Darrell's Blog
Posted 1/30/08 3:30PM EST
Redskins Coaching Search
Wednesday Morning ...
I'm heading in to my Sterling, Va., office. This morning when I woke up the only thing on my mind was the big announcement. I must confess, for some reason over the last few days I've started to experience a little bit of anxiety about the big question, "To be or not to be a 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectee?" To take my mind off the big announcement -- if you don't mind -- I'm going to write about the Redskins.
First, congratulations are in order to Dan and Tonya Snyder for making the Redskins the richest franchise on the planet. No matter how you look at it they are winners, period.
I've enjoyed watching them pull together their new coaching staff. It reminds me of how Lee Marvin picked his team in the 1967 movie, The Dirty Dozen. In the movie, each man was picked individually and with a specific skill for a specific task to meet the team's goal. Now, if I am right and this is what they are doing, then I applaud it because this way there is no place to hide for anyone. Every coach, just like every player, is in an independent contractor with full accountability to the owner and the owner alone. I think this is a great formula for success as it makes everyone pull their own weight with no relational hiding places as when a head coach hires everyone.
What about this talk about them needing to hire a GM to win big? Hogwash! I don't agree. Everybody knows that football is a game of yards and inches. These guys are very close and, trust me, it won't be a GM that puts them over the top. No! It's going to be the play on the field, not a decision in an office that will put them over the top.
"They can win big without a GM!"
Let me hear your thoughts, good or bad. I just want to hear from you.
I totally agree with you, coaches get way to much credit when teams win and get way to much blame when teams lose. It is the players on the field that determine if they win or lose. If you have the talent the coach is nothing more than a conductor.
Submitted by: David 1/30/08 3:52pm EST
Darrell,
First, all the props in the world to you. I applaud the Selection Committee, but most important you have demonstrated that you are a Hall of Famer as a man not simply as a football player. I didn’t vote but you have always been my number one Redskin (as much as I am a life long fan and dislike the team name). Second, I defer to your obvious superior knowledge about professional football but it does appear to me that a coach should have the ability to have his people in place if he is responsible for the team philosophy. I agree with the Lee Marvin analogy, but then that means it’s not the coach who is calling the shots. And, the follow up question is, does whoever is making these decisions have the football knowledge and the institutional structure to operate the team successfully game by game over several seasons? I don’t have the answers but, the team was definitely on the right track at the end of the season and I hope that at the end of this process it is going forward and not taking a step backwards on the road to our 4th Superbowl.
The best for the new year to you and your family.
Submitted by: Karl 1/31/08 12:34pm EST
