Diner Morning News: Finding the Right Coach

National Football Post

“It is important that an aim never be defined in terms of activity or methods. It must always relate directly to how life is better for everyone....The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgment.” —W. Edwards Deming

Part one of Bob Boland’s preseason coaching carousel last week was a great piece of writing—like everything Bob writes for this site. It was informative and fair, and as Henry David Thoreau once said, “A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.”

Bob’s piece made me wonder what will happen to all the Super Bowl-winning coaches who are sitting on the sidelines this year. Where will they end up next season? What teams will pursue them? Rarely are there so many fabulous coaches not coaching. Will they be back in the league any time soon? On the other hand, will they wait it out a year and enjoy their time off?

So for the sake of this column, let’s pretend you’re Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins. First, to understand how Snyder might think, we need some background. Remember what Harry Truman once said, “The only thing new thing in the world is the history you do not know.” So, let’s look into the history of the man called “The Daniel.”

Snyder has owned the Redskins since 1999 and has spent more money on player payroll than any other NFL owner since his arrival. But he has reaped few benefits, making the playoffs just three times in 10 years. He has two playoff wins to show for all the money he has spent on numerous players and coaches, and he has never advanced to the conference championship game.

He’s not afraid to make tough choices, take chances, or even admit a mistake, but his decisions have often been misguided. He has paid head coaches and assistant coaches more money than ever before, raising the bar for coaches’ salaries in the NFL.

Nevertheless, he does not want to spend money on a personnel man (yes, I know he has Vinny Cerrato acting as the GM, but Vinny is more like family than an independent counsel of player personnel). Snyder has felt that the coaches should help him guide his personnel moves, and he has devalued the impact of a good front office built around a state-of-the-art personnel department.

Snyder has won 76 games in his 10 years of ownership, and he has lost 84 games, has fired four coaches, and has had six head coaches. He has been an active owner but listens to too many “outsiders” while apparently making his own decisions.

When he hired Marty Schottenheimer in 2001, he gave him complete control to run the franchise in the style that Schottenheimer deemed worthy. Schottenheimer did what he has always done, which was to make the team competitive and to lay down an organizational structure.

When Snyder fired Marty, he wanted an opposite style, so he welcomed Steve Spurrier. Spurrier came to Washington with a reputation for being an offensive genius who could move the ball on anyone. However, his reputation was built coaching college ball, and he found the NFL was not a college league.

It was obvious early on that Spurrier didn’t have the organizational skills or the knowledge of the pro game to lead the ‘Skins. His pass protection schemes were so outdated that teams loved blitzing him week after week, with the ‘Skins never making any adjustments.

The Spurrier Era lasted two years, and in came Hall-of-Famer Joe Gibbs, who once again gained complete control over the organization. (Can you see the pattern here? Give control, take it away, lose, look bad, then give control away again—the law of opposites.)

The Gibbs hiring made the fans happy and resulted in keeping the media and fan attacks off Snyder for a while. The ‘Skins made the playoffs two of the four years Gibbs was head coach and won the first playoff game under Snyder’s ownership. However, Gibbs retired, and in came Jim Zorn.

He was originally hired to be the offensive coordinator, but when Snyder could not sell former Giants head coach Jim Fassell to the fan base, Zorn received a battlefield promotion. Zorn once again is the opposite of Gibbs in terms of wanting control, so Snyder is back in complete charge. (For the record, Snyder is always in charge, but he does pass the power to some coaches he hires.)

Now, since we’re pretending to be Snyder for this exercise, we know we have a ton of cash to spend. His net worth has been estimated at $1.3 billion (before the market fell). He owns Six Flags amusement parks, whose stock is tanking, but at least we would get free passes for all the rides, one of the many perks of being a Redskins employee.

Money is not our problem; rather, correctly evaluating the Super Bowl coaches currently out of work will be our most critical challenge as we pretend to sit in the big office.

By the way, in fairness to Jim Zorn, he has 16 games to prove he can keep his job. If the ‘Skins do win enough games to make the playoffs, maybe the lure of hiring one of these Super Bowl coaches won’t be as tempting. I don’t see them winning enough games this year, but I might be wrong—only time will tell.

Alternatively, with the 2011 lockout possibly looming, placing large sums in a coach who might not be able to coach is not a wonderful idea. Many teams are concerned about the lockout placing language in some contracts to protect the team.

Either way, I’m not firing Zorn; I’m just preparing for the “what if” factor that most teams have to prepare for. And since I’m pretending to be Snyder, the “what if” is always the opposite of the previous hire, in this case, Zorn not wanting control. So this list of Super Bowl coaches is in line with that thought process.

Here’s our working list of coaches (not in any specific order):

Mike Shanahan, former Denver Broncos coach,

Bill Cowher, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach, now with CBS Sports,

Mike Holmgren, former Seattle Seahawks coach,

Brian Billick, formerly Baltimore Ravens coach, now with Fox Sports, and

Jon “Love You Bro” Gruden, former Tampa Bay Bucs coach, now with ESPN.

Tomorrow, we’ll break down each coach for The Daniel, explaining their positives and negatives in detail as they relate to Snyder.

Consider it an advice column of sorts.

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