Fitz Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 I've read Citypaper since college, and I've always loved it. But as a source of sports information, it sucks, to coin a phrase. This has to be one of the most laughably misguided pieces I've seen recently. This guy's so misinformed and lazy, he could be an understudy for Dr. Z or Peter King. Too Many Chiefs, Not Enough Redskins By Dave McKenna Last off-season, Daniel Snyder wanted to sign only big names. This year, with Marty Schottenheimer calling all the shots, big names are out. Preference instead goes to prospects with a long name. So long as that name is Schottenheimer. Having "Kansas City" on your résumé will also get you a cleat in the new sheriff's door. The signing on June 1 of John Schneider, who formerly worked for Schottenheimer with the Chiefs, as the Redskins' new player-personnel executive was just the latest evidence thereof. Schneider got the top talent-searching job only after Mark Hatley, who also worked for Schottenheimer with the Chiefs, turned it down. What started out as a cutesy episode of family ties has become rather ridiculous. When it comes to recruiting staff and players, the new Skins sagamore appears to be merely dusting off old time sheets from his days at Arrowhead Stadium. Sure, he inherited a fixer-upper of a team, so Schottenheimer's decimation of the front office and roster is no great shock. But his methods, to paraphrase what was said of Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, sure seem unsound. The big problem with his Kansas City fixation is that Schottenheimer isn't reassembling the Ming Dynasty. He's resurrecting his own Titanic: Schottenheimer's 1998 squad, his last in Kansas City, was favored to win a conference championship and go to the Super Bowl. Instead, that team never played anywhere close to expectations, ended up 7-9, and was soon coachless. Sound familiar? Well, there are parallels to what Washington went through last season. Except the Skins had a better record: 8-8. The first sign of the shape of things to come came after Schottenheimer jettisoned essentially the entire Redskins coaching staff (somebody named Mike Trgovac was the only assistant given a life raft) and launched a search for a defensive coordinator. Amazingly, that search ended with the hiring of Kurt Schottenheimer, a younger sibling of the head coach. The post had been held by Ray Rhodes, who had become quite popular with fans and players here while improving the Redskins defense from a Bottom 5 to a Top 5 ranking in just one season. When giving away Rhodes' job, Big Brother downplayed the siblingness of their relationship, except to say that the hiring would have been made sooner if there had been no blood ties. (He probably said the same thing when he hired Kurt to be on his previous staffs in Cleveland and then Kansas City.) The only memorable moments provided by the Kansas City defense in 1998, when the brothers last worked together, came during a Monday Night Football appearance against the Broncos, while the Chiefs committed five personal fouls - on a single drive. After the nationally televised blowout loss, owner Lamar Hunt termed the team's actions a disgrace to the city. Losing ugly, it turns out, came as easily to Schottenheimer's last squad as it did to the 2000 Redskins: The 1998 Chiefs ended the season as the most penalized team in the league. The old boys' network really opened up after Kurt's hiring: Next on the list was Marty's 27-year-old son, Brian Schottenheimer, hired in January as the new Redskins quarterback coach. The previous highlight of Brian's résumé came with his tenure as "offensive quality control assistant coach" for the Chiefs while Dad roamed the sidelines. Not to overplay the nepotistic tones of that title, but the Redskins have apparently never had an offensive quality control coach. According to the Washington Times, young Schottenheimer is under orders to call the head coach "Marty," not "Dad." Then came Jimmy Raye, hired as the offensive coordinator, the top coaching job on offense. Raye held that same title with the 1998 Chiefs. And then followed wide-receivers coach Richard Mann, offensive line coach Joe Pendry, strength and conditioning coach Dave Redding, and special teams coach Mike Stock. All are ex-Chiefs. After filling out the coaching vacancies, Marty Schottenheimer quite considerately surrounded his friends and family with faces they were familiar with. The veterans he's brought in have been ex-Chiefs to a laughable degree. Schottenheimer cut Larry Centers, as hard a worker as the Skins have had on game days in recent seasons, for allegedly not hitting the weights hard enough. Then he filled Centers' spot in the backfield with Donnell Bennett, whom he remembered from the Chiefs. There's no statistical basis for the swap: Last year, Bennett gained 24 yards on 27 rushing attempts. It's not easy to stay in the NFL averaging less than a yard per carry. He also had two receptions for 17 yards. Centers, by comparison, averaged better than 5 yards a carry last year and made a team-high 80 catches. Skins fans can rest assured that Bennett will be a monster in the weight room. The new Skins head coach also cut second-string running back Skip Hicks. It's expected that Hicks' place will soon be taken by Greg Hill. The former Chiefs tailback hasn't gained a yard in the past two seasons, but he clearly feels welcomed by the new leadership here: Hill, who played with Schottenheimer from 1994 to 1997, doesn't yet have a contract with the team, but he attended the recent minicamp at Redskin Park anyway. Skins ball carriers might have trouble finding holes next season, what with the team's top offensive lineman, guard Tre' Johnson, having been cut by Schottenheimer for being injury-prone. So the ex-Chief runners will instead be running behind their ex-teammate, 33-year-old guard Dave Szott, who has had two of his last three seasons in Kansas City ended by injury on opening day. In late April, Szott said he planned to retire, but he then inked a deal with his ex-coach, Schottenheimer, a week later. The Skins' top free-agent signing thus far has been wide receiver Kevin Lockett, who got a $2 million deal from Schottenheimer. The coach expects Lockett to be the No. 2 receiver next season. Lockett's numbers in his four years with—you guessed it—the Kansas City Chiefs: 87 catches and 0 touchdowns. Assuming these acquisitions put up the same numbers under Schottenheimer in D.C. that they did under Schottenheimer in Kansas City, the Skins are going to need a decent punter next season. To that end, the boss brought in free agent Bryan Barker. He's a former Chief. The head coach's powers extend to putting together the preseason schedule. A tilt with the nearby Baltimore Ravens had been discussed in recent years in the interest of fomenting a rivalry, but Schottenheimer has decided to take another path. So, instead, his new-look Redskins will debut with an Aug. 12 exhibition on the road. In Kansas City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 If it wasn't so thoroughly shallow, it might even be amusing to refute. But why waste the time? Other than the fact that we just probably doubled this yutzes' readership by posting his tripe here (sorry Fitz ), I suspect Mr. McKenna, his sour worldview and his razor eye will soon fade back to the dull gray anonymity from whence he sprung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markrc99 Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 i agree that the pc has a bias overtone, but it does make a valid point or two. i would tend to agree that if the redskins enjoy more productive QB play,the player himself will be the larger factor. i'm not going to judge marty's decision to hire on his son as QB coach,but the writer's scrutiny of jr's resume holds merit,i'd say. we're not "top-shelf" offensively now. but NFC east games are games that are traditionally played pretty close to the vest anyhow. it's a smashmouth division,and we got one heckuva smashmouth coach! i feel marty has a great shot at getting over the top here with the redskins. yeah,from a personnel standpoint he's(not w/o exceptions)been just swapping washballs but one should consider the situation cap-wise too. offensively i'm not going to formulate absolute opinions until the redskins play. watching KC,there's things i like & dislike. i got a '99 gm vs tampa and KC came out on their opening possession in a single back spread formation. i was like,what's this? they wanted to spread that tampa front out and matchup their bigger OL and expose any empty box with the run. and they were doing a great job,but as soon as they passed and big warren(#99)beat his man & forced a grbac fumble,that was it!! gunther completely scrapped their plan A gameplan. i couldn't believe it. i noticed that although they run a more up tempo pace,they don't have a two-minute offense. 2.0/1.5 minutes on the clock and it doesn't matter,they'll just run the thing out. same with long yardage situations,they'll just run it. they favor draws over screens. throughout the '90s the chiefs were by far the best turnover ratio team the entire league. i mean,they were like DOUBLE that of the 2nd best team! things like that don't happen by accident,or by attempting to execute a high octane offense. i don't know that they do a great job of utilizing tony gonzalez. i just think he's a very gifted TE and they go to him. they'll run some clearouts and drag him across the pattern exposing a LBer matchup. the few times i'd see teams pair him up w/CB i didn't see KC respond w/anticipation. sometimes though,i didn't feel the KC coaches had much confidence in elvis grbac. it's hard to say but i believe our initial priority will be to take care of the football. hail the new regime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 Dave Szott? I didn't realize he was a Redskin...... Well, that's what happens when we go to the rag with the laugable ads in the back for the "dominatrix" and "chicks with d****"............... To take the thing seriously for a moment, how fair is it to judge a coach that posted 9 or 10 win seasons or better for years in Cleveland and KC only on the basis of the 1998 season when the Chiefs were 7-9? Joe Gibbs was 7-9 one year as well. Tom Landry was 0-11-1. While legitimate arguments can be made about counting on Bennett as the primary backup to Davis based on his career numbers, one can also point out that Bennett in 1999 had 627 yards rushing which in just that year outdistanced what Hicks did in Washington in THREE years. So in the Bennett for Hicks swap are we now better off or worse? I wouldn't look to the Citypaper for an informed opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucs92 Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 I dunno.......do I hear Nero fiddling in this thread? ------------------ Hey, didn't you used to be the Boston Redskins (shaddup!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 The article is more satire than information, and bad satire at that. It's not worth the read. ------------------ "Loosen up, Sandy baby. You're just too damn tight!" - John Riggins to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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