Captain, My Captain?

[Om]

Right off the top ... I think the Skins are making progress.

I want Steve Spurrier back next year.

I think – from my fans-eye perspective – that some, even many, of the moves Dan Snyder / Vinny Cerrato have made have been solid.

And I believe they, like Spurrier himself, are learning.

What I continue to have a problem with, though, is that I am not convinced that the teams' progress could not have come much, much faster – or, more importantly, could markedly accelerate starting today – if the organization had at its head table a more qualified personnel brain trust.

That’s it. I think we can do better ... and I’ve yet to hear anyone make a compelling case that Cerrato / Snyder is the best this team can do.

*

Okay, so that wasn’t it. What fun would that be?

*

Someone at a party asked me the other day for my opinion on “what is wrong with the Redskins.” I asked her how long she had.

But then, when she asked again while batting her eyelashes ... I found myself unable to remain unengaged, and saying, essentially, this:

“Honesty? I don’t think there’s any one person in the organization who has enough NFL-level football experience / smarts / breadth of knowledge / influence with management, etc., to put together a product on the field where all of the parts truly complement each other. I think we could have and should have done better in that department back when Steve Spurrier was first hired (as he was told would happen, by the way) and I think we could and definitely should do something about it the day after this season ends.

I know we won’t, however, so I’m left with hoping that the guys we have will either get it right over time, or – and this is my true hope – that the owner, given enough embarrassment and/or frustration, will eventually come to realize and appreciate that the only thing he HASN’T tried to date is taking a deep breath, gritting his teeth, and setting about making as concerted an effort to hire a superstar “football guy” as he has in hiring superstar coaches and players.”

I noticed, at this point, the room had mostly hushed. Some of the kids had gathered at my feet, and were staring up at me raptly. Someone brought me another egg nog.

Well, I figured, in for a kopek, in for a ruble.

“For instance,” I continued, wiping some froth from my mustache, and winking at the hostess surreptitiously (can’t be too careful, my wife sees everything), “I don’t think that when they hired Steve Spurrier, there was anyone out at Redskins Park truly qualified to sit down with the coach, interview him exhaustively on his philosophies for offense, defense, teams, personnel, etc. Someone with the real world, NFL credibility to work with the head coach and suggest areas in which the philosophies really needed to be tweaked, given the realities of the league, present roster, salary structure, etc.

Someone with enough mileage to appropriately and confidently tell the young coach war stories about actual successes and failures based on similar circumstances, and be conversant on the kinds of adjustments that have worked in the past in those instances, and those that have not.

Someone with the mileage, experience and cred to then go to the films and conduct a thorough, meaningful analysis, alongside the coach, of the strengths and weaknesses of each player on the roster. Such as ...

On offense ... do the OG’s have the requisite pass blocking skills? Are the OT’s solid enough to go solo pass pro (I smiled – it sounded funny) to protect a QB being asked to take 5 and 7 step drops and read? Does the TE, who is going to have to be solid in pass pro himself, and also quick on the hot read in this scheme, have the goods? Do we have RB’s who can explode through the line on all those draws and break tackles to threaten the defense, rather than hesitate and lose the hole? And oh yeah, can they also pick up blitzers consistently, and catch out of the backfield and make the first guy miss in space? Are the wideouts quick enough of foot and mind to read on the run, then make the play?

AND ... if circumstances are such that the team is going to have to start a rookie quarterback in this rather sophisticated, read and react offense, are we absolutely sure we have a dependable running game to bail him out on those days where he simply can’t overcome being a rookie?”

I paused, noticed “Born to Run” was playing ... and smiled to myself.

The Boss.

How apt.

“And geez ... on the other side of the ball .... given the sophisticated, high-learning curve kind of offense this rookie coach is going to run with a rookie QB, the team had better also have a seriously solid defense; one that can be relied upon to bail the young QB and his learning-on-the-fly offense out more often than not. We’d better start by NOT seriously neglecting what many (Yo!) believe is the second-most important part of a football team, after the QB – the defensive line.

Seriously ... I’m pretty sure the kind of strong football mind we’re talking about here would be “uncomfortable,” in view of all the questions and concerns about the offense, about going into a season with a rush line of Wynn, Noble, Holsey/Chase and Upshaw/Smith.

(I’m sorry, this is surely another thread, but this may well be the limpest pass rushing line I’ve seen in the NFL in my time as a fan).”

I stopped again .... looked around. Had I said that last part out loud? Was it true that I was spending way too much time on line?

No, apparently I hadn’t. Just thinking parenthetically again.

My wife, by the way, was openly flirting with the hostess at this point, hugging her in a rather suggestive manner, and running her fingers slowly through the other woman’s flowing, auburn hair. Sadly, I knew straight off that this was not because there was much chance I’d be engaging in illicit behavior with the two of them later in the evening, but because she was gambling, based on her experience, that it’d distract me enough to shut me the hell up and stop ruining the party already. A sad commentary, to be sure, but hey, there it is.

Plus, I was on a roll. I couldn’t even tell if there was rum in the egg nog any more.

[i note, at this juncture, that while I may have been loosened up, I was far from impaired.]

“So, where was I?

Oh yeah ... and then he’d go to his own personal Big Board and identify players – be they in college, on other NFL, NFLE, CFL, AFL or even semi-pro teams (threw that last in there for my boy Brian, who was almost good enough to play semi-pro – and he promptly hoisted a brew in my direction) – who might be available, and whose skill sets might suit that philosophy better than the guys presently on the roster;

... and then realize that, in putting the team’s future in the hands of a rookie head coach, also make damn sure that he has proven, battle-hardened assistant coaches all around him, to take up the slack where the inexperience of both the Head Coach, and his QB, and the newness of the system to the majority of the players, will surely limit his team.

I mean ... if you are going to have a rookie head coach and start a rookie QB ... my copy of How To Build An NFL Winner For Dummies, right there in Chapter 2, says, and I quote, ‘1) You have a proven running game, 2) run an offense that doesn’t expose the rookie QB, 3) have a defense, 4) have a passel of assistant coaches with NFL experience.’

Oh sure, the book goes on in great detail about this stuff, and so could I. In fact, I could go on and on. And on (but hey, you all can already attest to that, right? Heh.)”

Awkward silence.

In a darkened corner, my wife – eyes gleaming, lips slightly parted – was now suggestively toying with the top button of our hostess’ silk blouse.

“Ahem ... right, then.

Basically, it comes down to this for me: I DO think the team is slowly, in fits and starts and seemingly throwing darts, going in the right direction. But I think its doing it with one hand tied behind its back. I think the owner – whatever his motivation – is overlooking one clear and incalculably important area where his organization could be legitimately and notably strengthened, and that he doesn’t intend to take that step in the foreseeable future. I think it has led to the organization following a helter-skelter, reactionary approach to team building, and I’ve never really been comfortable that the people making the decisions have a particularly solid grasp or vision as to how it all should fit together.

I don’t get the sense there is a truly professional, proven Central Command out in Ashburn, with the pedigree to see the Big Picture. And truth be told, I can’t completely shake the feeling that the critics who call ours a Fantasy Football approach to team-building aren’t at least partly right.

I will probably never believe that a team with a championship-level front office would have let this team enter this season (or any team enter ANY season) – with clearly stated playoff aspirations – featuring a rookie QB; not if they were planning to do so both 1) running a pass-first offense without a proven running attack as crutch/compliment, and 2) fielding a defense with literally NO discernible pass rush and a rookie DC. If that idea seemed fundamentally unsound to me, someone who knows absolutely nothing about football (I said that for my wife, ever hopeful) I know it would have / should have scared the hell out of the people running the organization as well.

That it apparently did not, to me, speaks volumes.”

I leaned forward to draw them in, and lowered my voice, so that my audience had to strain to hear every word.

“And you know what? It surprises me that so many intelligent people have dealt with this reality by saying, in essence, ‘hey, Snyder/Cerrato are not so bad.’ I hate that my team has settled for ‘not so bad!’”

I paused one last time, letting the words hover in the expectant air.

And then I closed the deal.

“What I want, ” I said, my voice rising smoothly to a deep, manly crescendo, “is to be able to say to the world ... ‘oh, hell yes, did you hear? We just hired a man who has built Super Bowl Champions!”

There was a moment of – I humbly admit – electric silence.

And then the room erupted in applause.

I was hauled from my chair, and lifted high, riding the shoulders of several burly, teary-eyed men clad in Redskins regalia (and narrowly avoiding having my scalp removed by the ceiling fan, which I’m pretty sure my wife quickly turned on when spying me going aloft) and bathing in the glorious adulation and adoring stares of men, women, children, a couple of goldfish and a dog that I think wet the carpet at just that moment alike.

Exhausted, but satisfied, I slumped back in an easy chair, and enjoyed what was truly a surpassing ... if fleeting ... moment. As, predictably, was the whole wife/hostess thing, which she now swears never happened.

Don’t believe me? Just ask her.

*

And now that I've sobered up, and had time to reflect ... I feel even stronger about this whole mess. It’s probably a good thing, too, because I think I hear Art sharpening his tool again.

[dchogs]

well done, well written om. i knew i voted for you as my favorite poster for a reason . i completely agree with your assessment of our FO. that it was put together in a story (true or not) that made me laugh instead of cry was a bonus.

this may be the post of the year...

[Henry]

Overwhelming, yet breathtaking to behold.

[Flowtrain]

Om has a moustache?

[Riggo-toni]

Uh oh, now I'm imagining my wife with the waitress from the other night. Guess i won't be getting any work done today...

[SonnyJ]

Screw the Redskins - tell us about something far more interesting.

What happened with your wife and the hostess? Don't spare any details, no matter how disgusting they may be. We can take it.

[Hog Fever]

I laughed....I cried......it was the best movie of the year. A must see.

- Gene Shalet

[Art]

Om, you know full well that I'm the only person with the license to drone on endlessly whether in a drunken or sober diatribe. But, for the literary excellence I'll let it pass. As it's largely impossible to cut and paste a reply given the fireside chat method of post you have here, let me try to broadstroke my way to your clarity.

You suggest there's no one in the organization with enough NFL experience to compile a team. That seems to be highly ignorant of Cerrato's experience and his coupling with Mendes and his experience prior to. That seems to be laughable in the face of offseason acquisitions the last two years that have addressed long-term needs -- or at least appears to -- at QB, receiver, offensive line, linebacker and likely fullback and even safety.

The methodical retooling to attain players suitable to Spurrier's needs should not be ignored. Yet in your frothy conversation you've ignored it. Cerrato has been around the league. He has every quality you want in a GM though he's not the GM. But, he has one more quality that answers precisely WHY he and Snyder now are the best combination we could possibly have.

He has a quality you shouldn't need to be told in your unyielding assertion that no one has given an answer as to why this combination is best for us. How you've missed the obvious pains me but that you've missed it is obvious and I'm pained . The quality is that Snyder likes him. Believes in him. Trusts him.

Perhaps it is those qualities that makes you, and others, ignore Cerrato's resume and his recent accomplishments. But it should be those qualities that lead you to appreciate just how delicate the balance is in the NFL between management and ownership and here you have ownership and management that are friendly.

Snyder hired Marty to be his football genius. Gave him control. And Marty did a good job as the GM -- or at least in implementing the plan of attack he wanted to grow the team with. Yet, he wasn't trusted by Snyder. He wasn't embraced. Snyder didn't believe in him. Couldn't understand his plan that left nearly $30 million in money on the table to improve the team.

Though Marty's best job with us as the GM the reason for his departure was born of his failures as a GM which stem from the lack of trust and direction Snyder felt the team had. In comes Cerrato who initially was second fiddle to Mendes. Yet, Cerrato clearly energized Snyder. Made Snyder believe in a plan of attack. He charted it, put it together, won over the owner and made him believe.

The light at the end of the tunnel Sonny was talking about with George may just be that belief. The trust. The knowledge that this team is doing the right things. Building young players for the future. Guys with upside and yet experience. Low risk. Good reward. Step by step transforming the team into what Spurrier needs without doing so in such a dramatic fashion as to cause immediate cap concerns.

In your post you write that you would have wanted a GM who would have sat with Spurrier and educated him about the game. Stunning really because most agree the problem with Spurrier is that he's been NFL-ized. He's listened too much to too many about how it must be done that he's forgotten who he is and why he got the job in the first place.

Spurrier's genius is his insanity. The ego. That's gone. Now he's just another coach who doesn't get it. Yet you wanted a GM who could guide Spurrier. Spurrier is a guy you call a "young coach" like he's without experience as a coach -- even as a pro coach. My belief is if Ron Wolf was here you'd be in a masturbatory glee over the qualifications and direction he could set.

And do you know what Ron Wolf would say to Spurrier in that initial interview where he offered guidance? "Steve, be you. Just be you." Remember, a man with the sort of experience and talent you seek thought the world of Steve Spurrier. Thought he'd succeed like few others. Believed in him that much.

You went on to question the relative talents of the offensive line in pass protection which seems to ignore the fact that in solo pass blocking this year they've done well. A couple of times they got schooled by dogs and stunts, and the rookie got beat early but not so much late. It's almost as if you want to suggest that the offensive line which is comprised of at least three (Samuels, Moore/Friedman and Thomas) primarily talented pass blockers augmented by a rookie who's not getting exploited and a right tackle who would rather run block, but has only surrendered two sacks all year, can't get it done when they have, individually gotten it done for the most part.

You go on to speak of the defense and where it needs to go. Suggesting the GM should be the person to tell the coach that with a young QB you should have a defensively driven team, thereby undermining the coach and ruining the team worse than it appears to be ruined now.

I'm glad you are without power because the things you want seem to me to be the very things we DON'T want and the very things that make a team perpetually unsuccessful. When you have a puppet of a coach -- whether to the owner or to an all-knowing GM -- you rarely will achieve success in this league. You hire your coach and believe in him and give him what he says he needs to win and you let him do that.

When he doesn't, you fire him and start with something else. But you measure the personnel people based on what they do to give the coach what he needs to win. And here is where you score Cerrato and Snyder highly. And here is where you have to wonder not whether this is the best choice possible but rather how this can't be the best choice possible.

Absent complete disengagement by Snyder this is absolutely the best combination we could dream of. If the next step is for Snyder to be totally out of it -- meaning out of selling the guys we need -- then you may have a point. But as long as Snyder's proven to be a strength there, why would we want him out?

[TD_washingtonredskins]

So, what ever happened with you, the wife, and the hostess?

[Die Hard]

I happen to side with Art here Om.

I suppose every Super Bowl team has the ideal owner, GM, Head Coach, Assistants and Pro Bowl talent at every position.

Of course we've seen 1 team win every Super Bowl since 1932 because the formula for success is pretty standard no?

How many teams have won a Super Bowl? How many teams have won consecutive Super Bowls? How many Super Bowl teams don't even make the playoffs the following year?

Every team does it differently. There's no blueprint. Every year there's 31 teams that didn't have the right formula.

There's teams with that win with a young QB. There's teams that win with offense. There's teams that win with defense. There's team that just seem to get the breaks here and there and get on a roll.

You honestly think a GM is the missing piece? Casserley is a respected GM. How did the Redskins fare under his watch in the 90's? Did it guarantee success? Of course not.

Of course it was Norv Turner then right?

You can't have the perfect owner, GM, coach, assistants and players.

Ron Wolfe also hired Ray Rhodes as a head coach in Green Bay. We've all seen how that turned out. His resume is not impeccable.

Neither is Rhodes' as a head coach.

You win some, you lose some.

We've seen what it's like with high turnover. We've seen what it's like with continuity. We've seen what it's like with a GM and without one. We've seen the results with no talent and with Pro Bowl players.

The only consistent right now for the past 10+ years is losing. There's a simple solution to this.

A new owner. Brilliant. Even Modell can win an NFL championship.

[KTrainSkinsFan]

Originally posted by Om

I think we can do better ... and I’ve yet to hear anyone make a compelling case that Cerrato / Snyder is the best this team can do.

I don't think this is saying too much....what team couldn't do better? At any position, management or personnel? It's hard for me to understand how you can, on one hand, say that management has made solid moves, and on the other, say that we should change management. Who can guarantee with 100% certainty that making a change would help us.

In short, "If it ain't broke"

P.S.

If it IS broke, then of course a change would need to be made.

[Skeletor The Invincible]

I think when it all comes down to it, what we're missing is just plain old players playing like professional players.

I'm not saying that Front Office Intelligence is not important, but what I'm saying is that ultimately, it all comes down to players being the type and caliber of players they can be, and have been.

As Die Hard pointed out, everyone makes mistakes. Ron Wolfe is considered a great GM because he "found" Brett Farve. But he's also made a lot of mistakes over his career.

I think we can be successful with Snyder and Cerrato if they settle down and give the team some time to play with eachother and learn their teammates strengths and weaknesses.

And I think that our Front Office is improving in that area. They seem to be calmer this year than in years past. Snyder has stuck back and been behind his gun, his coach. He's been behind him 100%.

Obviously this coming offseason we'll be spending some money again on some defensive line help. And I think that's good for the team, indeed, It may be all this team needs to be very good very soon.

[GB81]

Originally posted by KTrainSkinsFan

I don't think this is saying too much....what team couldn't do better? At any position, management or personnel? It's hard for me to understand how you can, on one hand, say that management has made solid moves, and on the other, say that we should change management. Who can guarantee with 100% certainty that making a change would help us.

In short, "If it ain't broke"

P.S.

If it IS broke, then of course a change would need to be made.

One playoff appearance since 1992? Isn't something broke. If you exclude the team Snyder inherited in 1999, the Redskins record under Snyder is 27-33. Yes, when I read Art's post, it sounds like no bad decisions have been made. I know I'm being somewhat simple here, but I am having a hard time accepting the fact that I have been watching a team that is on the brinnk of greatness.

As to Art's comments regarding Cerrato's resume, my understanding is that he was a longtime college recruiter (and not much else) prior to coming to Washington. I would not say that puts him on par with many of the best personnel men in the league. Even if I concede that Cerrato is on par with other top GMs (and I don't), having Snyder involved marginalizes any of the advantages of having a good personnel guy, in my opinion. Feel free to rattle off all of the good personnel moves you think have been made in recent years--I'm focused on the on the field product...and it is not even mediocre--27-33 over the last 4 seasons without a winning season in the bunch.

As to Om's point--Can we do better than having a communications mogul and a college recruiting specialist spearheading our front office? I sure hope so.

[riggins44]

Why wasn't I invited to this party? I could have flirted with the hostess....my wife would have then slapped the he11 out of me.

Next time invite me and will make sure you have rum or Southern Comfort in your egg nog. (more like egg nog in your rum) I can even make low carb marguaritas.

After you were let down from the shoulders of the throng carrying you we would have dumped the punch bowl on your

head symbolic of the coach leading us to the promise land.

PS...post pic of hostess. :laugh:

:cheers:

[Art]

GG,

There have been mistakes. Keeping Norv as long as we did was a mistake. That mistake was corrected by bringing Marty in. The Marty mistake was then corrected by bringing Spurrier in. Spurrier may turn out to be a mistake as well. But the judgement you make on the personnel department and Snyder is whether they are providing the types of players necessary to win for the coaching staff and style of team we are.

In that area you can't say it's not happening. If Spurrier is a mistake and changes need to be made, then you call upon your personnel people to make the right moves. Under Spurrier we have seen that. If you aren't unhappy with the team in April and May and June then you aren't unhappy with Cerrato and Snyder. If you're unhappy with that team in December, then the blame is clearly on Spurrier.

Don't misplace it.

[RabidFan]

OM, did you continue your rant at Dennys cause this musta been some long party for that......good stuff though

[NavyDave]

With time to cool down and look at the team we just need patience and some tweaking that attrition can take care of (ie out with the old (B Smith) in with the young.

The o line will be fine though Samuels cap number will be interesting this offseason in negotiations.

The main change has to be special teams the punter and the ST Coach

Then addressing the D line basically at DEs

Then there is the TE position

get a runblocking bruiser type that is decent for dump offs not a me type like winslow.

And finally strap S double down clockworth orange style and let him see hours of the joy of running the ball when you have the lead

[Om]

Art, I generally try to avoid the cut and paste myself ... usually, it serves to fragment the discussion and go off on tangents that invariably lose sight of the central topic. So my choice of vehicle was no accident.

I really don’t want to do it to you, either, but there’s simply so much there I have to, at least a little. Instead of going paragraph by paragraph, though, I’ll just pull out what seem to me the salient points that I think either missed or misrepresent what I’ve said.

You suggest there's no one in the organization with enough NFL experience to compile a team.

No. I suggest that we should – and given Snyder’s deal-closing acumen, could – do better.

Of course Cerrato is not a man off the street. He has been in the league. And he is eminently more qualified than you or I, based on that experience. I have never suggested otherwise. But I don’t believe he is anywhere near the MOST qualified person Snyder could have. Do you? Really?

That’s the whole general thrust of what I’ve been beating my head against. Other than yourself, in the last day or two, I’ve not heard even one person suggest that the overall impression they get of the central organization of this team is breathtaking, or overwhelming, or even without some serious concerns, or that the organization would not benefit greatly from going out tomorrow and acquiring the kind of GM that everyone in the league recognizes is the real thing.

If we went back and reviewed all the conversations here back before the Great Jet Train Robbery this past offseason, I bet we’d find that the vast majority of people still felt very strongly that we should most definitely NOT stand pat with Snyder/Cerrato, Maybe said robbery was enough to change some people’s minds, to convince them that we’re firmly on track now, that there is a coherent, visionary plan in place, and it’s being executed by the best possible compilation of management talent that the league has to offer.

I guess that’s their prerogative. I just don’t buy it one bit.

You list several the areas in which the team added players the last two years. But for practically every area, one could also make capable arguments that there have not only been other areas neglected (your list does not include the defensive line, I notice, which I think is telling, given that the single main example I provided as to why I think the team is missing the mark, is that the defensive line is far more critical and central a concern than any other on a team, this side of QB – especially on a team whose offense you know full well is going to struggle) ... but also some serious stubbed toes and missteps along the way within some of those areas that were addressed.

(Sorry about that sentence structure. Gonna make you parse as hard as you made me. )

But I’m trying hard NOT to let this devolve into yet another conversation where two fans debate the relative merits of individual players or even overall schematic approaches. I’m simply not qualified, Art, and with due respect, neither are you. We can make great sport of it, but at the end of the day, we’re just pissing in the wind.

Where we truly seem to part ways here is that I, unlike you, don’t happen to believe Vinny the best qualified option, either.

You apparently think we’ve got the best guy we could possibly have. I disagree. I think Snyder, if he truly wanted to, could go out and find another guy he could not only like and trust, but also have a track record of success and happens to be on everyone’s short list of “best available.”

[Vinny] has every quality you want in a GM though he's not the GM. But, he has one more quality that answers precisely WHY he and Snyder now are the best combination we could possibly have.

He has a quality you shouldn't need to be told in your unyielding assertion that no one has given an answer as to why this combination is best for us. How you've missed the obvious pains me but that you've missed it is obvious and I'm pained . The quality is that Snyder likes him. Believes in him. Trusts him. ignored it. Cerrato has been around the league. Perhaps it is those qualities that makes you, and others, ignore Cerrato's resume and his recent accomplishments. But it should be those qualities that lead you to appreciate just how delicate the balance is in the NFL between management and ownership and here you have ownership and management that are friendly.

Geez, Art. I like you, trust you, believe in you ... but that doesn’t mean I’d hire you to run my team.

You go on to speak of the defense and where it needs to go. Suggesting the GM should be the person to tell the coach that with a young QB you should have a defensively driven team, thereby undermining the coach and ruining the team worse than it appears to be ruined now.

This is off the mark, hermano. I’ve suggested that a team fielding a rookie QB and rookie coach is a huge red flag, saying “you’d better have a damn solid defense to support them.” I’ve NOT said my dream GM would have “told the coach he should have a defensively driven team.”

My post used the defense and running game and lack of experience in the coaching ranks and the fact that we WERE going with a rookie coach and rookie GM, and sought to do it with perhaps the worst defensive rush line I’ve ever seen in the NFL. Accuse of hyperbole on the last, if you must, but please don’t spray paint graffiti on my car, then knock on my door and say, yo dude, your car’s mess – want me to paint if for you?

Several paragraphs you devote to criticizing MY idea of how a team should be built. Fine. But we’re not talking about me here, and we’re not talking about you. You and I are fans. Snyder is the owner of a professional football team. And he has, apparently to your satisfaction, decided that Vinny Cerrato (who, when not employed by the Redskins, rather than be sought after by teams in need of front office help, instead answered viewer e-mails in a throw-away segment of a network pregame show) is the guy he wants pulling the strings and charting the course.

Since Synder likes him and trusts him and is energized by him (and pointed out four cool Jets for him to make off with in the night), somehow that’s good enough?

Ain’t for me.

Let me ask you straight out, as I’ve done at various times to the board at large in those threads you didn’t want read, just for the record:

Do you, when it’s all said and done, believe Vinny Cerrato is the best option at GM for the Washington Redskins?

If your answer truly is yes, then I think we’re done, and I’ll just flat out disagree. Despite the successes, we could also go into withering chapter and verse on the failures. We could, you know. And laundry-listing the successes without an honest look at the failures ... well, ain’t my cup ‘o nog. So that’ll have to be that.

If you’re answer is no, on the other hand, then maybe we can talk about who might be. Maybe we could enlist the help of the board and come up with a list of names we’d rank above Senor Vinny right now. My guess is, we as fans could come up with more than a dozen that most of us would agree on. And my firm belief is that, people in and around the [league, who actually know who the guys are out there whose names may not be familiar to those of us on the outside, could come up with more than that by far.

Absent complete disengagement by Snyder this is absolutely the best combination we could dream of. If the next step is for Snyder to be totally out of it -- meaning out of selling the guys we need -- then you may have a point. But as long as Snyder's proven to be a strength there, why would we want him out?

Snyder is a strength in closing the deal. I want him to continue to excel at that. I just want someone more worthy of title of General Manager of the Washington Redskins than Vinny Cerrato as the man telling him who to go sweep off their feet.

[bubba9497]

Every NFL team FO could do better. And I can easily say many other teams FO has done much much worse than the Da-Vinnie approach.

I just haven't heard a compelling argument that proves a "real" GM could, would, should make the Skins immediately better.

[Om]

I can't "prove" that, bubba. Any more than anyone else can "prove" that we couldn't have maybe entered this season with a team capable of rushing the passer at the NFL level had someone else been calling the shots.

What we fielded instead, to me, was fatally flawed from Day One. Egregiously so.

Maybe my position is naive here - God knows it wouldn't be the first time - but I just don't believe the formula we brought to the table this year, or last, was fundamentally sound.

And to me the place to look when trying to figure out why is directly at the office of general manager.

[Om]

Oh any by the way, I have now put in one thread two of the longest, ramblingest posts I've ever assayed (no, really).

From here on out, I'll try to keep them brief.

Even when Art brings out the heavy artillery.

*

As to the hostess and the wife saga ... sorry, guys. Theatre of the mind, only.

[jbooma]

Originally posted by Om

And now that I've sobered up, and had time to reflect ...

When are you getting to the good part, like did she accept your phone number

:laugh:

[gridironmike]

I stated this earlier. Marty could've succeeded here if he didn't come with a big chip on his shoulder. You don't need to come in and ruffle Darrell Green's feathers. Three yards and a cloud of dust is not what Snyder envisions as a marketable team. That is why Spurrier is here. He has flair. He has reputation. He apparently has humility too. I think that is great. I look forward to three or four solid moves this off-season that position us as a leader in the NFC. We'll be back and better just for sticking with Spurrier.

[Art]

Om, allow me to reply .

The reason I cut and paste very often is to avoid misunderstandings such as the one we're about to have. In your initial post you wrote these very words:

“Honesty? I don’t think there’s any one person in the organization who has enough NFL-level football experience / smarts / breadth of knowledge / influence with management, etc., to put together a product on the field where all of the parts truly complement each other.

These very words, directly written by you caused me to comment the quote you put here of mine. I'll put it here too. I wrote:

You suggest there's no one in the organization with enough NFL experience to compile a team.

Now, seeing your first quote and seeing mine, you can imagine my tremendous surprise when you wrote here:

No. I suggest that we should – and given Snyder’s deal-closing acumen, could – do better.

Well, my brother, no. That's not what you suggest. That's certainly a part of what you suggest. Another part is that you feel there's no one in the organization who has the experience necessary to lead a pro football team. That is a large part of the reason you think we could do better. Meaning, if we had Charlie Casserly or Ron Wolf or, well, just anybody else you would deem appropriate for the job based on your belief that he can build a team then you wouldn't believe we could do better. That's unless of course there's just one name overriding all others that we just must have in your view and I don't get that from you.

Anyway, since you don't feel there's anyone in the organization who is qualified to do the job -- and I glean this directly from your words saying so -- it leads you to think we could have done better. Now in this post you recognize that Cerrato isn't a guy off the street -- like Pepper Rogers kind of was. You realize he was qualified, at least to some degree.

Now your position is to ask whether he's the MOST qualified? Well, no, he probably isn't. But is that now the eternal measure you'll apply to all hires we make on all levels of this team from here on? Was Joe Gibbs the most qualified for the job? How about Ron Wolf in his first job as the chief man? Was HE the most qualified? Bobby Beathard? Charlie Casserly?

Who is the most qualified for any job they take when they step into the primary role of running a team in any position? No one. That's who. And therefore the judgement can't be that he wasn't the most qualified, therefore inadequate. Rather, the judgement has to be, "He wasn't the most qualified, but is he doing the job."

George Edwards wasn't the most qualified for his position with the Redskins. Yet, we generally thought it was worth trying him out. He's had trouble. He's not doing the job as well as you'd like at this point. He may lose his job to a more qualified person because of it. Or, he could have become a success who was better than many more qualified people.

And here we are with Cerrato. Casserly is more qualified. Who's actually performing better both in comparison to what Casserly did here and now in Houston. Casserly has advantages in Houston. He's got a guy who's clearly a better coach right now than we've got and a guy who's getting more of them than we are. But is that because of Casserly? No.

What has Cerrato done that's been atrocious? Where has he shown to be inadequate? It's possible to say he has really only been the main man for one offseason. This one. Where did he screw it up? Even if you include last offseason, where did he screw it up? Where is the personnel decision making the problem on this team?

There are places. Sure. The defensive line for example. But, then he tells you it takes several offseasons to complete the process. The first one did some of it. The second more. The third? Well, who knows. He says stuff that sounds like he knows what he's doing. That he knows where we need players. Perhaps he's lying. Or, perhaps he wasn't the most qualified, and yet remains the best person for the job.

Not only on the personal level that you dismiss. Why you dismiss it I can't figure since it SHOULD be a critical factor to you. It should matter to you that the owner trusts and believes in his personnel man. It should register to you that such a relationship is the foundation for stability and long term success. Obviously you then must judge whether the man the owner trusts is going about getting the right guys for the team.

Remember, no one was beating the defensive line drum more loudly than I was. Yet, is it reasonable to condemn the Coles move? Are the acquisitions failing? If not, then what more can the man do. And remember, I'm no Cerrato fan. It's just impossible to be overly critical of him. It's impossible to be overly critical of the job Snyder has rolled into considering how well he's done it.

Now, the criticisms of Snyder is his impatience. That's fair. But, his impatience has been justified to some degree. But when you ask if I think Vinny Cerrato is the best person for the GM position of the Washington Redskins I'll answer two ways. When we brought him in and back I didn't think so.

Watching him work and the effort he's put forth to improve the team's personnel leads me to question my own initial judgements. Then, seeing his relationship with the owner and the support he's gotten from a VERY demanding man like Snyder leads me to believe that yes, Cerrato is the best man for the job. Perhaps he's the only man for this job. And he's doing a good job to make it easier to accept that.

[Dr. D]

blah blah blah....

such long winded tripe is a literary exercise.

Whats wrong with the redskins?

simple.

They don't win.

there should be enough implications there to sate even the most optimistic.