Diner Morning News: Snyder's Search

"The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist.” —Eric Hoffer

On Tuesday, we looked at Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren, two Super Bowl-winning coaches and candidates to return to the NFL—particularly if and when Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, decides it’s time to make an inevitable change.

Today, we’ll slide into Snyder’s mind once more and consider three others who may well become the object of his affection.

 

Bill Cowher: 52 Years Old, 161-99-1 Overall, One Super Bowl

Since we’re pretending to be “The Daniel,” we have to make a few assumptions.

Assumption No. 1: We have no chance of getting Cowher to leave the cozy desk of CBS Sports to work at Redskins Park. Cowher may want to coach in the NFL again next year, but the job has to meet his criteria, which centers on an owner who does not meddle (that’s not me) and a team that has a solid quarterback in place (that’s not the ‘Skins).

Assumption No. 2: We have to assume that Cowher, who happens to be best friends with Marty Schottenheimer, has heard all the bad stories about my little temper tantrums. It’s hard not to have a temper when you made a billion dollars before the age of 40.

We might also assume that Cowher has heard that I’m very involved with every decision regarding the football team. By the way, Schottenheimer also got rid of Vinny Cerrato when he was here, so it’s safe to assume that Cowher might not want the front office I have in place. And we know that Snyder loves Vinny like a family member.

Money can cure many problems in the NFL, but I don’t think there’s enough money to make Cowher forget the ghost stories from the very short Schottenheimer era in Washington. However, time does change people, and everyone knows I can sell anything—even the idea that I’ve changed.

Cowher would bring a program similar to the one Schottenheimer brought in 2001. Schottenheimer won 200 NFL games in his career, but that wasn’t good enough to stay on as ‘Skins coach.

In fact, I fired Schottenheimer to bring in Steve Spurrier, who everyone told me was a cinch to win games, but his lack of understanding of the pro game made him a disaster. For your information, all the people who called on Spurrier's behalf back in 2001: Do not call me now.

Cowher’s signature as a head coach is being tough, both physically and mentally. He demands control, and he is highly organized, with a great understanding of defensive football. When he has the kind of players who fit his profile, the team will respond to his style of coaching. He allows his assistant coaches to coach, but he is involved in every aspect of the game.

We have seen how this kind of coach works with “The Daniel." It lasted only one year. The team that benefited the most from the firing of Schottenheimer was the Chargers, who received a great coach at a cut-rate cost, since the ‘Skins had to offset his contract. Just another example of “The Daniel” spreading his wealth around the league.

Brian Billick: 55 Years Old, 85-67 Overall, One Super Bowl

Billick’s only head coaching job was with the Ravens, just a quick trip up I-95 from Washington and clearly in view of everyone evaluating his performance. Billick has a reputation of being an offensive guru, but the one area the Ravens could never establish any consistency was on the offensive side of the ball.

Billick asked the fans to “take a leap of faith” on his evaluation of QB Scott Mitchell when the team signed him in 1999, his first year as the head coach. Mitchell only started two games during the 1999 season and in his Ravens career.

The “Billick era” never could settle on a quarterback (sounds like the Snyder era here in Washington), going from Tony Banks to Elvis Grbac to Randall Cunningham to Chris Redman to Anthony Wright to Jeff Blake to Trent Dilfer to Steve McNair to Kyle Boller and ending with Troy Smith. The Ravens kept searching for the right answer, but never could get the position fixed, despite hiring Billick for his ability to procure and develop quarterbacks.

Billick is a unique Super Bowl-winning coach in the sense that the defense dominated the team. However, in fairness to Billick, his attempts to make the offense competitive and contemporary in the NFL played a huge part in helping the Ravens win the Super Bowl.

Billick did not manage the game as a defensive coach would have, just hoping the offense ran the ball three times and punted.

His attempts to develop a more diverse offense allowed the Ravens to be a challenge for opponents. A few first downs from the offense then allowed the Ravens to control vertical field position, which gave the offense an extremely short field.

In fact, in their Super Bowl-winning year of 2000, they scored 333 points, averaging 20 per game, which was plenty with the defense they had.

It might not have been an artistically beautiful offense during the Super Bowl year, but it was very effective.

Billick worked last year for the NFL Network along with Fox Sports, covering games and team needs for the draft. He demonstrated a passion for TV in his preparation and detail, which on the surface would indicate he might at least consider a return to the NFL.

Jon “Love You Bro” Gruden: 45 Years Old, 100-81 Overall, One Super Bowl

First, I’m always going to write “Love you Bro” when I refer to Gruden because no matter how many times I write that phrase, it will still be fewer than the number of times Gruden actually said it to someone. It’s not meant to demean the respect I have for his ability to coach; rather, it sheds light on his coaching style.

A little background into the origin of the phrase “Love you Bro:" It’s intended to poke insider fun at Gruden because no matter how long he’s known someone or how much he might dislike someone, he always ends his conversation with “Love you Bro.” So I’m keeping the nickname for two reasons: One, he always says it, and two, it plays a role in his player procurement policy and coaching style.

The following comes from a column I wrote when the Bucs fired Gruden in January: "We can examine his record in Tampa Bay and see that he was slightly over the .500 mark (57-55). He’s a great sound bite for NFL Films, and they have done a great job of promoting the legend of Jon Gruden."

The won-loss record doesn’t tell the whole story—they are just numbers. Nevertheless, when you look at the core of the team, the foundation built, Jon’s inability to “Love You Bro” hinders him from being successful. He does not want to fall in love with any one player, and he is quite hard on his players.

I referred to him once as the Larry Brown of the NFL. I meant that as a compliment because I love Brown, the Hall-of-Fame NBA coach, but like Brown, when Gruden has control of the personnel, he makes horrible decisions and hates the players he has to coach each day. He wants new, but after new is over, he wants more new. Does that sound familiar?

From Brad Johnson to Chris Simms to Brian Griese to Luke McCown to Jeff Garcia, there was never stability in the one position that is vital to the franchise. This is also the one position Gruden can coach as well as anyone in the league. Yet his refusal to fall in love with someone (I called him the Warren Beatty of quarterbacks coaches a while back) in the most critical position was his downfall in Tampa Bay.

Gruden is now a member of the Monday Night Football crew, but his passion has always been coaching. He may be in the booth for this season, but he loves the technical side of the game and craves the interaction with players and practice time.

Gruden loves practice, and he loves being with the players; he would always have a camp shortly after the season, in large part because he craved being around players. The MNF gig doesn’t offer the element that Gruden not only craves but also loves.

 

Up Next

So that’s our review of our five Super Bowl-winning coaches who are candidates as we continue to pretend to be Daniel Snyder. Thursday, we’ll break down the hiring process, shedding light on what goes on behind the scenes at these kinds of hires. We actually get to be in “The Daniel’s” office and maybe even using his private plane.

Don’t forget to check out The National Football Post's Fantasy Football Guide, which will help you win your fantasy league. I know I’m biased, but it’s a well-done draft guide and frankly is better than some of the reports I’ve heard in many draft rooms.

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