CBSlocal.com: Santana Moss on Snyder Expressing Doubt About RGIII

[TSO]

The fact that Cooley felt that it'd be at all possible, even in the most remote way, that he'd be able to get on the team via Snyder does say something about Snyder's level of involvement in the past and how disruptive it could be.

Santana saying some of the things that he has said here speaks to that as well.

I think that level of involvement ended with the Shanahan hire, but remnants of it were still there, especially at QB. And to some degree that's normal since it's such an incredibly important position.

But it should've never reached a point to where the Head Coach was undermined in anyway, no matter how vehemently he disagreed. It simply disrupts the entire organizational hierarchy necessary to any unified, goal-oriented team success and, furthermore, it only provides tangible evidence that the hiring process is/was faulty in the first place.

Essentially, if you can't trust the guy you hired to fulfill that role to the point where a disagreement is so strong you don't allow it; even if you're right, you're still wrong in that you hired someone making incompetent decisions within that role. Just fire him at that point. Or assume that role yourself and stop fooling everyone.

Moving on from that to more recent events, Jay Gruden was hired as Head Coach. Not as Director of Overseeing the Development of Robert Coach. That's why I always rolled my eyes at the idea some posited that Jay's job was tied to Robert's development and that was why he was hired. Not because it was necessarily false, but because if that were the case, it'd only be further proof of the idiocy that was Dan's hiring process. I mean, what does being Head Coach entail?

Remember, Dan blamed Vinny for allowing him to hire Zorn.

That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. It was Vinny's job, as GM, to prevent Dan from hiring a non-qualified coach, according to him. Vinny, of course, being so qualified himself to do ANY of this. The same Vinny who, according to his own words, mainly did what Dan wanted him to do.

Just reflect on that for a moment.

If that doesn't put in perspective just how terrible Dan's ability to hire properly and place the right people in the right role was... I don't know what will.

The Scot McCloughan hire has finally changed all that. There are still some lingering concerns (how much was Dan involved with regards to Robert starting, how difficult was it for Scot and Jay to make the change, etc...), but the proper organizational hierarchy is in place right now for the first time in Dan's tenure.

You could argue it was under Mike Shanahan, but I'd point to the fact that Allen was only a GM in name and Mike had too much power as a coach in terms of personnel acquisition, to where we had zero accountability within the scouting department itself. Claims that their input was ignored were rampant after the disaster that was 2013, even though it was the exact opposite after the success of 2012 and everyone jumped to talk about their roles in it.

Now, there is an emphasis on scouting and development of player personnel unlike any time before, the final decision belongs to a GM in control of that department who can legitimately evaluate talent, and we're seeing the coaches here actually benefitting for once via schematic fits and solid depth instead of having to overcome insurmountable odds.

If this keeps up, the past will be forgotten very quickly. Or maybe not, some of us can hold quite the grudge, lol. Where's Sacks and Stuff?

And it is damn frustrating seeing the success we had this year knowing how all the suffering could've been easily avoided, and that it shouldn't have taken this long to hire a legit GM. But if we can become a consistent, professionally organized franchise I do believe it'll eventually be overlooked.

[johnboy99]

So shall we kick the tyres on Cooley or not?

[Wildbunny]

Yeah, Cooley was headed in to see Dan about something or nothing & Dan's secretary told him he had to go to Shanny/Bruce.

I believe some will use this as further proof of Dan being incompetent and will hail the secretary instead.

Which would then show that we're dysfunctional as ever since the secretary have a say on the roster...

We're doomed!

[goskins10]

So shall we kick the tyres on Cooley or not?

 

 

I really hope you are kidding. His is one of two Jerseys I own (Kerrigan is the other, could not afford such things when I was younger). But he was not good when he left. His last few yrs were pretty bad actually.

[Gizmo 3squire]

This was a great read.

 

It really makes me appreciate Snyder as well. He's grown a lot in these last 3 seasons in regards to letting the football personnel handle the football decisions. Especially with the Cooley thing.

I know it was hard seeing his new prized possession RG3 ride the bench, and falter the 2 seasons before. However, as you can see when you let football minds do their job, especially if they're qualified, it translates into wins.

 

I'm glad the FO and the Coaching staff is established which is what we lacked since 1999. Things are honestly going to only get better from here if everyone plays their respective roles. It's only a matter of time that we return to dominance once again. HTTR!

[Califan007 The Constipated]

A lot of past narratives are flipped on their heads from Moss' comments, both here and in sports media.

[SkinsGuy]

So shall we kick the tyres on Cooley or not?

 

A pointless exercise when you can clearly see they are flat.

[SkinsGuy]

I don't blame Cooley for trying to backdoor his way back into the team. He played his entire career on the Snyder Era Skins. That's how business was done back then. That's the only thing he knows.

 

I get that, but Cooley doesn't live in a vacuum. He knows, and can see the change that is taking place inside Redskin Park.

 

Yet he chose to try and re-instill some of that dysfunction by going around the folks in charge who already told him "not interested", and force the decision in his favor anyway.

 

That is where the selfishness comes in. He didn't give a damn about the team. It was all about him.

[RVAskins]

I love Sanata but he's hard to follow sometimes. What the heck does this mean?

 

"Moss, who played 10 seasons for the Redskins, wasn’t joking: “I’d watch guys come in and come out and leave, and you pay them the big bucks, but I’ve been here, and you haven’t done nothing that you did over there, over here. You hate sitting there seeing, ‘I’m going to get rid of this coach because he’s not playing well.’"

[beachboy757]

I love Sanata but he's hard to follow sometimes. What the heck does this mean?

 

"Moss, who played 10 seasons for the Redskins, wasn’t joking: “I’d watch guys come in and come out and leave, and you pay them the big bucks, but I’ve been here, and you haven’t done nothing that you did over there, over here. You hate sitting there seeing, ‘I’m going to get rid of this coach because he’s not playing well.’"

That was easy to translate for me.  Santana is basically saying he saw players brought in and payed a lot of money but did not produce and coaches were getting fired because of their poor play and he did not like seeing that.

[johnboy99]

I love Sanata but he's hard to follow sometimes. What the heck does this mean?

 

"Moss, who played 10 seasons for the Redskins, wasn’t joking: “I’d watch guys come in and come out and leave, and you pay them the big bucks, but I’ve been here, and you haven’t done nothing that you did over there, over here. You hate sitting there seeing, ‘I’m going to get rid of this coach because he’s not playing well.’"

 

Wow - Moss sounds like he's an alumni of the Emmitt Smith Academy of Football Punditry

[goskins10]

I agree and would just add this minor tweak: 

 

That was easy to translate for me.  Santana is basically saying he saw players brought in and paid a lot of money but did not produce like they had at their previous teams and coaches were getting fired because of their poor play and he did not like seeing that.

[Dark Acre]

Rather impressed with Santana's football acumen and that's he's still a fan of a team that he played really well for with little post-season stuff to show for it.  Maybe he's got a future in team ops or something?

[abdcskins]

Moss sympathizes with Snyder as he looks back on this changing of the guard: “You have to understand, when you are that guy that owns that team and you put all your money, all the marbles in, on this one kid that came out of school with the Heisman Trophy, and we had the first year that we had with him, it’s hard to just turn your back and say he’s not going to be that guy again. We was all hoping that. And we still can sit here, and I’m hoping as a fan that he can regain some of that that he did in 2012.”

McCloughan’s biggest accomplishment over the past year was transforming the Redskins into a structurally sound organization by establishing a clear hierarchy, which allowed everything else to fall into place, something not seen in Washington at any previous point since Snyder purchased the team.

 

Two of the most on point paragraphs I've read recently regarding the team.

 

All along it was apparent that Snyder was clutching to RG3 and hoping he could regain that rookie form.  He invested so much in him, it was almost like a prayer.

 

"Establishing a clear hierarchy," and allowing those who show the most talent to get the job is the best thing McCloughan has been able to accomplish.  No more big name veteran acquisitions.  Let those who practice the hardest and show the most talent get the job.

[ThomasRoane]

Some people on this forum thought that was a genuinely good idea

 

Some people recognize that there was no difference between Cooley and Alex Smith.  Same age.  Alex had not been on a roster all season.  And aside from some cheerleading Alex didn't do much to help us win.  Cooley, loving the team like he does, may have been a little better.  Ultimately, I believe the main reason they went with Smith was because of the film breakdowns.  I'm sure there are quite a few hurt feelings and Jay didn't want to mess with the chemistry of the team.  I've got no problem with that and when you listen to Cooley's interview of Bruce Allen you'll recognize that Cooley has let it go too. 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Some people recognize that there was no difference between Cooley and Alex Smith.  Same age.  Alex had not been on a roster all season.  And aside from some cheerleading Alex didn't do much to help us win.  Cooley, loving the team like he does, may have been a little better.  Ultimately, I believe the main reason they went with Smith was because of the film breakdowns.  I'm sure there are quite a few hurt feelings and Jay didn't want to mess with the chemistry of the team.  I've got no problem with that and when you listen to Cooley's interview of Bruce Allen you'll recognize that Cooley has let it go too. 

 

I don't know - all things being equal, I think it's healthier not to go back to an ex-player who has been retired and is a current team employee. If nothing else, this looked like a professional acquisition. Now, if Cooley would have been a clearly better on-field asset, then you have to pick him. 

[skins island connection]

 Now, before some of you guys turn on Cooley, keep in mind the position we were in at the time of this; we lost our starting TE, his back-up, and another, and Reed was getting headaches if he turned his head too fast.

 

Yes, Cooley may have been kidding to a degree, but had Reed not got on a tear, more than likely we would have been sitting at 5-11 last year, and finding any TEs out there worthy was like finding a needle in a haystack, because the organization TRIED finding some.

 

Whether he would have even made the team or had been any form of impact on the team will never be known, but at least he offered his services; he loves this team like the rest of us, and I doubt it was a purely selfish motive, and for the most part we kinda knew he would not have been effective, but then again the very same people were questioning Reed, so let's not get too carried away about him, ok?

 

SIC

[Alexa]

I really don't care what Cooely says to Snyder. In the end we have a professional GM in charge of the roster. They didn't even give Cooley a workout so really it's a dead issue.

[jnhay]

Except that Cooley tried to weasel his way back on the team this year and was genuinely miffed he didn't get a chance... nevermind that he was done three years ago and I doubt has gotten any faster, more explosive or become a better blocker since then.

Signing Cooley would have been a Snyder move years ago.

Nick

Cooley made interesting radio. I don't understand what is wrong with that?

[HtownRocks111]

Does anyone know why Scott M was released from SEattle and SF?  It baffles me how gems at their respected jobs get let go.  Same with Bill Callahan, hes probably done the best job out of any positional coach in the entire league the last 3 seasons.  He should be signed for life.

[hail2skins]

Does anyone know why Scott M was released from SEattle and SF?  It baffles me how gems at their respected jobs get let go. 

He's dealt with alcoholism in the past, which has contributed to him leaving those positions.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Cooley not being on the roster or even being given a workout was a big affirmation to me that things had changed and McC was in charge.

Cooley has no business being on this team. I was prepared to be supremely disappointed in the "same old Redskins" and was ready to quietly step off the McC train had that happened.

[Warhead36]

Does anyone know why Scott M was released from SEattle and SF?  It baffles me how gems at their respected jobs get let go.  Same with Bill Callahan, hes probably done the best job out of any positional coach in the entire league the last 3 seasons.  He should be signed for life.

He had alcoholism related problems in SF.

 

In Seattle he was never the GM, he was just an advisor to Schneider. Although reports indicate that he was basically Schneider's top go to guy and it was McC's influence that led them to draft Wilson and Sherman in the later rounds(Wilson in particular, whom reports confirm McC basically stood on the table in support of).

[Taylor703]

I'm proud of the owner Snyder is becoming. He's made some massive, massive mistakes and has taken some incredible hits to his character but he's young enough and there's still plenty of time for him to become revered. It would be an shocking turn of events based on how his tenure started however it's not impossible and I hope it does turn out positive. He's really trying and that means quite a bit to me.

[SkinsFTW]

It's almost like Snyder handed off the torch to Jimmy Haslam when he bought the Browns. Dude is doing all the dumb crap we saw here for over a decade.