washington.cbslocal.com - Theismann Doesn’t Think Shanahan Should be Fired

[Mad Mike]

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/12/13/theismann-doesnt-think-shanahan-should-be-fired/

 

 

“Here, for one reason or another, and a lot of it has to do with losing, is we have just made change after change after change, and I don’t think you can be successful  when you constantly change a situation,” Theismann said.

 

“Now, you’re gonna think I’m totally nuts,” he stated. “But everybody says ‘Fire Mike Shanahan. Fire Mike Shanahan.’ I don’t agree with that. I think it’s time we bit the bullet and say ‘Okay, Mike has another year left on his contract. We’re gonna have $40 million in cap room a year from now.”

 

Full audio of the interview after the link.

 

Love how he slams some of the reporting on this. I agree with him that it makes no sense that Shanahan wanted to quit. If you heard Shanahans interview the day before he talked to Snyder about it, he insinuated that there was a little truth and a whole lot of exaggeration. My take is that he wasn't happy about Snyder getting too cozy with RG3 but he wasn't anywhere near ready to quit over it. 

 

Some of the things in this situation have taken on a life of their own. The hatred for Shanahan on this board is insane. Look at where we were when he was hired and where we are now. We were a joke before he came here. The only reason anyone is upset and disappointed in this year is because Shanahan built a good enough team to give us hope.

 

A few years ago a friend of mine was ready to jump off a ledge because his Giants were not looking good. Ironically, I was the one telling him that good coaches don't suddenly become bad coaches and just because his team was in a slump didn't mean that they should fire the coach. The next year they won the Super Bowl.

 

How many coaches have we had in the last decade? And you want to jump on that train again?

 

Shanahan said when he came here, he needed five years. Not four. Five. Let Shanahan finish his contract. We have to pay him anyway. If he can't get it back on track *then* fire him.

[MrJL]

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/12/13/theismann-doesnt-think-shanahan-should-be-fired/

 

 

Full audio of the interview after the link.

 

Love how he slams some of the reporting on this. I agree with him that it makes no sense that Shanahan wanted to quit. If you heard Shanahans interview the day before he talked to Snyder about it, he insinuated that there was a little truth and a whole lot of exaggeration. My take is that he wasn't happy about Snyder getting too cozy with RG3 but he wasn't anywhere near ready to quit over it. 

 

Some of the things in this situation have taken on a life of their own. The hatred for Shanahan on this board is insane. Look at where we were when he was hired and where we are now. We were a joke before he came here. The only reason anyone is upset and disappointed in this year is because Shanahan built a good enough team to give us hope.

 

A few years ago a friend of mine was ready to jump off a ledge because his Giants were not looking good. Ironically, I was the one telling him that good coaches don't suddenly become bad coaches and just because his team was in a slump didn't mean that they should fire the coach. The next year they won the Super Bowl.

 

How many coaches have we had in the last decade? And you want to jump on that train again?

 

Shanahan said when he came here, he needed five years. Not four. Five. Let Shanahan finish his contract. We have to pay him anyway. If he can't get it back on track *then* fire him.

 

 

the problem is the salary cap money.  If you let him have his last year you have to let him have control of the cap money.  And he will not just go around signing people to one year deals.  If next year is anything less than a playoff berth he would not be extended beyond his fifth season.

 

That means a new coach comes in with Shanny's baggage and has to work around a lot of his signings and another draft where offensive players are selected to play in his ZBS and the D is definitely a 3-4, where a new coach comes in this year a great deal of the baggage is gone.  

 

Give him his fifth year and unless he becomes the teams savior he screws them over even more than he did this year.

 

Now I suppose Snyder could strip him of some of his authority, but that is arguably worse to a coach's ego and could just lead him to quitting.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

JoeyT is the single biggest flake out there. 

 

His POV usually revolves around who he had dinner with and what they had to say. 

 

Appreciate what he did here as a player. (Even if he does HIGHLY over value his little self for being the first Redskin QB to win the show when in truth he was just a career average QB. All be it a great leader of men); but I have little to no time for him in his post playing guise. 

 

Hail. 

[KCClybun]

Well no one ever claimed that Joe Theismann was the smartest cookie in the tool shed.

[chipwhich]

JoeyT is the single biggest flake out there. 

 

I thought it was Shanny? 857 more posts.

 

You sure you are a Skins fan?

 

I can't wait for a new topic on the board.

 

I really don't care at this point if Shanny stays or goes, I just want this franchise to run without gossipers and insiders and leakers and players who are above the betterment of the team.

[Cliffmark1]

Too much truth. Fact is its likely best for the Franchise to let him play it out. You can let him hang or redeem himself and then Snyder sends a message that he won't meddle and serious coaches are welcome

[66skinsfan]

Got to agree with Joe and you on this, consistency in the head coach, good drafting, not building by free agents seems to me the best path to success.  Furthermore, all you guys frothing to trade Kirk are all wet.  We need a good back up.  Trade him, then whose the back up? Some one who needs to learn the system, be in sync with receivers, etc. With the cap hit gone, we can build a good team again more quickly.  Some of the media and fans seem to thrive on drama, rather than supporting the head coach to fix problems this off season and have success next year.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

I thought it was Shanny? 857 more posts.

 

You sure you are a Skins fan?

 

I can't wait for a new topic on the board. .....

 

Want me to send you the next draft so you can make changes?

 

Given your 'endearing' new found obsession with anything I post and all.

 

Hail. 

[bowhunter]

.

. 

 

Some of the things in this situation have taken on a life of their own. The hatred for Shanahan on this board is insane. Look at where we were when he was hired and where we are now. We were a joke before he came here.

Exactly!! Before Shanny got here we had a losing team with a pathetic 4 win season. Hell we have 3 wins already and the season isn't even over yet!! (smidgen of sarcasm inserted) If Shanny is stupid enough to keep Hazlett and Burns, then he has no reason to be involved in our future plans.

[More Complete]

If Shanny is stupid enough to keep Hazlett and Burns, then he has no reason to be involved in our future plans.

 

Agree Shanny's biggiest failure has been the people he's brought in, Haslett, Burns, Slowik, Foerster, etc.

[BleedBNG]

Sorry Joe, I would rather a GM play with the $40M. Shanny's good at picking up RB's... that's about it.

[Skinsinparadise]

I appreicate MadMike going against the grain to defend Shanny in post after post, but I disagree.  I arguably have to be at least top 5 on this board in terms of presenting a volume of pro Shanny posts especially during the first two years where we saw really no progress from a record stand point from the Zorn years.   Oldfan who was arguably the most anti-Shanny guy went back and forth with me a ton -- and he said he did so more with me than anyone else.

 

So I know the pro-Shanny argument inside and out.  But at some point the facts do kick in, and I pride myself as someone who when wrong, I admit it.  And yeah I was wrong about Shanny.

 

The funniest thing to me is Shanny has successfully made this debate mostly about he, the offense and RG3.  And I'll give Oldfan this he more or less said look if you are hiring Shanny to be your offensive coordinator, its a good hire.  But he isn't a good overall coach.  Bill Belichick knows offense, knows defense, knows special teams, knows clock mangement, etc.

 

Shanny has been pretty much as advertised by his critics.  He turned one of the worst offenses in the league to a good one.  He turned a perennial top 10 defense into one of the leagues laughingstocks.  Special teams is beyond awful.  As an in game coach in terms of clock management, timeouts, etc -- he seems lost and IMO is one of the worst in the league.  It's also a heavily penalized team.  And when he has issues with a player, drama ensues, and its hard for me to believe that he has nothing to do with that drama and its all on the player.  Chris Cooley said, the players know, he is responsible for most leaks about the team.

 

Yeah lets play with Shanny's spin, he's brilliant, and RG3 and Danny foiled his brilliant offense this year.  Ok, Norv Turner was a brilliant offensive coordonator, too but bad head coach.  Shanny is many ways = Norv Turner.  

[chipwhich]

Want me to send you the next draft so you can make changes?

 

Given your 'endearing' new found obsession with anything I post and all.

 

Hail. 

 

LOL no, GHH.  Just take a breath.  We hear you.

 

For the record.  I think Shanny is a failure as a coach here.  As I said, Shanny is just the next great coach that was signed here who failed.  Can any coach come here and be successful, I don't know because no coach has proven he can win 2 consecutive seasons under Snyder.  What is a fact is EVERY coaching staff under Snyder has had more drama surrounding them than any coaching staff in the league in that time period.

 

We will continue to be a failure if our coaches and players and owner allow drama and leaks become more important than the franchise itself.

 

I wont **** on Joey T.  He led us to two Super Bowl appearances, one ring, and has MVP's, pro bowls, and other awards on his resume.  To call him flaky is an insult to the franchise.  His opinion is as relevant as yours.  You know we all have one

[RandyHolt]

so joe thinks all the negative pub is false.

 

Only, what about Mike not disputing it? What about Mike making a disclaimer when he is about to speak the truth? I am not lying this time.

 

What about the leaks themselves.  He is a mole or has a mole on his hands, yet the only person he is pushing away from the team is RG3 of all people.  There you have it, Robert must be the mole.

 

Of course, Joe is seemingly ignoring every single aspect of the on field failures.

 

He is entitled to his opinion but to think Mike is the only coach that can get us into the playoffs is laughable. Mike had his shot with RG3 and he is deactivated. Short of going winless, there is no greater failure.

 

That says a lot, factoring the offense, defense and special teams.

[TradeTheBeal!]

For those of you who want to keep Shanny...Can we at least fire him when we start next year 3-6?

[drowland]

Please, Joey T says this now but if Snyder were to fire Shannahan tomorrow he'd say "it was the right thing to do."  

[andy614]

Everyone knows that Joey T is no Norman Einstein.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Everyone knows that Joey T is no Norman Einstein.

 

That one NEVER gets old. 

 

Thanks man. 

 

Hail. 

[SkinsHokieFan]

6-10. 5-11. 3-13? Fire him

[66skinsfan]

Joe led the Redskins to our first Super Bowl win in 1982. He was QB for 12 years.  Later he had a wicked hit by Lawrence Taylor that pretty much ended his career.  You who disrespect Joe can not be a true Redskin fan.

[ghosti]

Joe led the Redskins to our first Super Bowl win in 1982. He was QB for 12 years.  Later he had a wicked hit by Lawrence Taylor that pretty much ended his career.  You who disrespect Joe can not be a true Redskin fan.

Thank you!  I’m baffled by some of the comments here like they have an inside phone line to the coach, RG and Owners box… To disrespect Joe for his comments is idiocy. 

[bowhunter]

Disrespecting Joe and disrespecting his opinion are two very different things. If Art Monk and John Riggins have two differing opinions on a subject, what's a loyal but non-scizophrenic Redskins fan to do?

[Koolblue13]

I agree that he should be able to finish out his contract as well.

[Bacon]

I really don't care at this point if Shanny stays or goes, I just want this franchise to run without gossipers and insiders and leakers and players who are above the betterment of the team.

And we're supposed to accept that there is a minute chance of this happening without making any significant changes to the staff? Definition of insanity, etc.

[Burgold]

Joe's wrong and here's why.  Those calling for consistency still want the defensive staff and special teams staff fired.  If you are firing two-thirds of the coaching staff where's your consistency?  Now, if you tell me that Haslett deserves another year and Burns does too then I think you are actually in for year five, but if you want Haslett gone... then have one name stay the same isn't staying the course.

 

More, unless you are 80 percent sure you want Shanahan back for year 6 you can't give him year 5.  You just can't when dangling forty million dollars in front of a prospective head coach could mean so much.

 

Give me RGIII, Garcon, Morris, Williams, Reed, Kerrigan, Orakpo (if re-signed) and forty million dollars... plus, an intact draft minus the number one pick... that's like winning the lottery.  You get to remake the roster in your image almost immediately.  If Shanahan plays it out and doesn't earn year six, then you have negligible cap space and two years of rotten play, plus evidence that maybe Griffin was a flash in the pan.

 

No, Theismann is wrong on this one.  The team is too bad and all levels and there are too many reasons even outside of the coach for it to be wise to keep him.  Plus, you don't keep quitters.