as effective in it as a far lesser player. The same goes for every player we have.

Shanahan has a pedigree and a system you would not think could be questioned.

Yet it will.

It's how our players have reacted to everyone else. Shanahan won't be different in that regard. He merely has to be different in responding to it. He has to empower the leaders of the team to snap down any spoken insurrection. He needs to bind them to him more greatly than they are bound to anyone else in the organization so they are loyal to him and the system.

The biggest mistake Gibbs made here was rotating captains so the team had no one to turn to for real leadership. A team captain isn't an honor you bestow on every player. It's a position of respect, earned through your effort and sweat and it is not something easily taken from one who's earned it.

Those captains must be Shanahan's men. They must destroy internal dissent against the new systems with great fury. Anyone who's played sports knows the easiest way to break a man's will is when someone you play with comes at you directly about your will. You may buck a coach who does that. You don't a player everyone respects more than you.

In this process Shanahan must abide the general principle that a good player for the system is a better player than a superior player. Hard cuts must be made. Surprising moves. Lesser bodies replacing better ones who think they know better will look bad, but be good.

Shanahan deserves respect. Schlereth played for us in our glory years. He played for the Broncos in theirs. He considers himself a Bronco. There's something to be said for a guy who played with our greatest and their greatest and prefers theirs.

He must be so confident in his system and abilities to reject any challenge of it. For some time I believed an adaptive coach was superior to a rigid one, but no team has EVER needed a mean daddy more than this one. No team needs someone who is so certain of himself that he can get rid of good players who buck what he knows is right. Even if he's wrong.

Arrogance in THAT position is needed. Gibbs was far too humble for the crop of men we have now. Zorn couldn't bring himself to yelling at them because they were grown men. Shanahan needs to make it understood, whether he's a yeller or not, that it'll be done exactly as he wants, no questions required.

I expect a very early, statement release in the earliest days of consequential practice. Someone who ran a route at 10 steps rather than 9 but has done so a couple times too many. The only way this team can ever win is if gets over itself and understands the team concept only works with sacrifice.

Even if it means sacrificing your own opinions.

I have no idea if Shanahan can do it. I believe he's arrogant and certain in his genius. I thought Spurrier was too, but he turned out to be a wallflower. Shanahan won't be that. Maybe THAT will be what makes a difference.

Excellent post

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

No, with the Redskins someone says that they need a disruptive defensive tackle and it takes a couple years to find that disruptive DT because they aren't exactly at your local Wal Mart and come at a premium when they are available.

And God forbid they ever try to draft one.