Grantland: Snyder Stays Silent: Why Washington’s Quiet Offseason Provides a Welcome Change in D.C.

[Epochalypse]

Because I say so. Also there's the pesky fact that since he's taken ownership, this team has been lingering somewhere between mediocre to downright dreadful. Sure, things weren't great when he took over, but he hasn't figured out a way to turn that around in 15+ years. In that time I've lost my virginty, graduated high school and college, got married and I'm expecting my first kid in eight weeks. We should all hope and pray Scot turns this around, or there is probably no hope under this current ownership. If Dan runs Scot off, we're doomed.

Maybe if the Redskins win, none of that happens.

 

Butterfly effect.

 

Dan Snyder will now accept his due thanks for you losing your virginity.

[HAILSKINSNYC]

Is Kraft involved in free agency and the draft? Is he scouting or interviewing prospects and negotiating with free agents? I doubt he is best buds with the runningback or that he has threatened to ruin any players' careers. The patriots structure also involved skilled football personnel men who are empowered to do their job, not Danny with 0 football knowledge and his yes man puppet.

Snyder is a putz. He has no concept of organizational structure and is the person most responsible for the ****ty culture of this team.

 

You don't think Kraft is involved?   That's naive.     You think Snyder is scouting?   or negotiating with free agents?   or making draft picks?     Nonsense!

[Jumbo]

Going to add this and be done:

 

Sub, I understand your regret for going there in the first place, but adult people choose who they're going to respond to and how. No one forces a response to their post, even when directly asking someone to reply (which you didn't) or decides the content of that reply. All kinds of leeway had been given. There was a very poor and unnecessary choice made, and not by you, and not for the first time. And I don't like this **** either---it's why I do a lot to try to avoid it. BTW, I Pm'ed GHH and all is understood and copacetic. 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

His structure was no different with Gibbs and Shanny then what the Pats have with Belichik or the Eagles have with Chip Kelly.

Proven people failed him.

 

Well, I cited 3 things (only the first of which below you mentioned): 

 

Incorrect front office structure: To me, the fact that it occasionally works to give a head coach total control and a small scouting department doesn't mean it's the right way of doing things. Gibbs had no business having control over personnel and his head personnel man (Cerrato) was a joke. Despite Belichick being successful, I'd still prefer the traditional structure that we have now and that has worked far more often in the league. 

 

Not empowering good people: Snyder has generally had some good people in the front office or on his coaching staff, yet he can't seem to give them full autonomy to do what they need to do. For the longest time, those people were instructed what Snyder's priorities were with the draft/free agency or told how they needed to do their job. *For this point, I'll concede that the evidence is mostly anecdotal, but I also believe that where there is that much smoke, there is at least some fire.

 

Playing favorites: Whether it was Arrington, Portis, or Griffin as players or Gibbs as a coach, Snyder can't seem to help himself from wanting to hang out with his employees. This results in the chain-of-command crumbling and leads to issues. It's also closely related to the point above. For example, Snyder loved Griffin before he even drafted him. It's understandable given the hype and how the kid played. But it caused issues for Shanahan in 2013 and Gruden in 2014. Gruden was hired in part because he was a QB guru...so what happens less than a year after he's hired? Reports are that he's being "encouraged" to play Griffin no matter what his personal opinion is. 

 

Those flaws above lead to dysfunction. They all need to change for the team to be consistently successful. I'm glad we have McCloughan and am optimistic. But McCloughan announcing draft picks or free agent signings isn't enough. They need to be the players that he wants. Gruden standing on the sidelines isn't going to be enough to make our QBs effective. He's going to need to be given the authority to coach them, evaluate them, and play the one that works the best in his system. 

[Boss_Hogg]

I wonder if Bruce locked Dan in a padded cell on the first day of free agency.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

You don't think Kraft is involved? That's naive. You think Snyder is scouting? or negotiating with free agents? or making draft picks? Nonsense!

Not currently but he has done all of those things. But that's not even the point. Our culture still sucks, our PR is unfathomably bad, and he still has to interact with people on a daily basis. Treating people well does not seem to be one of his strengths.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

So Snyder can't suck as an owner simply because he's overseen an era of unmitigated failure in which the team has hired bad coaches, bad gms, and bad scouts?

While singlehandedly destroying any sense of positive rep the team had around the league through head scratching PR moves, petty feuds, and general buffoonery? And contrary to popular belief, the name doesn't have that much to do with it

[Shiv]

The Steelers, Giants and Chiefs had long stretches of being awful...longer and even worse then what the Skins have been under Snyder.    Their ownership is considered great.

 

 

Good, great, grand. I'm not a fan of any of those teams. Remind me how exactly this relates to our Redskins fandom? Snyder gets a pass because other owners have owned teams that were bad and turned it around? Snyder gets his pass when Scot turns this around.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Those teams were also bad in a different era. Teams stayed good or bad for years at a time. In the age of parity, teams have gone from bad to good to bad to good again while us and two other teams with terrible ownership just stay bad.

[Taylor703]

I wonder if Bruce locked Dan in a padded cell on the first day of free agency.

Yes because Bruce worked wonders when he had full go of it...

[Wildbunny]

Yes because Bruce worked wonders when he had full go of it...

 

Well, it's known that Bruce offered the job to Scott last year and he declined it for personnal matters. So Bruce ran the show and took the beating until Scott was ready to come.

We also heard of draft picks being guided by Scott as woll (Murphy, Breeland IIRC).

 

Bruce is a great team President, great for PR, and great at numbers as well. He has proven it since being here.

 

Sure, FA last year wasn't there. But I do have the feeling that last year Dan and Bruce knew it would be not perfect because they didn't get who they wanted in the FO, didn't want to throw too many money away in coaches, not wanting to fire everyone and so on.

 

This year, there's been lots of move, especially in the coaching staff. We got the GM we wanted last year. We're finally looking like an NFL team again regarding FO/Coaching staff.

 

Proof? We're getting good players, not star players, for decent deals. We're not overpaying anymore.

[HAILSKINSNYC]

The biggest reason We've sucked for the most part of the past 20+ years is the lack of top notch QB play...the second reason is the sub par coaching.....you want to blame Snyder for that?  go ahead.....I'll blame him for Zorn...that's about it.

Not currently but he has done all of those things. But that's not even the point. Our culture still sucks, our PR is unfathomably bad, and he still has to interact with people on a daily basis. Treating people well does not seem to be one of his strengths.

 

I will agree that we need a better PR department.

[hail2skins]

Hasn't just been QB.....our whole roster has been littered with subpar junk for 20 years

[TSO]

Well, it's known that Bruce offered the job to Scott last year and he declined it for personnal matters. So Bruce ran the show and took the beating until Scott was ready to come.

We also heard of draft picks being guided by Scott as woll (Murphy, Breeland IIRC).

 

Bruce is a great team President, great for PR, and great at numbers as well. He has proven it since being here.

 

Sure, FA last year wasn't there. But I do have the feeling that last year Dan and Bruce knew it would be not perfect because they didn't get who they wanted in the FO, didn't want to throw too many money away in coaches, not wanting to fire everyone and so on.

 

This year, there's been lots of move, especially in the coaching staff. We got the GM we wanted last year. We're finally looking like an NFL team again regarding FO/Coaching staff.

 

Proof? We're getting good players, not star players, for decent deals. We're not overpaying anymore.

 

Would love to really know for sure what happened last year. I would especially love to find out that your thoughts on how things went down here are totally true, because the way it did go down last season just left such a bitter taste in my mouth, it's hard for me to assume they meant well and just couldn't get Scot, or had a plan to "not spend money on coaches" because of it...

 

Really, the way the PR war between Shanahan and the team went down, with the team taking the opposing view to Shanahan's blame game and spreading the narrative that all involved were essentially playing no role and Shanahan was alone in his tyranny... which allowed characters like Haslett, Campbell and Brown to escape all accountability really rubbed me the wrong way.

 

I totally forgive Allen now since it's clear he's trying to correct everything, but all offseason last year we were subjected to the idea that the removal of Shanahan alone would change everything, and that Gruden would automatically bring a calming, team-oriented atmosphere where everyone loves to come to work and all is wonderful.

 

Whether that was self-delusion on Allen and Snyder's end or just plain marketing, it was a huge mistake and lead to so much more "bad" to proliferate within the organization. Who knows how Gruden's first year could've went if things were handled better and he wasn't tasked with "changing the culture" while many of the same significant role-players in the previous one were till heavily involved. Who knows how much better he would've done overall with better personnel being acquired by an upgraded scouting department, something that should've been done long ago. 

 

Who knows if Robert or even Cousins would've had more momentum going into the offseason with a defense that was playing better because of the better personnel. Heck, the whole roster of players for that matter... I mean, you see the focus Scot immediately put on the D.

 

Either way, it's all in the past and I'm pleased with the direction we're going in right now. I feel like we have competent people in the roles their respective titles fulfill. So long as that stays the case, I think we'll see significant improvement steadily from here on out.       

[DJD2]

The biggest reason We've sucked for the most part of the past 20+ years is the lack of top notch QB play...the second reason is the sub par coaching.....you want to blame Snyder for that?  go ahead.....I'll blame him for Zorn...that's about it.

 

 

I think the biggest reasons are the lack of a successful organizational structure and a sound philosophy on how to run it.

 

Can anyone explain to me for example what the "Snyder Doctrine" has been for the last 15 years?

 

That is why this latest gambit with SM is so critical IMO.

 

Finally Snyder has done the right thing. If this doesn't work then what will ?

[Wildbunny]

I wish I know as well. I usually consider every option possible, and check what fits the most considering what is said and done.

Bruce joined the team in the same time that Shanny, and was somehow team President while Shanahan was HC/GM. Bruce took over as numbers guy and every thing else was ran by Shanahan.

 

It really seemed for me that last year he went as GM because he wasn't able to get the guy he wanted, whom turned out to be Scott this year. Rumors of Scott company giving info regarding draft picks might be true as it's Scott company work, and if he was offered the job, it was obvious when Bruce took over that he'll probably be offered it again once he solved his position. Just guessing, but maybe he even hinted Bruce and Dan regarding Jay as HC.

 

Regarding the coaching staff, Dan stepping in because will it would cost too much money to fire evereyone after giving Shanahan its last year of contract is an option, and not a small one. Billionaires never gets to this level by giving money away. Still, I'm not discounting away the fact that Jay, as an OC thought he could rely solely on Jim, whom he knew from before, to gather a good defense. Or at least average. I doubt we'll ever know the answer to this story thought.

 

One thing for sure, Jay never guessed what he was stepping both as a HC and as a member of the Redskins. He must have realize quite soon that it'll be a complete mess hard to sort out, just for one guy, especially a first year HC. Now Scott is here to land a hand. And I really hope they're working hand in hand toward making us better.

 

So far, I'm pretty please with what they've done.

[TSO]

I think the biggest reasons are the lack of a successful organizational structure and a sound philosophy on how to run it.

 

Can anyone explain to me for example what the "Snyder Doctrine" has been for the last 15 years?

 

That is why this latest gambit with SM is so critical IMO.

 

Finally Snyder has done the right thing. If this doesn't work then what will ?

 

 

So long as the current structure stays in place even if things don't work out with Scot (God forbid), I think we'll be okay. If this doesn't work, maybe you remove Allen as Team President since all of these hires are his, in the end... and you allow that Team President to hire a new GM who is then given the autonomy to shape the entire coaching staff and personnel department as he sees fit.

 

We're still relying on Snyder's hiring skills here, though, lol. I'm going to assume he's realized what needs to be done based on Scot being recently hired, though.

 

This, of course, is all contingent upon Snyder making sure every one with their respective titles are able to fulfill their proper roles without unwarranted interference. Gruden doesn't encroach upon Scot's final say with personnel, unless Scot asks for that in certain instances. Scot doesn't encroach upon Gruden's schematic desires, coaching hires and direct coaching of said personnel, unless Gruden asks for that. Allen should stay out of their work outside of judging it fairly, unless asked to get involved directly. Same goes for Snyder. Etc...

 

You can take out "Gruden", "Scot" or "Allen" there for that matter and put in anyone as necessary... but the roles, delegation of responsibilities and line of authority should remain the same.

 

Our structure when Vinny was essentially "GM", though he took on the title of Exec. VP I believe, was actually fine on an external level, but intrinsically it was faulty. Snyder was just as heavily involved in final decision-making on personnel as Vinny. There were times where Snyder simply told Vinny to get someone and he did it, according to Vinny himself. Zorn had zero autonomy over his players as Head Coach, and guys like Portis and Haynesworth were allowed to show open insubordination. The titles were essentially meaningless. 

 

So it's not enough to simply have the titles... the organization has to allow the titles to hold their relative meaning with everyone working towards the same goal. Otherwise, why even have titles?

 

Right now, it seems on the surface we got the people with the proper strengths/experience correlating to their respective titles allowed to fulfill those roles. So long as that stays the same, even if any number of them fail in their roles, you at least have the set up conducive for success and can (hopefully) find others to replace them so long as your hiring process is correct.  

[HAILSKINSNYC]

Hasn't just been QB.....our whole roster has been littered with subpar junk for 20 years

 

our roster was littered with junk in 2012, but we had top notch QB play

[hail2skins]

Patriots lost Tom Brady for an entire season and they won more games in 2008 than the Skins have been able to muster in a single year since 1991.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Several of our starting QBs played in conference championships and Super Bowls for other teams.

[Boss_Hogg]

Yes because Bruce worked wonders when he had full go of it...

Bruce orchestrated team friendly contracts.

Only problem was the personnel he hired wasn't team friendly.

Winning off the field.

[Koolblue13]

Danny was a kid, when he got to own and run his favorite team. He made mistakes and played it like Madden. We've had little success and he's tried everything. Sure he made mistakes, but looking at where we are today? I'd say he's learned.

He is not the worst football team owner, nor has he been. Hasn't been good, but not the worst.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Bruce orchestrated team friendly contracts.

Only problem was the personnel he hired wasn't team friendly.

Winning off the field.

I have to say, inspite of myself, I still like the "winning off the field" bit that Grant and Danny do. It's a subtle way at poking fun at Bruce, and not really mean spirited.

[hail2skins]

Danny was a kid, when he got to own and run his favorite team. He made mistakes and played it like Madden. We've had little success and he's tried everything. Sure he made mistakes, but looking at where we are today? I'd say he's learned.

He is not the worst football team owner, nor has he been. Hasn't been good, but not the worst.

Don't know why the whole "Danny was a kid" line when the guy was in his mid-30s rankles me, but it does. Think the way he treated people back then grates me more than anything.  I think he has likely matured, but getting plastered at Dulles and turning around on a midnight flight to Denver to go get Shanny 10 years later suggests the guy still has a ways to go.

 

And yes, I know that Dan's best bud Jerruh is far from a choir boy himself.

[Koolblue13]

Don't know why the whole "Danny was a kid" line when the guy was in his mid-30s rankles me, but it does. Think the way he treated people back then grates me more than anything. I think he has likely matured, but getting plastered at Dulles and turning around on a midnight flight to Denver to go get Shanny 10 years later suggests the guy still has a ways to go.

And yes, I know that Dan's best bud Jerruh is far from a choir boy himself.

I tend to gauge how people do things, to how I would do things, which creates quite the curve. I've become very patient and understanding over the years.