Shanahan must do one thing only.

[PorkSkins]

Winning is first and foremost. If he doesn't start winning, the respect and discipline will slowly fade. Next year will be a tough year. Despite the Allen optimism, we are more than just a couple of players away from being a contender. Can we win more games with this group? Yes. Can we go to the SB with this team? No. Let's start building now while we have a free pass to rid ourselves of over priced divas and sign younger FA players next year. We need more than a couple of plugs to stop the leak in this ship. We need our keel overhauled.

[gortiz]

am i wrong, or is there no better way to accomplish what you are saying art by making an example of someone.

by that, i mean getting rid of the sacred cows or at least any player that seems to be on an island.

not sure who that coudl be, the popular choice is portis, but maybe its cooley? maybe its moss? maybe its albert? maybe landry?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Dan Snyder made his money during the roaring 90s, when "flat" structured organizations were all the rage.

Flat structures do not work in the NFL. Chain of command. Players at the bottom to position coach to coordinator to head coach to GM/Team President to owner

I've been thinking about Dan's business history a lot lately and how it relates to the Skins.

The more I ponder it, I would not trust any businessman who made a quick fortune in the 90s to run any business.

I never thought of the "flat" structured organizations, but that is a great point. I worked for one of those companies. When we were making money hand over fist and everyone was happy, the fact that some administrative assistant could walk right into the president's office and talk to him about anything seemed fun. By the early 2000s, when we actually had to start working to make money, that structure created a paranoid, miserable atmosphere. And then when we tried to implement a more traditional environment with concepts like "direct reports," it really went to hell.

Dan seems to be caught between two worlds. On the one hand, he loves the "Mr. Snyder," don't make eye contact as I get into my helicopter, master of the universe type BS. On the other hand, he hangs out with his players in Vegas.

I don't know how you can work in Redskins Park and not be completely confused at all times.

Anyway, the point I was thinking about more is the quick turnaround that was the goal of every business in the 90s. Say what you will about the early tech companies, but they actually had to make affordable products that people wanted. If Apple had stopped with the Lisa and just waited for IBM to buy them, they would have died.

Too many 90s companies didn't ever have to make a profit or show that their services were wanted or needed. Snyder Communications seems to be the classic example of that. The only goal of the company was to get big enough that a bigger company would buy it out. There was never a plan that involved being in business for 20 years.

And that seems to be the course that Snyder has set with the Skins. Make the stadium 90,000 seats. Make the waiting list 200,000 names. Make it big! Big! Big!

The Redskins are perfectly positioned to be acquired by some global conglomerate right now looking for entrance into the lucrative American football market. Unfortunately, that's not how NFL franchises are run.

Someone really needs to write a book about the last five years of Cook's life and the first 10 years of Snyder's reign. A real book too - not one of those scrapbook things.

[Chicken Fried]

I'm pretty sure Haynesworth knew more than Blache. Blache should have at least listened to his ideas instead of being so haughty.

[gortiz]

If so we likely have the right coach now. Good book that I have been reading, a Few Seconds of Panic, is about a sportswriter who auditions to play with the Broncos as a kicker and he gets into Shanny a lot. The author was on Comcast last night talking about it.

He describes Shanny is a disciplinarian, control freak, who has no tolerance for dissent. Very loyal if you do the right thing, but if you wrong him even once you are in deep trouble. He’s isn’t a no fun disciplinarian like Marty. He will do bowling days, and team bonding stuff. Here are some quotes from the book:

sounds like we got our coughlin...

[Renegade7]

Damn good to see you back, Art. Valid points.

You look at a team like the Patriots where either your in or your out, there is no buying your time middle area. To have that kind of culture here would be a Godsend. We're finally gonna have one person for the players to look to and that will be the man in charge. That's the way it's supposed to be.

[jweisk1]

If so we likely have the right coach now. Good book that I have been reading, a Few Seconds of Panic, is about a sportswriter who auditions to play with the Broncos as a kicker and he gets into Shanny a lot. The author was on Comcast last night talking about it.

He describes Shanny is a disciplinarian, control freak, who has no tolerance for dissent. Very loyal if you do the right thing, but if you wrong him even once you are in deep trouble. He’s isn’t a no fun disciplinarian like Marty. He will do bowling days, and team bonding stuff. Here are some quotes from the book:

“Shanahan has honed a style that is part autocrat, part technocrat. He is reductionist approach to life.

“He recalls Shanahan eviscerating a player for running the wrong pass pattern, then watching an assistant coach privately apologize to the player for having assigned him the wrong route – and then not tell Shanahan that he, the assistant was responsible.”

“the culture of leadership that Shanahan has imposed…In it failure is not an option, and fear – fear of disappointing, and ticking off Shanahan comes with the territory. Slavish attention to detail and consummate professionalism are as basic to the Broncos as orange and blue.”

"In recent days, his end of practice lectures have grown more scolding. He’s angry about dropped balls, missing blocking assignments, and lack of concentration.”

"He used that power to keep his coaches on edge, who in turn put their players on edge. It’s almost like he’s read the book on how to lead. He understands the philosophy of leadership, Kyle says. If the end justify the means, then he’s good at his job.”

Great insight...thanks

I think the quotes above will appease the OP's perspective on what a coach needs to do in order to get this franchise back to glory. I agree with the mental/humanistic approach that attitude reflects leadership, but just because I buy into it doesnt mean certain players will...

Players who seem to have a "me" first, I am bigger than the team attitude need to be put in there place or released. I cant think of a recent superbowl team with players who have this type attitude.

Great post OP

[Commander Adama]

Thanks for that post Art, and I totally agree. 53 Men moving in the same direction cannot lose.

[jweisk1]

Thanks for that post Art, and I totally agree. 53 Men moving in the same direction cannot lose.

Unless you are the detroit lions...

[Art]

I'm pretty sure Haynesworth knew more than Blache. Blache should have at least listened to his ideas instead of being so haughty.

This is the type of poison that will kill us.

Blache did more for this organization than Haynesworth has. He helped coax Williams out of his package nonsense and helped make us a top defense again under Williams. He then surpassed ALL expectations by being so adaptive and clever a year ago in leading a top defense. This year things fell off because Albert, with your support, believe he has superior thoughts.

It's entirely fair for us as individuals to dislike a specific scheme or style, but we fall flat when we KNOW how well that style works, despite our distaste, and we can't even side on the side of proven.

[The 12th Commandment]

Thanks for that post Art, and I totally agree. 53 Men moving in the same direction cannot lose.

How very Allenesque! I agree as long as they're not all on the backside of thirty.

[Nighthawk]

One thing Shanahan needs to do is make it clear that he and only he speaks for the orginization. That means no assistant coaches giving interviews or having radio shows or tv shows.

There has to be one voice and only one voice and that belongs to Shanahan.

No more blog interviews with assistant coaches. Nothing, nada, zilch.

[dfos81]

Ultimately winning games will cure all ills.

If they win playoff games, then everyone will say we have ourselves a good coach. Bottom line.

[Warpath11]

I never thought of the "flat" structured organizations' date=' but that is a great point. I worked for one of those companies. When we were making money hand over fist and everyone was happy, the fact that some administrative assistant could walk right into the president's office and talk to him about anything seemed fun. By the early 2000s, when we actually had to start working to make money, that structure created a paranoid, miserable atmosphere. And then when we tried to implement a more traditional environment with concepts like "direct reports," it really went to hell.[/quote']

Good points and I think the Redskins have made the shift from a "flat" structured organization to more of a matrix model in the Front Office/football ops. There still exists the traditional model below the front office (hierarchy) but in the football operations/management there is more of a matrix feel (between Snyder, Allen and Shanny). I visualize it as the following: Shanny directly reports to the owner (solid line) with a dotted line report to Allen (simirarly Allen is a solid line/direct report to Snyder as well). The critical relationship is the dotted line between Allen and Shanny. The model leads itself to a great deal of individual accountability.

[KingGibbs]

First thing he needs to do is get rid of Snyder's little buddy Portis. RB's are a dime a dozen and don't even argue with me when it comes to RB's and Shanny. You WILL lose.

Portis is everything that's wrong with this team. He doesn't practice, he ALWAYS runs to Snyder, his performance has declined with each passing year, etc.

Getting rid of Portis will let the team know there's a new sheriff in town.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

First thing he needs to do is get rid of Snyder's little buddy Portis. RB's are a dime a dozen and don't even argue with me when it comes to RB's and Shanny. You WILL lose.

Portis is everything that's wrong with this team. He doesn't practice, he ALWAYS runs to Snyder, his performance has declined with each passing year, etc.

Getting rid of Portis will let the team know there's a new sheriff in town.

I agree 1,000%. I hope that is one of the first personnel moves that occurs. I have gripes with some other CONTRACTS (ARE, for example) that I'd also like released, but CP is the main culprit when it comes to the me-first mentality. As average-at-best as ARE has been, I think he's a good locker room presence and team player.

[SkinsHokieFan]

I've been thinking about Dan's business history a lot lately and how it relates to the Skins.

The more I ponder it' date=' I would not trust any businessman who made a quick fortune in the 90s to run any business.

Rest of very good post cut by SHF

[/quote']

You are entirely correct. Flat organizations were terrific when stock options were going through the roof, where you could wear jeans to the office and life was good. That was the time period of 1995-2000, which is also the time period Dan Snyder grew Snyder Communications into a huge company that acquired other companies and then got bought out by some french firm in summer 1999 for 2 billion dollars (what a dumb French firm that was!)

The point of course is Dan Snyder has never been in a structured chain of command business enviornment, ever. He was an entreprenuer that had his hands in everything, from when he started spring break trips, to providing free samples of stuff in doctor's offices.

The man has to be incredibly persuasive to get Mort Zuckerman to give him 3 million dollars at age 25, after he lost Zuckerman all sorts of money a few years earlier. And as Art alludes to, this is Snyder's skill, his best asset, the art of the deal, getting the big fish, etc.

However he has no concept of a chain of command. Of responsibility. And quite frankly he has no concept of patience. All 3 of those are vital to a successfull NFL franchise.

The players must know the head coach is in charge and has the full 100 percent support of the front office. When you see reports and rumors pop up in week 3 that a coach could be fired (Norv in 2000, Marty in 2001, Zorn in 2009) that coach has no chance at a successful season, or tenure. The players no longer think he is in charge

This is where I hope Bruce Allen's influence really helps. Keep Dan from doing stupid 1990s business like stuff. Run a professional football team. Have a chain of command. Let football people do football things.

There isn't going to be an IPO next week for the Redskins. And Dan has to realize that

[Larry Brown #43]

I generally agree with Art in his OP, but I'd take it a little further. It's not just football systems and schemes that the players need to buy into.

Just as important, if not MORE important, is the players buying into Shanahan as the disciplinary authority of the team.

During the '08 season, just after Portis blasted Coach Zorn on the radio resulting in a media/fan firestorm, Portis backtracked, saying "I'm a Washington Redskin. I love Mr. Snyder. Mr. Snyder love me."

CP was essentially saying that it doesn't matter if I don't like Coach Zorn, because the owner has my back.

That **** has to stop. If that kind of nonsense continues, Shanahan has little chance to succeed here. I'm cautiously confident that a new day has dawned and Snyder will support Shanahan's ultimate authority. Because if he doesn't, we'll see more of the same around here.

Also, a minor issue, but I don't completely agree with the following:

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.

Schlereth does consider himself a Bronco, but I think that has less to do with the Shanny vs. Gibbs factor and more to do with the fact that the Redskins (post-Gibbs) kicked him to the curb when he still had good football left in him. So he stuck it to the Skins somewhat by winning two Super Bowls after we showed him the door. But it was Norv who sent him packing, as I recall.

I've heard Schlereth speak glowingly of both Shanny and Gibbs on numerous occasions.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The man has to be incredibly persuasive to get Mort Zuckerman to give him 3 million dollars at age 25, after he lost Zuckerman all sorts of money a few years earlier. And as Art alludes to, this is Snyder's skill, his best asset, the art of the deal, getting the big fish, etc.

Art has repeatedly argued over the years that this is Snyder's greatest talent and it is a benefit to the team. But I still don't see how it has benefitted the team in any way.

The wining and dining is certainly fun for the players and the local gossip columnists. But, at the end of the day, what has gotten the free agents and the big-name coaches here is the dumptrucks full of money that Dan Snyder backed up to their front doors.

Is there one example of a player vacillating between the Redskins and, say, the Cowboys who took the same or less to come here because of Snyder? In some weird way, Snyder's courtship of players and coaches reminds me of guys who take prostitutes to expensive restaurants.

So, where is the benefit in Snyder's art of the deal here?

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.

[DB44]

Art,

Terrific thread. I remember my first post on this board back in 2004 having a discussion with you regarding Team toughness and how Coach Gibbs was restoring what Marty had started.

This is the reason for my post now. I have gotten killed by friends and fellow fans for sticking up for the Marty year, not because he was 8-8, not because the team quit on him toward the end of that year, but because he was so rigid in his ideas, and had changed the atmosphere at Redskins Park. Having Bruce smith and Darrell Green doing Oklahoma drills the first day of training was exactly what the team needed after the club med years of Norv Turner.

I hope this is the attitude Coach Shanahan takes with this team.

Again, I agree with you 100% that team bye-in / unity should be the #1 goal.:point2sky

[DannySnyderIsTheDevil]

REALLY good post, and I agree 100%. Thanks for the great post!

[MassSkinsFan]

Art has repeatedly argued over the years that this is Snyder's greatest talent and it is a benefit to the team. But I still don't see how it has benefitted the team in any way.

...

So' date=' where is the benefit in Snyder's art of the deal here?

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.[/quote']

It could be a benefit to the team when a player must be acquired to fill a specific need, and it is absolutely critical we land that player. Otherwise, probably it hurts us.

[Commander Adama]

Art has repeatedly argued over the years that this is Snyder's greatest talent and it is a benefit to the team. But I still don't see how it has benefitted the team in any way.

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.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Art has repeatedly argued over the years that this is Snyder's greatest talent and it is a benefit to the team. But I still don't see how it has benefitted the team in any way.

.

I agree. He is good at this aspect though

I am with you though, I really want a "Boys will be Boys" written about the Redskins, in particular the last part of the Cooke era and the last 10 years.

I want to know for sure when Portis was calling Dan about practice, just like how Deion was calling Jerry in Dallas about watching film.

The biggest sign that things have changed will be when I go to a Caps game this spring and I don't see Dan there with some big time potential free agent

[RiggosMohawk]

Fantastic thread. I had to let this bounce around in my head for awhile until I settled on a side here.

Snyder should be involved only to say "we can spend at most X million (or billion) dollars on player salaries", and THAT'S IT. Originally I did think he would be a valuable asset to help sell/entice players on coming here... but they aren't signing up for Snyder. They are signing up for Shanahan. They have to be sold on him and him alone. It doesn't even matter if they like Bruce. Shanny is their one and only boss.