After another difficult season and many months of no access, Washington Redskins’ President and General Manager Bruce Allen met with the media to give a State of the Union and answer questions. The issues of head coach Jay Gruden’s autonomy within the organization, making changes and accountability were addressed in reality, but no serious information was divulged.
The opening statement Allen made focused on evaluation and correcting past mistakes.
“Good morning and Happy New Year,” he said. “We’ve just finished a frustrating season that had a few ups and too many downs. As Coach Gruden talked about with you all on Monday, we’re going to take this time to start a full evaluation of everything and look into the way we acquire players [and] look into the way we coach players. [We’ll be] looking at the way the players prepare in the offseason and in-season, make sure we correct the problems that occurred, make sure they don’t happen again and bring in the right people. You know, I’d like to tell you there’s a secret ingredient in football, but there really isn’t. It’s getting good players with good coaching and good chemistry; a little luck with injuries and that’s a successful formula. That’s what we’re going to start addressing.”
The adjective “little” actually applies more to the information that came from this press conference about what was going to happen with this franchise. The one thing that did become apparent… or at least the actual words were spoken… was that Gruden does have the authority he needs to run the team. Other than that, “little” was revealed about what changes will be made to make this organization better.
During former head coach Mike Shanahan’s tenure (2010 – 2013), it appeared that Allen and owner Dan Snyder called many of the shots despite Shanahan’s dual title of Executive Vice President and Head Coach. Most memorable was the decision to trade three first round draft picks and a second for 2012 first-round draft pick and quarterback Robert Griffin III, which many have speculated Shanahan was against.
Because of what many this year have perceived to be Gruden’s dislike of Griffin (whether personally or as a football talent) there has been some question about whether Gruden made all of the decisions regarding both Griffin and any matters of the football team in his first year here. Allen alluded to the fact that this is not the case with this current head coach several times and in different ways, and that Gruden made the football decisions throughout the season.
“Jay will determine that,” Allen said of who will determine who the next defensive coordinator is. “We’re going to start the interview process — or requesting permission to talk to people — later today.”
According to Allen, after Griffin recovered from his dislocated ankle and was activated to start the game against the Minnesota Vikings rather than backup Colt McCoy (who had just lead the team to a win against the Dallas Cowboys), that decision was Gruden’s and not Allen’s and Snyder’s, which had been reported.
“Jay has the autonomy,” the GM stated. “Jay made that decision. Jay decides who plays on game day at every position on this football team. He decides who is inactive on this football team on game day, so he has that authority. He’s had it since his job interview, as did everybody that we also interviewed for the job.”
Allen indicated that it would be up to Jay what coaches would be retained or not and was complimentary about the former Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator. He applauded Gruden’s honesty, reiterating that the players did as well. He said that they appreciated knowing where they stood with the head coach. He spoke of the culture changes that Gruden had facilitated so far, saying the coach had handled himself very well and that Jay, ‘knowing what to expect out of certain players will bode well for the 2015 season.’
Despite the optimism that Gruden might bring (and this is questionable to some); after the years and years of losing, the fans, the media and anyone else watching wants to know what the front office is going to do about it. This was something Allen either would not… or could not… immediately say.
The lack of information being imparted was frustrating. The main point that Allen did make clear was that there was going to be a lengthy evaluation process of every facet of the organization from the personnel department to the coaches and to the players.
It is the talent evaluation/scouting personnel and chain-of-command structure in Washington that has many people scratching their heads. Allen has been with the Redskins since 2010 and, in those years; save for 2012, the result remains the same… double digit losses, insider leaks and an out-of-control-circus-like atmosphere. Why would anyone assume that the results would change if there’s no change in the position and authority of the current people who call the shots?
While at the podium, Allen also said that he takes full responsibility for the state of this team. While that is all well and good, there was never anything said about a change in his role. In other words, he never said that his responsibility of having the final say when it comes to talent evaluation and acquisition will or should change. He only spoke of what his current mission was.
“Well, the one thing I do love about the NFL and I love in all of sports — it does have a scoreboard” the executive said when asked about the Redskins’ continued losing record in his fifth year here. “I don’t have to pick up a newspaper or read the internet to find out how we did. We either win or lose as a team, and it is my responsibility to make sure that we have all the people in place throughout the organization doing their jobs. As I said earlier, holding those people accountable — and that includes myself — and making sure if there’s a way we can do things to help this organization to win; to get back to the basics of this great franchise, that’s what we’re going to do. That’s my job to help figure out that puzzle.”
The team President did say, several times, that there would be changes made to the organization. He just would not say where and when they would be made. He even made a joke about it feeling like a much longer period than two years since 2012 when the team won the division.
“I think there [are] going to be changes,” was the answer to why fans should be confident that things will ever be different. “I know Jay mentioned that he’s going to make some changes and there’s going to be some other changes. But that’s part of the evaluation process right now. We’re looking for the solutions to get the team back on track. It seems like a long time ago when we won the division, and in football I guess it’s sort of like those dog years, it does multiply with each year. But, I’ve seen different people perform, I’ve seen the way people have evaluated talent, I’ve seen the way they’ve worked together, and I know this group will do it again.”
The question of fixing what ails the Redskins, of bringing in a real, live football person to evaluate and hire talent; and how this franchise would be made into one that can win was asked in as many ways as one could think of to ask. The answer was pretty much the same every time, just with a different non-answer sort of spin to it. Basically, the answers were similar with just a few verbs and adjectives changed ‘to protect the innocent…’ that is, it would take some time to do the evaluations and then they would do whatever they had to do to make things right.
“Well, first of all, we’re doing some things differently this last year,” Allen said early in the press conference when asked what changes could be made to produce wins. “We have a new coach and there’s been a new attitude in this building and I think Jay has really brought this team together and they’ve worked hard together and they fought hard together throughout the year. With that, there’s going to be growth. That’s exactly what we’re doing right now, we’re analyzing why we took ‘X’ player versus ‘Y’ player, and we’re looking at it. The attitude and the core of the people is good and it’s healthy. We understand 4-12 is not acceptable to our great fans and it’s not acceptable to anyone in this building. I feel awfully responsible for it. We’re going to make sure we hold everyone accountable for everything that happened.”
But of all of the non-answers…. the ones that had no real information in them… regarding what they’re going to do to fix things, this is my favorite:
“I don’t mean to be repetitive,” Allen said when asked if he and the team might be better served if they brought in someone to oversee the football operations, “but if we can find a winning formula that’s going to help this team win on the football field, we’ll absolutely do it, and that includes me. If it meant mowing that lawn out there every Tuesday, I would mow the lawn every darn Tuesday. I want the Burgundy and Gold to win. That is my job. And my responsibility is to try and figure out how to do that.”
What exactly does he mean when he ‘includes’ himself as he did today several times? Does that mean that, if after their evaluations are completed, if they find that he is a huge part of the problem, that he is going to reduce his own responsibilities in personnel evaluations? Will he demote himself? Will he bring in someone new to approve (or not) his recommendations?
If Allen made a move like that, it would show a lot of moxie. It would show some humility. It would also show that he means what he says. .
One can always hope.
Hail.