Thomas Boswell: Mike Shanahan is a "weasel of a coach who defames his enemies, deflects blame and now may duck out of town"

[Conn]

Lol, DUDE, dude. You are walking into crazy town.

Step away my friend...step away.

Good advice!

[Prototype]

My assessment and conclusion to this whole situation is that Shanahan has to be fired ASAP.

 

Yes, there will be pains of having a lame duck/interim head coach with 3 games left in the season, but that would not be quite as painful as the drama/tension/awkwardness that will happen within this organization between executives/coaches/players if this continues on.

 

Time to cut the rope and keep climbing.

[Ghost of]

agreed 

 

Dude's still a human being

 

While I don't believe Shanahan wished injury on Griffin, I think he left him out there as an object lesson to observers.  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think he even knew that Griffin was in as bad a shape as we found out (though it should have been obvious, really.)  But I do think there was a bit of "hey suck on this!" to the move to keep him in.  Now, that's not saying he would have put RG out there even if RG was saying, "I can't go, coach!"  Just that there could very well have been a desire to show people that no one player is above the team by...making that player the cause of the loss.

[shakinaiken]

^^elk, I'd agree with you, but we don't know if he did try to talk to the owner. We really have no idea how much Dan and Robert's relationship undermined him. Those are all details we probably won't have access to until Mike is gone, if ever. We don't even know Allen's role in all of this. His role interests me the most, honestly. Because, as far as I'm concerned, he's as much to blame for this than anyone else. He was always supposed to be that buffer between Dan and the rest of the team. He even said that. 

 

So what the heck has he been doing? 

 

In reality, WE- a message board- don't know anything. Every "leak" that occurs, every detail gleaned from 'insiders" is still secondhand knowledge subjectively extrapolated to suggest/explain/predict/justify the high levels of ineptitude displayed by this team. 

 

The team sucks, so intuitively, it must be because of "x-y-z." My point is, this message board can only speculate on what the issue is- we aren't privy to the day to day operations/conversations that occur amongst the employees at Redskins park. Some could argue that Dan did in fact, hire a GM, and that he placed the franchise in competent hands with the hiring of Shanny and his son etc. However, here we sit at 3-10, with little to be optimistic about. Therefore, its back to the old scapegoats: Snyder, a "curse," the referees, subway commercials, Dan, the economy.."

 

I'm flummoxed. In another thread, i shared by utter bewilderment at the team's current predicament. ONE year. to think back at what this team was doing ONE year ago is inexplicable. An anomaly perhaps..

Good (but a little emotional and intense article from our old pal NLC

 

http://httr24-7.com/blog/mike-shanahans-brilliant-last-act-as-redskins-coach-making-everyone-forget-he-sucked/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

What a ****ing "franchise" the Redskins are....

 

i was referring to the idea that the NFL contains so much parity. How drastically division winners can sink to division losers, and vice versa. 

 

However, yes the Redskins as a franchise, are extremely ****ing difficult to stand behind.

[BleedBNG]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000294178/article/dan-snyder-is-pissed-at-state-of-washington-redskins

 

Hey Dan, don't be thinking about your next coach... be thinking about your first GM

[SJValleySkinz]

I've been a fan since '92.  I've seen a lot of crappy redskins teams in my days as a fan...but this season is by far the worst.  

 

Also, Gibbs is still the best coach i've gotten the pleasure of seeing

 

It's certainly the most underachieving. Talent wise there have been much worse, which makes this situation even more cringeworthy.

[jadams5214]

Even as recently as last week there were numerous Shanahan backers advocating giving him an extensions or at least allowing him to finish next season.

As of tonight there don't seem to be many who think there is any realistic chance of Mike Shanahan coaching this team next season.

Time to start over again...

[Rpredskins]

Let's say that he did clean out his office and prepare to quit, there's got to be something more to the story. Would a coach really have that kind of reaction because the jocksniffer owner let the QB's wife ride in his limo? Even the palling around and whatever else Snyder does with RG3, does that really warrant quitting? And doing it during a playoff run?

All I can say is that if that's really the case, Shanahan shouldn't be missed by a single soul. Forget about who leaked the story.

It just seems odd that all of this happened to occur at the exact same time as the knee incident. Is it possible the doctor told Shanahan to sit RG3 and Snyder made the final call? That's the only ownership interference I can imagine that would warrant such a dramatic reaction by the coach. But I think Boswell's theory is more likely.

[THE HAMMER'IN HOG]

Was talking to the parents of a player who played for Shanny in Denver early in the season, and they couldn't say enough great things about M.S....About what a quality person he is and on and on!

Let's face it; here we are again, same story, different coach, with 1 common denominator: Dan Snyder!

Let's not forget Snyder, along with Cerratto drafted our way into an absolutely abysmal, talentless roster, wasting pick after pick that not only had no talent, but had no purpose either....You would have to be trying to be the worst GM ever to actually be more incompetent evaluating talent than Snyder and co.

I want to see the GM who can build a team with no talent whatsoever, and no cap space thanks to Snyder and co.

And this utter nonsense that Shanny somehow was out to injure RG3???? Just stooooooooooooooooooooop!
 

[DM72]

Was talking to the parents of a player who played for Shanny in Denver early in the season, and they couldn't say enough great things about M.S....About what a quality person he is and on and on!Let's face it; here we are again, same story, different coach, with 1 common denominator: Dan Snyder!Let's not forget Snyder, along with Cerratto drafted our way into an absolutely abysmal, talentless roster, wasting pick after pick that not only had no talent, but had no purpose either....You would have to be trying to be the worst GM ever to actually be more incompetent evaluating talent than Snyder and co.I want to see the GM who can build a team with no talent whatsoever, and no cap space thanks to Snyder and co.And this utter nonsense that Shanny somehow was out to injure RG3???? Just stooooooooooooooooooooop!

That means absolutely nothing.

[mitchellvii]

Yep the coaches suck but I think we need to also accept that RG3 simply is not and will never been an elite passing QB.  Right now he is not even average.  I don't recall ever watching a starting QB miss wide open receivers over and over again week after week.  And he doesn't just miss, he MISSES with balls thrown 5 feet over receiver's heads.  Add that to the fact he stares receivers down and takes forever to throw and it means one thing, he doesn't have NFL caliber field vision (and likely never will).

 

The weird part is that even given the knee injury, dude is SLOW.  He is being chased down from behind by 325 lb linemen.  He may be fast when going full out, but has no acceleration at all.

[Rpredskins]

Yep the coaches suck but I think we need to also accept that RG3 simply is not and will never been an elite passing QB.  Right now he is not even average.  I don't recall ever watching a starting QB miss wide open receivers over and over again week after week.  And he doesn't just miss, he MISSES with balls thrown 5 feet over receiver's heads.  Add that to the fact he stares receivers down and takes forever to throw and it means one thing, he doesn't have NFL caliber field vision (and likely never will).

 

I agree about field vision, but the accuracy is a new problem. His passing mechanics were fantastic before the injury. Pretty much everything about the physical part of his passing game, especially accuracy, was on point. And I hate the argument that "the offense hid his flaws." The implication that somehow having the read option as a major threat magically gave him better ball throwing coordination. His current inability to hit the broad side of a barn was not a dormant weakness that became exposed. It's a new weakness, hopefully one that can be fixed.

I just don't buy that he's a bad passer. Everything that happened before January of this year indicates the exact opposite.

[elkabong82]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000294178/article/dan-snyder-is-pissed-at-state-of-washington-redskins

 

Hey Dan, don't be thinking about your next coach... be thinking about your first GM

 

Probably is. Bruce is still the guy, he'll want a GM and for it to be an actual chain of command like other NFL teams. I can't imagine Snyder wants to gove yet another HC the role of GM too after this debacle with Shanny. Have to imagine Snyder is soured on that type of coach now. Been reading, and firmly believe, Morocco Brown is our next GM.

[Trasoul82]

I think Coach Shanahan is super-smart and did some good things for us out there. 

[bradboyd80]

I'm sure all the franchise QBs out there have a good relationship with the team owner. Obviously I'm no insider, but I bet Brady has a relationship with the Patriots owner; Brees has a relationship with the Saints owner; Peyton has a relationship with the Broncos owner; etc, etc. The reason it is an issue here is because Shanahan is being a whiny little ****, and the team is underachieving significantly.  

[bradboyd80]

Yep the coaches suck but I think we need to also accept that RG3 simply is not and will never been an elite passing QB.  Right now he is not even average.  I don't recall ever watching a starting QB miss wide open receivers over and over again week after week.  And he doesn't just miss, he MISSES with balls thrown 5 feet over receiver's heads.  Add that to the fact he stares receivers down and takes forever to throw and it means one thing, he doesn't have NFL caliber field vision (and likely never will).

 

The weird part is that even given the knee injury, dude is SLOW.  He is being chased down from behind by 325 lb linemen.  He may be fast when going full out, but has no acceleration at all.

Did you even watch any games last season? He spent the ENTIRE offseason healing and rehabbing instead of working on mechanics. What exactly are you basing your predictions on...Seriously? He likely will never have NFL caliber field vision? He's in year two and is barely old enough to legally consume an alcoholic beverage man! LOL

[Newera]

Shanahan is simply a glorified offensive coordinator masking as a head coach.  Norv with two rings.  He does not lead.  Knows absolutely nothing about defense, or defensive talent.  Anyone could win with Elway.  It would be like having Peyton Manning now as a coach.  Zorn would would win with Peyton.  Mike is under 500 as a coach sans Elway.  Nuff said.

 

Dude is fraud.  

 

Let him go swindle his next owner.  Will be his third firing.

 

Maybe Al Davis was right.

[Tyron Biggums]

wtf?? , this is not a surprise. 

 

this team is terrible, and shanahan built it. 

QFT. There is no need to wait, he needs to be fired right now. There isn't a doubt in anyones mind that he has lost the team. Maybe Dan keeps him so Mike and Kyle have a much tougher time landing with the Texans. Although Ken Whisenhunt seems "squarely" entrenched in getting the Texans job.

[Mursilis]

Great article by Boswell.  None of this is new - Shanahan's monster ego was known prior to this, and there were stories about his questionable integrity.  Shanahan's just an average coach who's got an overrated rep made by John Elway.  Without Elway, Shanahan's record is right at .500. 

[Tyron Biggums]

Agreed. It's not that he doesn't care or was trying to hurt RG3 in Seattle, both of those aren't ego driven. Shanny has held players to a strong work ethic, and he has clashed because of that, but it was hard to say how much of the clashing was just from that and how much was from ego.

 

Given that these leaks that are hurting the team and dividing it are coming from Shanny, given the sources, that means his attitude and conduct are completely unprofessional. No matter how bad he was, this is actually surprising. It's hard to believe a former 2x Superbowl winner would conduct himself in such a manner, but there you have it. Manipulating the media to spin and deflect blame away from himself at the expense of the team, and pondering quitting during the playoffs because the owner talks with the QB, which many do around the league, instead of talking to the owner about it like a man. It's inexcusable conduct. Looks like Shanny did not do enough self-reflecting in his time off. I was on the fence with him, but after the "effort" today and now these reports coming out about his complete unprofessionalism and his BS, passive-aggressive attempts through the media rather than directly taking to Dan and/or Bruce, it's all just pathetic and I want him fired now.

 

These reports have completely changed my view of Shanny. I can no longer respect him after all of this has come out Losing is one thing, especially when screwed by a BS cap penalty. But turning yourself into a malcontent basically because of ego and using the media to manipulate instead of just directly talking to the owner? Ridiculous. Good riddance.

QFT. Great post elka, as usual. I figured a 23 year old QB would crack under the media pressure, not a 60+ year old SB coach. I am convinced his ego got the better of him again.

 

Hail

[StephenDavis]

Agreed. Seems like low hanging fruit to me. He was supposed to be a brilliant mind last season catering his offense to Griffin, and suddenly everyone has decided that he was a weasel and undermining Griffin the entire time. He's gone downhill, but I think these conspiracy theories are getting out of hand.

 

When I hear everyone getting so personal about his failures after loving him so much last season, I can't help but think of this:

 

We loved him before he ruined RGIII's knee.

[Tyron Biggums]

At the moment — and it’s early yet — Mike Shanahan is still the coach of the Redskins. But even if — or when — he’s not, he’s apparently not on the Texans’ wish list. According to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans won’t pursue Shanahan even if he’s fired by the Redskins.…

 

Link:http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/12/09/report-texans-not-interested-in-shanahan-if-hes-fired/

[DS_SUCKS]

Snyder is an incompetent owner, and Shanahan needs to go.  He gave up on the team at 3-6 after the Panther's loss last year.  RG3 is a great athlete, but overrated QB, and too many picks were given up to get him, especially with all the team needs.  Shanahan probably didn't want to give up that many picks to draft RG3.

 

We are back to a team being run like Danny Boy's Six Flags roller coasters.

[celticsalmon]

Note to next HC.  If you don't make friends with the local media and make them feel important by answering their inane questions - the media will trash you!

[RandyHolt]

Weasel? I would have gone with beaver.

 

Point being he harvests the land for his own best interests, floods the area, and then ducks out of sight.