A New Start! (the Reboot) The Front Office, Ownership, & Coaching Staff Thread

[hail2skins]

25 minutes ago, CjSuAvE22 said:

I heard ticket sales are so good other teams are inquiring aboit what the team has done differently…is this true? Were there tons of ppl at the preseason game pr something?

That was a quote from a session Jason Wright had with some media over the weekend. 

 

On TV it looked like the club level was a bit fuller than preseason games than, say, 2018-2021, which might be a result of more club seats being occupied this season due to price reduction. The lower and upper levels looked relatively sparse.

 

I can see them having over 55K for the opener this season, but not 60K, unless they start the shenanigans of reporting attendance differently again.

[88Comrade2000]

2 hours ago, JSSkinz said:

This is my opinion but quietly I don't think the current FO cares.  They know the fans who sit around ****ing all day will never come back to this team because of Dan so its time to move on and find new fans.

 

Being disgruntled is a hobby for many, the team need to focus on building a new fanbase and stop worrying about the people who will never come back to this team.

Wrong.

 

Everything they have done is to keep those remaining old fans.

 

If they wanted to focus on new fans; they would’ve made a clean break.

New colors , new fight song. No association with old players.

 

They aren’t doing that.

[Redskins 2021]

2 hours ago, JSSkinz said:

This is my opinion but quietly I don't think the current FO cares.  They know the fans who sit around ****ing all day will never come back to this team because of Dan so its time to move on and find new fans.

 

Being disgruntled is a hobby for many, the team need to focus on building a new fanbase and stop worrying about the people who will never come back to this team.

 This team was one of the most popular teams till 2010. We had a 40000 seat waiting list. I don't know who these new fans are that they are talking about.  

 

[Thinking Skins]

1 hour ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I don’t quite get this theory that they are solely pressing for new fans.  They kept the colors, and now they’ve slaughtered the old fight song.  What exactly is leading folks to believe that they’ve accepted the old fans are gone and they are putting on a full court press for new ones to replace them?

 

 

THey're trying to walk a middle line, trying to keep things close to normal but recognizing that this team needed a rebrand. Sheehan types may never come back but Mann, Manley, Green, Clark, Monk, Mitchell, Marshall, Walker, Jacoby etc would but not if we became the Washington Panthers with no resemblance of the old team. 

 

I still stand by the idea that the fan loss is not about Snyder, its about the lack of excitement. Its about winning games 17-14 and losing more than we're winning, We were a hot team in 2012. We weren't in 2008 when we started 6-2 or in 2018 when we started 6-2 because those were boring teams. We were a hot team with Norv because he had a hot offense. Since then we haven't been able to put together much on offense outside of 2012. Even with 2005 when Portis and Moss were great we had Brunell and his limp arm and no downfield passing game. 

 

Even the Kirk Cousins era was great for the yards, but not the points. We loved that WR trio but not the losing games 20-16 because we were relying on an inconsistent K. We threw for what 5000 yards and still couldn't win 9 games? 

 

Its like that old saying if you build it, they will come. This time "it" is a good offense. And I believe the ticket sales because 1. we're ending a COVID era where DC and MD was one of the most restrictive and had some of the most paranoid people who didn't want to go out in crowds and 2. We had Haskins in 2020 coming off a 3 win season and Fitzpatrick, a career backup, last year. Neither of those inspire fans.

 

Lets ignore the media for a second and ask if you think that its a difficult sales pitch to say that we're bringing in a guy who threw for 27 and 7 last year with 19 - 1 in the red zone. That's a heck of a statline. A 95 Passer Rating. A QBR that led the league last year. Its not about predicting wins, but its about seeing if you can get the fans excited about the product. And I think Wentz is the best things we've had since RG3. Even his draft pedigree is exciting more than Cousins. 

 

I'm not predicting it, but I could easily see us get off to a hot start like we did in 2018 and be something like 8-2. And if we're off to a hot start like that we're going to be talking about an unprecidented era in Fed Ex Field. And thats with Dan being the scumbag he is. 

[Voice_of_Reason]

3 hours ago, The Rook said:

 

"Commanders" is also better than "Lobsters", but it doesn't make it a good name. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rook

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure it is.  

 

Imagine the brand you could build around lobsters.  And Red Lobster is a built in sponsor....

[Captain Wiggles]

[Conn]

41 minutes ago, Redskins 2021 said:

 This team was one of the most popular teams till 2010. We had a 40000 seat waiting list. I don't know who these new fans are that they are talking about.  

 

You know the 40,000 seat waiting list was a lie, right? Dispelling that myth is part of what got LaFemina fired

[88Comrade2000]

27 minutes ago, Conn said:

You know the 40,000 seat waiting list was a lie, right? Dispelling that myth is part of what got LaFemina fired

That waiting list probably went away early in Dan’s ownership.

[Voice_of_Reason]

7 minutes ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

That waiting list probably went away early in Dan’s ownership.

eh....  it was still very much around through the Gibbs II years.  How I know?  I was on it from the 90's (I signed up when I turned 18, which was the early 90's, when the team was still at RFK.)

 

I never actually came off the wait list, I bought club level tickets in 2004 when Gibbs came back, which vaulted me to the front of the line.  I ended up with 2 premium seats, and 2 upper deck seats.  I know a number of folks were on the waiting list until after that.

 

The thing that really chewed the waiting list down in the 00's is the sheer number of available seats.  They squeezed 90k+ seats into FedEx.  They put up bleachers in the end-zones, and there was more inventory than ever before, which cut the season ticket wait list down significantly.  Because if you wanted season tickets, there were MANY more available than there ever were at RFK.

 

From what I can tell, the drop-off due to lack of fan support really started in earnest in the Zorn years and early Shanahan.  It cratered from 2014 on, to the point it was non-existent by 2018.  

[Peregrine]

2 hours ago, Thinking Skins said:

THey're trying to walk a middle line, trying to keep things close to normal but recognizing that this team needed a rebrand. Sheehan types may never come back but Mann, Manley, Green, Clark, Monk, Mitchell, Marshall, Walker, Jacoby etc would but not if we became the Washington Panthers with no resemblance of the old team. 

 

I still stand by the idea that the fan loss is not about Snyder, its about the lack of excitement. Its about winning games 17-14 and losing more than we're winning, We were a hot team in 2012. We weren't in 2008 when we started 6-2 or in 2018 when we started 6-2 because those were boring teams. We were a hot team with Norv because he had a hot offense. Since then we haven't been able to put together much on offense outside of 2012. Even with 2005 when Portis and Moss were great we had Brunell and his limp arm and no downfield passing game. 

 

Even the Kirk Cousins era was great for the yards, but not the points. We loved that WR trio but not the losing games 20-16 because we were relying on an inconsistent K. We threw for what 5000 yards and still couldn't win 9 games? 

 

Its like that old saying if you build it, they will come. This time "it" is a good offense. And I believe the ticket sales because 1. we're ending a COVID era where DC and MD was one of the most restrictive and had some of the most paranoid people who didn't want to go out in crowds and 2. We had Haskins in 2020 coming off a 3 win season and Fitzpatrick, a career backup, last year. Neither of those inspire fans.

 

Lets ignore the media for a second and ask if you think that its a difficult sales pitch to say that we're bringing in a guy who threw for 27 and 7 last year with 19 - 1 in the red zone. That's a heck of a statline. A 95 Passer Rating. A QBR that led the league last year. Its not about predicting wins, but its about seeing if you can get the fans excited about the product. And I think Wentz is the best things we've had since RG3. Even his draft pedigree is exciting more than Cousins. 

 

I'm not predicting it, but I could easily see us get off to a hot start like we did in 2018 and be something like 8-2. And if we're off to a hot start like that we're going to be talking about an unprecidented era in Fed Ex Field. And thats with Dan being the scumbag he is. 

Its about Dan.

[illone]

I guess I am an “old time” fan but just to make sure, what year do you need to be born to qualify for this distinction?

 

What is the actual financial impact of stadium attendance?

 

I’d love to take a look at the P&L 😂

 

I still consider myself a fan even though I stopped buying gear in 2008 or so. 

[Thinking Skins]

6 hours ago, Peregrine said:

Its about Dan.

I will never like Dan, but I couldn't Stand Norv, Surrier, zorn, Shanny and Gruden because they couldn't win late games. If this team could have won some late games in the 8-8 and 7-9 seasons, we might be talking about Campbell making the playoffs, or Ramsey or Smith, or Cousins or Heinicke. Dan's a horrible person and a crappy GM but that also coincides with our team being horrible. Heck its probably the cause of it. But winning is a great stinch remover. 

[SkinsFTW]

1 hour ago, Thinking Skins said:

I will never like Dan, but I couldn't Stand Norv, Surrier, zorn, Shanny and Gruden because they couldn't win late games. If this team could have won some late games in the 8-8 and 7-9 seasons, we might be talking about Campbell making the playoffs, or Ramsey or Smith, or Cousins or Heinicke. Dan's a horrible person and a crappy GM but that also coincides with our team being horrible. Heck its probably the cause of it. But winning is a great stinch remover. 

 

Winning an extra game or 2 just to be one and done in the paloffs a couple extra times would have shifted the narrative to something like Marvin Lewis. Then Dan probably would have done more dumb crap trying to sign that one guy who he believed would get them over the top. More Haynesworths/Archuletas/JasonTaylors!!! YAY!!!

[Thinking Skins]

3 minutes ago, SkinsFTW said:

 

Winning an extra game or 2 just to be one and done in the paloffs a couple extra times would have shifted the narrative to something like Marvin Lewis. Then Dan probably would have done more dumb crap trying to sign that one guy who he believed would get them over the top. More Haynesworths/Archuletas/JasonTaylors!!! YAY!!!

Yep, but Lewis took the Bengals owners from being talked about as cheap and unable to win to being cheap and unable to win in the playoffs. Different story and people were going to their games. Believing in their QB and even talking trash to me at parties

[88Comrade2000]

2 hours ago, Thinking Skins said:

I will never like Dan, but I couldn't Stand Norv, Surrier, zorn, Shanny and Gruden because they couldn't win late games. If this team could have won some late games in the 8-8 and 7-9 seasons, we might be talking about Campbell making the playoffs, or Ramsey or Smith, or Cousins or Heinicke. Dan's a horrible person and a crappy GM but that also coincides with our team being horrible. Heck its probably the cause of it. But winning is a great stinch remover. 

After Norv; who do you think hired those people? Dan is the #1 reason this team has stink his entire ownership.

[BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen]

More negative coverage of Wright's outburst re: Wentz

 

https://www.audacy.com/theteam980/sports/washington-commanders/jason-wright-commanders-culture-still-dan-snyders-team

 

A team president going after a media member for a question to a starting quarterback is just truly uncalled for and almost inconceivable in almost every single way imaginable.

One, Washington Commanders team president Jason Wright's tweet was threatening. It doesn’t follow any semblance of how a relationship between media and the team should work. It’s completely unbecoming of someone in his position. It also shows, again, that Jason Wright doesn’t know anything about media, which is a pretty damning indictment of a President of Business Operations for a professional football franchise.

From a timing perspective – this is the day before the first ever game as the Washington Commanders. The first one ever. New name. New fight song. New everything.

Except, this is a reminder that despite all that new stuff, this is the same old team. The team president is making news completely unrelated to any of that and completely changing the narrative from what we would otherwise be talking about. Completely changing the rundown of every talk show from talking about football and previewing the game, to what the team has been working on – the fight song, what will the stadium will look like? – which is all they’ve wanted for the two years that Jason Wright is so proud of. And now we're talking about Jason Wright’s Twitter account.

Not surprising though!

This is the same man whose grandest idea was to unveil a new brand on "The Today Show," whose Venn diagram with Commanders fans is two circles that barely overlap. Not "Good Morning Football." Not "SportsCenter." Not through their own, plentiful channels, but through a morning news program with a real journalist, in Craig Melvin, who told the full story.

That story – lest you forget – is that the team needed a name change because the old one was racially insensitive at best and flat-out violently racist at worst. That rebranding was happening amidst the organization being under Congressional investigation for its toxic workplace after a league investigation found that the workplace was so bad that it handed out the largest fine in league history and told the owner he can’t be around day-to-day anymore.

And Jason Wright decided that he wanted to put all that on display for a nationwide audience so that Doug Williams could go “WE ARE THE COMMANDERS” and voila! That’s it! That’s the brand!

No hype video reveal. No string of legends telling the story of the franchise’s better times. No insight into how the name was picked or ANYTHING like that leading up to the reveal on "The Today Show" before the name was revealed. Just “WE ARE THE COMMANDERS” following a news story of how potentially criminally bad your workplace has been in the last quarter century, and then a bunch of announcements that the rest of the brand will be unveiled at later dates, the last of which was supposed to be tomorrow, the first game as The Commanders, and instead we’re talking about Jason Wright’s absurd usage of his Twitter account.

So then, that was on Feb. 2, in March, the football operation, something Jason Wright is not a part of, trades for a quarterback with a less than stellar recent history, including an all-time stinker in the last game of the season against the worst team in the league (the Jacksonville Jaguars) with a playoff spot on the line.

Said quarterback is the least accurate QB in the league the last two seasons, per NFL analyst Warren Sharp’s metric.

After said quarterback is bouncing balls off the turf against air in practice and people like me are going “wow this isn’t ideal, but thank god it’s only camp…let’s see!” and folks that are out there every day are like “yeah, he’s inconsistent and his footwork is inconsistent and it makes sense, but not all bad, but definitely inconsistent,” Scott Abraham asks him this:

"There's been kinda a narrative out there here in training camp that you've been a little inaccurate on your throws, consistently inconsistent has been kinda a terminology, how would you assess your performance in training camp? is that characterization fair?"

Is it pointed? Yes. Would other reporters perhaps have smoothed the edges some? Yes, but in my opinion, that’s actually less fair to Carson Wentz because what Scott did was present the real conversation happening and allow Carson, the person at the center of it, to respond. And he did. Masterfully. He gave us real insight. He gave us a real perspective. I think it was a great answer and that’s part of playing quarterback in the NFL: You have to answer tough questions. Carson nailed it, not only saying “the right thing” but being honest about where he sees things right now and where there are opportunities to grow.

And then Jason Wright, a team president presiding over a declining franchise in terms of popularity, seen in any number of metrics including the fact that they were second to last in the entire league in attendance last season, decides to nuke the reporter on Twitter asking that very fair question.

And he didn’t minorly criticize, he threw a hissy fit. He actually used the words "childish" and "pompous." He dared threatened him by saying “don’t expect any special access or to build rapport with the guys.”

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the media. We’re not all looking for special access. Are there times you may request something out of the ordinary for a specific story? Yes. Are there reasons a team might invite a reporter in to cover something and there are stipulations around that? Yes. That’s the business.

But, day-to-day, we’re looking to tell stories with the access we have. We’re looking for the required by-rule access that the NFL has established and that is enforced by the Pro Football Writers Association of America that negotiates these things on our behalf. We’re looking for the same types of interviews and access that we have been given for years despite being critical, asking tough questions, and telling the truth about what has consistently been a poorly run franchise on and off the field.

And you know what? That honesty builds rapport. That honesty is what garners respect. You know how I know? Because I did it. I was there. I brought up bad play up with guys, not in a confrontational way, but in a way that allowed them to either correct the record or to answer for it. And generally speaking, platers appreciated that.

And even if you disagree with me and think that Scott was out of line and Jason’s criticism is correct, which is something I think reasonable people can disagree on that, it’s absolutely not Jason's job to handle.

Jason is the team president, not the team’s public relations director, who I would bet every single dollar in every single one of my bank accounts is absolutely furious right now. And I’d bet the same amount he’s not the only one in the organization, and I bet that includes the head coach.

This isn’t how you handle things, and again, I know this, because I’ve been there.

When I was the beat reporter for 106.7 The Fan, I’d get at least one call a year from Tony Wyllie, who was then head of the team's PR department, yelling at me for something either I said or asked, or often something that someone else on the station said! I’d get yelled at for stuff The Sports Junkies did and I’m like “Tony, why are you calling me about this?!”

But you wanna know what Tony did? He called me. And we talked about it. And without fail by the end of the call, there was an understanding. And if I was wrong, I’d make a correction. And if he was wrong or at least understood where I was coming from, he’d leave it and we’d continue our professional relationship. Not once did I have my credential threatened. Not once did I have my access dangled over my head. Not once was an interview taken away from me because of me doing my job in a way the team didn’t like because I didn't work for them.

And if that messed-up version of the organization could handle that, why can’t Jason Wright’s version?

The one he’s so proud of building the last two years, despite the epic blunders — from Sean Taylor’s number retirement to the brand unveiling to the busted sewage pipes to the failed training camp lottery system — that he’s overseen.

This could’ve been handled through the PR office. It could’ve been handled privately. But truthfully, there was nothing to handle at all. Scott did his job. Carson did his.

The only person who was unprofessional was Jason Wright. The only person who was pompous was Jason Wright. The only person who was childish, mad because he didn’t get what he wanted, which is apparently fawning propaganda that misleads the fans and belies what we’ve all seen with our own eyes was Jason Wright.

And at the end of the day, what this is a reminder is that Jason Wright is a person who works for Daniel Snyder.

If I’m gonna give Jason some grace, maybe this just wasn’t his best moment and the pressure of working for Dan Snyder amidst Congressional investigations, a failed stadium negotiation, multiple league investigations, and investigations by D.C., Maryland, and Virginia into the way they run their business, not to mention all of the other things I’ve been talking about for the last 20 minutes pounding on him every single day just got to him and he had a human moment. He broke. It wasn’t his best moment. He lashed out.

But realistically, no matter if this was an out-of-character moment for Jason or if it was a revelation of his character moment for Jason, this was a Daniel Snyder-like moment.

You don’t like someone? Go after them. Someone says something that’s unflattering about you? Threaten them.

Culture change? Not so much. It’s a Dan Snyder move from Dan Snyder’s team president and as we sit here in 2022 on the eve of the Commanders' debut. And some things are still the absolute exact same.

[Thinking Skins]

53 minutes ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

After Norv; who do you think hired those people? Dan is the #1 reason this team has stink his entire ownership.

Point is, as Sheehan likes to say, in most places people don't talk about the owner. Most casual fans don't either. They're taking about their fantasy team. No Skins/ Commanders players are on their teams unless it's a bye week. That's a problem. 

 

This is a transient area. So much of my neighborhood is not from here. If this were a good team they'd be fans going to games because it's the cool thing to do. But we're not good. The wizard are not good. The Nats were good and they were the thing in town. The Caps too. Winning helps. 

[formerly4skins]

15 hours ago, The Rook said:

 

"Commanders" is also better than "Lobsters", but it doesn't make it a good name. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rook

Lobsters is better...

 

Works with the fight song phonetically and the garish red that they're trying to pass off as burgundy. 

Edited August 16, 2022 by formerly4skins

[hail2skins]

2 hours ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

After Norv; who do you think hired those people? Dan is the #1 reason this team has stink his entire ownership.

It still cracks me up when I think of the people who explained away the Snyder suck by saying "well, but we sucked after 1992 until the time he became owner," as if Dan had so much to overcome.

 

And the dynasty-like success we achieved under Gibbs 1 was going to be difficult if not impossible to achieve in the salary cap era, particularly if you're not able to land a stud QB.

 

But I think a number of those same people think that the Skins have been an overall middle-of-the-pack team under Snyder.  Unfortunately, the numbers simply don't lie. In terms of winning percentage, we are like 6th or 7th worst. In a 22-23 season span.

 

Sooner or later, you have to acknowledge the sample size and not wave it away as simply bad luck.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by hail2skins

[88Comrade2000]

Winning helps, duh. Thing is, you have to hire the right people and let them

do their job. Dan has continually failed to do that.

 

#1 - Failure to hire a good Gm. Dan would often give the coach the Gm role. Marty, Joe, Mike and Ron. Ron hired 3 gms to help him but Ron is still the primary decider. When Dan had a Gm under Spurrier,Zorn, Gruden they sucked and Dan often was the real gm.

 

Marty- only hired because Dan’s ego had to prove he could hire someone, who said he wouldn’t work for him. Then fires him after a season because he wasn’t having fun.

 

Steve Spurrier- a big name college coach who was too lazy to be an nfl coach. Also the Vinny/Danny Gm team sucked.

 

Gibbs- Still the only coach to have 2 playoff seasons so far. Still, he did impose Saunders on him, which ruined 2006. Also, Gibbs never felt comfortable with the modern game.

 

Zorn- He let Vinny hire him, after the fans scared him from hiring Fassel. 
 

Shanny- wanted to hire him the moment he got fired in Denver but Shanny did nothing after Elway

 

Gruden- With Bruce now Gm, he hired his Buddy from Tampa days; Gruden. Jay was mediocre.

 

Ron- hired him after he got fired.

 

Winning cures everything but Dan’s decision have been poor and he’s interfered way to much and tried to play Gm.

 

Dan’s the main reason; we have failed to win and that isn’t changing.

[profusion]

Please don't tell me that some of you are tempted to try and kick that football that Lucy is holding. How many times have we been through this?

[Thinking Skins]

1 hour ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

Winning helps, duh. Thing is, you have to hire the right people and let them

do their job. Dan has continually failed to do that.

 

#1 - Failure to hire a good Gm. Dan would often give the coach the Gm role. Marty, Joe, Mike and Ron. Ron hired 3 gms to help him but Ron is still the primary decider. When Dan had a Gm under Spurrier,Zorn, Gruden they sucked and Dan often was the real gm.

 

Marty- only hired because Dan’s ego had to prove he could hire someone, who said he wouldn’t work for him. Then fires him after a season because he wasn’t having fun.

 

Steve Spurrier- a big name college coach who was too lazy to be an nfl coach. Also the Vinny/Danny Gm team sucked.

 

Gibbs- Still the only coach to have 2 playoff seasons so far. Still, he did impose Saunders on him, which ruined 2006. Also, Gibbs never felt comfortable with the modern game.

 

Zorn- He let Vinny hire him, after the fans scared him from hiring Fassel. 
 

Shanny- wanted to hire him the moment he got fired in Denver but Shanny did nothing after Elway

 

Gruden- With Bruce now Gm, he hired his Buddy from Tampa days; Gruden. Jay was mediocre.

 

Ron- hired him after he got fired.

 

Winning cures everything but Dan’s decision have been poor and he’s interfered way to much and tried to play Gm.

 

Dan’s the main reason; we have failed to win and that isn’t changing.

All this is true but the thing is we haven't had a QB. We've struck out on that. All I'm saying is that if we could have gotten a QB (say kept Green in 98, or kept Johnson in 2000, or drafted Rodgers, or drafted Luck, or drafted Wilson, or kept Kirk. There are other possibilities too. I'm just saying if we had lucked out and solved the QB position then we're talking about a tangent timeline because we'd be winning more games. And then if we're winning games then we have more fans going to games. 

[SkinsFTW]

1 hour ago, Thinking Skins said:

All this is true but the thing is we haven't had a QB. We've struck out on that. All I'm saying is that if we could have gotten a QB (say kept Green in 98, or kept Johnson in 2000, or drafted Rodgers, or drafted Luck, or drafted Wilson, or kept Kirk. There are other possibilities too. I'm just saying if we had lucked out and solved the QB position then we're talking about a tangent timeline because we'd be winning more games. And then if we're winning games then we have more fans going to games. 

 

My impression of Thinking Skins at parties explaining wacky alternate realities of Snyderdom:

 

[hail2skins]

Well, our goofball owner insisted on drafting Haskins (RIP), going against everyone else in the room. But no, not Dan's fault.

 

And I don't know what the point was in having Fitzpatrick here last season. 

[ExoDus84]

13 minutes ago, hail2skins said:

Well, our goofball owner insisted on drafting Haskins (RIP), going against everyone else in the room. But no, not Dan's fault.

 

Dan is the only idiot in the room.

 

Somebody (out of respect, won't name them specifically), decided it was a good idea to draft Daniel Jones even higher than Haskins.