Sorry, but I Applaud Dan Snyder
In a world where there are so many legitimate reasons to slam Redskins owner Dan Snyder, why are all the commentators groping for a weak one? Of course, I'm referring to the outcry over how he has handled hiring a replacement for Team God Joe Gibbs. I have trouble finding any columnist, any fan, who'll stand up and defend the owner for doing what he's doing.
And that's a damn thorough job of interviewing candidates for an important position. For weeks, several promising head coach candidates have been rotating in and out of Redskins Park. I guess former defensive guru Gregg Williams had four interviews, former Giants head coach Jim Fassel has had several, Ron Meeks is at a similar frequency, and there are others too.
Can someone please tell me what's wrong with working your ass off in the interview process, hashing it out with every decent candidate possible? According to the Washington Post, the 'Skins appear interested in extending the search beyond the Feb. 3 Super Bowl. There are probably plenty of assholes out there who have a problem with that. Oh, they're not going to be ready for the draft, or somesuch.
There are probably some nincompoops, too, who feel that the Skins' recent moves to lock up a D coordinator and and O coordinator were stupid moves, considering that, hey, they haven't even hired a head coach yet. Well, here's a preemptive strike against any such moron: Snyder knows that head coaches are cronyists: They'll hire who they know, no matter how good or bad they are. Coaches just want their buddies sitting alongside them in the film room as they all chew tobacco.
It's about time that someone put the merit back in the hiring process. Thank you, Dan Snyder. (And that's sincere.)
And one more thought: Over the weekend, the Post's Mike Wise advanced the laughable argument that Williams should have been retained or treated better because he was the team's strongest link to the Sean Taylor tragedy. Here's what Wise wrote:
For everyone other than Snyder, this job search hasn't been about Gibbs at all. It's been about Taylor and how the team and coaches banded together to reach the playoffs without him. The healing was still progressing when Gibbs suddenly left. Williams was seen as the one link that could keep the chain of emotional recovery together.
Yes, the Taylor episode was and is an emotional hell. But I'm sorry: The search for a head coach is about moving on. If Williams was the best candidate to coach the Redskins for the next decade or so, then he should've been picked. If not, not.
I love the way the punditry says Williams got sandbagged, mistreated, etc., etc. Wise finds it outrageous that no one from the Redskins called Williams for more than a week after his last interview. Jeez, what a white-collar felony! Wake up–the guy got four bites at the apple. Don't you think there's a chance he said some stupid stuff in those sessions?
10:54 am
I can't believe I am responding to this other than to say that the author obviously has no clue as to what relationships and team continuity have to do with championships. There are 32 teams in the NFL, most with qualified personal. Systems and structure and the human element are what make a team great. Common sense and history of where we came from four years ago and what we are trying to build off of after getting respectable finally. These are two different things. If you try to run a NFL team the way you run a private company you are doomed. You can't just spend money and expect results. This is already proven.
With a private company you put your resources where you have results. With an NFL team you get results from the heart not the contract.
11:36 am
Erk, really...shut-up. You do not know anything about what you're talking about. Go root for the Giants and just shut-up.
12:00 pm
Interviewing techniques and skills when looking for a head coach of a professional football team are vastyl, vastly different than hiring for any other job so your argument that Snyder is just doing his job thoroughly is ridiculous...I'm going to guess that you're just cranky because the local media has spent so much time covering this.
12:36 pm
I agree with what Mark wrote. With the unexpected release of Gregg Williams and Al Saunders, the continuity is virtually gone. The 'Skins now have to rebuild and start all over. The very foundation of what Joe Gibbs built and left behind is now left in rubbles and the future of the 'Skins, Jason Campbell is left to study a brand new offense that he will have to get used to again. As a team, it will be very interesting as to see how they respond to the next head coach. The defense will be a little easier to evaluate since they promoted somebody from within. But even so, the strongest link to the Sean Taylor case, the most popular and talented player on the team is now gone and will probably have success elsewhere. If Joe Gibbs attained the Personal Team advisor position, then why in thw world doesn't Snyder just listen to him and hire Williams as head coach?
1:48 pm
Those of you under the belief GW was the best possible choice, especially for continuity, answer me this: How many teams have had success lately after promoting their head coach from within the organization?
1:48 pm
The only thing that I agree with the author is that if Gregg Williams was the right man for the coaching job, he should have been hired by now. Unfortunately, there are plenty of Redskins fans not please by these actions. Had the owner admitted that continuity may not be achieved during the coaching, do you think we'll this conversation? So, Snyder's new objective is to keep Skins fans from defecting after this episode.
1:50 pm
You've got it pretty much right -- there's not a damn thing wrong about this coaching search or not giving Williams the gig. I wish, from a PR standpoint, that the team had handled things a little more smoothly, but I do not fault them for (a) doing a thorough coaching search and (b) ensuring that their coordinators are the guys they want in the job. Any interviewee knows now that Zorn is OC, Blache is DC. It also seems pretty obvious to me that their finalists not only know who the coordinators are but have already signalled their approval.
For a marketing guy, Snyder sometimes has a myopic view of the PR he's putting out, but I think the care and detail with which they've done the search is dead on and exactly what they ought to be doing.
2:09 pm
I agree with Erik here and I'm a huge diehard Skins fan. What does anyone who is giving their 2 cents on this matter really know what's good for the team? Where is Adams Morgan getting his stance from? What does anyone know that is better than what the OWNER knows? Has anyone blogging actually sat in these interviews? Everyone should shut up, relax, and watch the super bowl blowout. The Skins will be fine. They were 9-7 versus the hardest schedule in the NFL AND their top defensive player was KILLED AND they lost most of their O-line AND their starting QB missed the end of the season. RELAX!
2:34 pm
Thanks, everyone, for your comments on this. I have no problem pleading guilty that I am not an authority on the NFL. But I just can't buy for a second the notion that somehow the rules for seeking out and hiring talent in the NFL run by some unique set of rules that aren't binding on any other competitive enterprise. Common sense says, "Interview as many candidates as possible." This notion, promoted by Adams Morgan, that interviewing techniques and skills in the league are somehow "vastly" different from other industries will remain a City Desk mystery for some time. Job interviews, in any context, in any line of work, consist of getting a candidate to sit down and answer important questions. That's it. Stick to the fundamentals here.
2:43 pm
Sorry, I'm still laughing about your comment that the Skins have the hardest schedule in the NFL...please tell where you got that crack you're smoking 'cause I need to throw some tennis shoes over the wires in front of the house.
But I digress. Which stance of mine are you referring to btw? My comment that Wemple is just cranky? I think we all know about his notorious dispain for the area media. Or my stance that hiring for the NFL is different than for jobs....I'm not saying that they should or shouldn't have hired Williams, I'm just saying that they've gone about this all wrong. Let's be honest, you have a team and a fanbase who dealing with a lot (death, playoff loss, coaching loss)and to put them through this long, drawn-out search for a coach does nothing to alleviate any concerns and at the end of the day it's the team and the fans that make the 'Skins the 2nd highest grossing NFL franchise. Of course no matter what they decide they won't please everyone, but don't alleniate everyone along the way...
And if you think the owner knows best, just ask some Raiders fans what they think about that.
2:46 pm
The interviewing process is different than your average job interviewing process because it's so very public. Let's be honest, at most companies when people are interviewed they meet with HR, their potential new boss and maybe one or two other people. 90% of the time, the members of the staff have no idea who is being interviewed.
3:31 pm
"Well, here’s a preemptive strike against any such moron: Snyder knows that head coaches are cronyists: They’ll hire who they know, no matter how good or bad they are. Coaches just want their buddies sitting alongside them in the film room as they all chew tobacco."
Isn't that what dan is after? A coach who will sit and smoke cigars with vinny and dan after a racquetball game?
5:18 pm
I don't get to pick the players. I don't get to pick the coaches. I didn't get to choose the guy who isn't a GM but is a GM. If I owned the team, it'd be GW. But I don't.
I can grouse all I want to and think that, even if Dan Snyder hires the second coming of Vince Lombardi, that he doesn't know a great Head Coach from a waterboy. But the truth is, I know that no matter who he hires, I'll end up supporting the Redskins because that's the only team I support. I don't do it for Snyder, and in reality I don't do it for the players or the coaches either. I do it because they have always been MY team, and I'm too old to change now. Maybe if he hired Bin Laden and the ghost of Ted Bundy I'd stop liking the Skins. But until then, they're still the only team.
But I still wish he'd gone with GW.
5:41 pm
Let's compare the hiring process. I'll take a public company for example. If you had a President or CEO quit, and the board publicly interviewed several qualified candidates that they then in turn fired and hired staff underneath the replacement before hiring the replacement, that company stock would go through the floor. Now imagine that this board went out without a contract in place, and publicly embarrassed a couple of potential replacements, what makes you think that anymore qualified people are going to walk through the door when there are opportunities elsewhere. Snyder has the reputation for being a dick before Gibbs and publicly told people that Gibbs was his childhood idol. Now who else can come in and put him in his place like Gibbs did? NO ONE CAN. We are screwed. AND we did have a grueling schedule by the way, 8 games against the teams that made it to the second or third round in the playoffs and played three games against the two teams in the superbowl
without a corner back and a starting line. GIBBS IS GOD!!