Regardless of Joe Barry's Qualifications, Redskins Hiring Process May Be Flawed

The process wasn't as smooth as a lot of folks would have preferred, and the end result is surely going to sting fans who were expecting a bigger splash. But, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Joe Barry will be the new defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins. 

I'm here to tell you not to jump to conclusions about that man or his resume, but instead to wonder about the bad habits that front office has developed. 

I don't believe it's fair to assume that Barry isn't the right man for this job, because Barry has a fairly impressive track record and a good reputation. 

I know what some of you are thinking. But Brad, he was the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator when Detroit went 0-16 in 2008, giving up what at the time were the second-highest point and yardage totals in NFL history!

Yeah, and Rod Marinelli was that team's head coach—the same Rod Marinelli who is being praised for the magic he's used to make the Dallas Cowboys defense look half-decent and who received what we assume to be a very lucrative new contract last week to stay in Dallas despite attracting interest elsewhere. 

Point is, sometimes the coaches can only do so much to save the unsavable. Consider that a 22-year-old rookie, Cliff Avril, was probably the best player on that horrible defense. Beyond that, it was garbage. It was the last time we'd see guys like Dwight Smith, Dewayne White, Kalvin Pearson, Jared DeVries, Brian Kelly and Daniel Bullocks in starting roles. Their most prominent players were Paris Lenon, Ernie Sims and Leigh freakin' Bodden. 

That 0-16 season is on Matt Millen, not Marinelli or Barry. 

Anyway, from there, Barry went to Tampa Bay to work under longtime former colleague Raheem Morris. There, as linebackers coach, he got solid seasons out of Geno Hayes, Quincy Black and Barrett Ruud. That defense was by no means good, but the linebacking corps was their strongest point. 

He then jumped to USC to work under former mentor Monte Kiffin before coming back to the NFL to run the Chargers linebacking corps the past four years. 

For what it's worth, three of the four highest-rated defenders on the team from Pro Football Focus in 2011 were linebackers Antwan Barnes, Shaun Phillips and Donald Butler. Barry's unit has been torn apart by injuries and a lack of top-end talent the last few years, but he's still managed to get the most out of veterans Shaun Phillips, Jarret Johnson and Dwight Freeney. 

But this move is still quite concerning, mainly because it appears this was a deal made by newly promoted team President Bruce Allen, rather than new general manager Scot McCloughan. 

It's not a great sign that Allen continues to go back to that same old Tampa Bay well that gave him head coach Jay Gruden, offensive coordinator Sean McVay, secondary coach Raheem Morris and defenders E.J. Biggers, Adam Hayward and Tanard Jackson. 

The whole thing has me wondering once again who's calling what shots, which might not bode well. If indeed McCloughan has the final say on personnel, he should be involved in who will be designing and implementing the schemes for the players he's signing. 

Maybe McCloughan signed off on this, but it's hard to imagine he came into town and listed his top two defensive coordinator candidates as Morris and Barry, both of whom have prior relationships only with Allen.  

So once again, I'm not concerned that Barry is underqualified. If the Redskins exhausted their options and came to a consensus that he was their guy, I wouldn't blame them for making this hire. Sometimes you fall in love with a candidate, even if on the surface he doesn't appear to be the most qualified. 

But the process is just...too familiar. 

Wade Phillips, who has had a top-10 defense in seven of his last eight seasons as a coach, seemed like a hell of a candidate. Phillips runs a 3-4 and has a reputation for getting immediate results: 

• Under Phillips in 1989, the Broncos had the league's top-rated defense. In 1988, before he arrived, they were ranked 20th.
• Between 1994 and 1995, the Bills rose from 22nd to 12th in that area. The major difference? Phillips, who was hired prior to the '95 season.
• In 2001, the Falcons defense ranked 24th in points allowed. Phillips came on board in 2002 and they shot up to eighth in that category.
• The Chargers went from 31st in 2003 to 11th in Phillips' first year, 2004.
• In their first year under Phillips, the Cowboys shot up from 20th to 13th in terms of points allowed.
• The year before he arrived in Houston, the Texans ranked 29th in the league in points allowed and 30th in yards allowed. And in his first season, they finished fourth and second, respectively.

Phillips will be 68 this year, and it's fair to consider that. But that's the only reason—other than prior relationships—why I could imagine anyone picking Barry or Morris or even Vic Fangio over him. 

At some point, you have to wonder if Allen has become over-infatuated with his former organization. ESPN's John Keim elaborates on that borderline obsession with familiarity: 

"

During his last news conference, coach Jay Gruden said, in essence, that if you always do what you've always done you always get what you've always got. Would promoting Morris fall under this category? Unless they viewed Jim Haslett as the sole reason for failure (just as the organization had blamed Mike Shanahan for many things after last season. Turns out they were a bit wrong.). Along the same lines, does always hiring people with a connection to you fall under this category as well? It's not as if that Tampa group was a dynasty, you know? (The Bucs had top-10 defenses in total points and yards in six of seven seasons between 2002-08 when they went a combined 57-55; they were 45-51 in Allen's tenure, which began in 2003).

"

During his six years with the Buccaneers, Barry got great results from a gifted group of linebackers while surrounded by several notably great defensive minds. That was enough to earn him a defensive coordinator gig in Detroit, where you could argue he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since then, he's padded his resume enough to earn another shot, which is why this very well could work out. 

But if it doesn't, the Redskins will rightly deserve criticism for doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. 

Also known as insanity. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon