Vision Quest: Off Season Game Plan 2007, The Coaches

“Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians”

It just seems that phrase was made for the 2006 Washington Redskins coaching staff. Over the last few years the Front office has spent millions on bringing in ever ex-coordinator and head coach in the league. In fact our coaching roster is a virtual whose who of NFL legends and modern day folk heroes. We, including yours truly, praised the owner Dan Snyder for finding ways to compete in the parity driven NFL and opening his pocket book for every coach out there that Joe Gibbs wanted on his staff. We thought it would bring us victory.

We were wrong.

Instead of creating a virtual think tank of NFL knowledge the players could draw from, the Redskin coaching staff looked confused and at times out of touch. On offense there were serious issues with clock management and the decision to move to Jason Campbell came about three weeks too late. And on defense there were widespread systemic breakdowns resulting in one of the worst defenses to ever wear Burgundy and Gold, and that is including the pitiful George Edwards defense of 2003.

There is hope for the future and I am not trying to pit a gloom and doom scenario, but changes need to be made at Redskin park. Every year I do a series of articles in the off-season that focuses on players; who we will resign, who we will cut, who we will draft; which free agents to pursue Etc. I think it is only fair to turn an eye to the coaching staff as well.

But this is a lot harder subject. Unlike players we don’t have a real aspect from which to judge. Unfortunately most of these will have to be subjective grades, based in part how their units played and media reports of their demeanor and decisions behind the scenes. I will simply give each coach three grades. Safe means the job should be his as long as he wants it. Hot Seat means that he should be given one year to get it right. Dump Him means just that, time to start collecting resumes


Joe Gibbs, Head Coach
Safe

Right off the bat I am breaking my own rules. In reality a head coach with a record of 22-28 after three years and only one playoff win with the highest paid coaching staff and roster in the NFL would be on the Hot Seat. But I can’t do that to Joe Gibbs. Those who want to make the case for questioning Gibbs definitely have a case to make. Whether it was going to Campbell too late, incredibly bad off season moves, or putrid time management, Gibbs certainly has looked confused at times on the sidelines. There are three Lombardi trophies and a bust in Canton that compose of the entire other side of the argument. Right now I can’t get past the gleam of those trophies and visions of past glory. Right now I blame a lot of the team’s troubles on many of his assistants. So right now his job should be Safe…right now.

Al Saunders, Associate Head coach – Offense
Hot Seat

The first year of Al Saunders revamped offense was in almost every term a failure, at least until the reigns of that offense was handed over to Jason Campbell. I would like to think this was Al Saunders finally getting the tool he needed to run his offense when JC started taking snaps, but I can’t. The reason is that the offense also went through a change when JC came in that had nothing to do with him. We started to play, in Joe Gibbs words, “Redskin Football”, and by that I mean running the ball. Did Saunders wake up or to Joe Gibbs ring his bell? Or even scarier was it a coincidence? I think he should get one more year to figure it out.

Gregg Williams, Assistant Head Coach – Defense
Hot Seat

No coach’s reputation was hurt this last year more then Gregg Williams. His defense, once mere yards away from the #1 defense in the NFL (it was ranked #3) finished the season #31. Once the heir apparent and golden boy of the organization; there are now serious questions about his leadership and arrogance. It was because of his wishes we lost players like Antonio Pierce, Fred Smoot, & Ryan Clark only to replace them with Lemar Marshall, Carlos Rogers, & Adam Archueletta. In almost every case the Redskins turned out clear cut losers in the decision. Furthermore there are reports of the coach losing his players, much like his past stint as Buffalo head coach. In Williams' latest extension he is guaranteed 1 million dollars if he is not named the next Head Coach of the Washington redskins. Another year like this and Danny will probably write the check himself.

Joe Bugel, Assistant Head Coach – Offense/ Offensive Line
Safe

Joe Bugel is proof that the old style coaches can still get it done in today’s NFL. Each of the last two years once the redskins committed to vertical running game the Bugel offensive line has played at an exceptional level. It is important to remember that Bugel has only brought in one guy, Casey Rabach, in his three year tenure. However he has taken a shoddy inconsistent line that played under Spurrier and turned it into one of the top units in the league. If Derrick Dockery is resigned the line will have another full off season together. Here is hoping to an injury free off-season and another year of growing together.

Don Breaux, Offensive Coordinator
Jack Burns, Offensive Assistant
Dump Them

I am just not being fair here, but I am trying to make a point. With Al Saunders designing and calling plays, Joe Gibbs deciding on time management and crucial 3rd down and 4th down decisions, and position coaches having the say in most positional decisions what do these guys do? I am not saying that they should be removed from the organization via armed guard (that is reserved for a certain linebacker coach below). However many times over the last few years during crucial drives I have seen Joe Gibbs literally mobbed by a mass of people on everything from when to call a timeout to when to challenge a play. I swear one time I saw Joe trying to make a decision with Gregg Williams, Don Breaux, Clinton Portis, Mark Brunell, all yelling at him and I am sure Al Saunders was in his ear on the headset as well. I would not be surprised if one of the cheerleaders came over and weighed in. How many times did we take a timeout after a failed 3rd down conversion just to go ahead and kick the FG anyway? I postulate that lightening up the sidelines will help some of the time management issues.

Rennie Simmons, Tight End Coach
Safe

The progress of Cooley in his transition to pure tight end this year was a concern at the beginning of the season. Cooley got better as he went along and Simmons deserves some of the credit for that. He needs to develop a pure blocking TE to pair with him though on crucial goal line situations. Still overall TE has not been an issue and neither should Rennie’s job stability be.

Ernest Byner, Running Backs Coach
Safe

No coach did a better job getting his unit ready last year the Ernest Byner. Despite injuries to Clinton Portis the running game continued to improve as the game got along. The development of Betts over the last two years into a legitimate #2 running back is quite an accomplishment, although it does look like he has caught his coach’s propensity for untimely fumbles as well. I am excited to see Portis and Betts healthy and back together last year. This will be a big challenge for Byner; getting both backs involved in the offense could be tricky.

Stan Hixon, Wide Receiver’s Coach
Hot Seat

No unit has been as consistently inconsistent as the Wide Receiver unit. Outside of Santana Moss, no receiver has produced in a reasonable way. This is a concern and could be the position coach’s fault. ARE, Lloyd, and Patten all produced well before coming to DC. Could this be a system issue? Maybe. But since we have changed systems almost every year you have to wonder why a #2 receiver has not yet emerged. Until one does Hixon should not buy any real estate anytime soon.

Bill Lazor, Quarterbacks
Safe

Lazor found a way to get Campbell ready to take over the starting job despite Campbell’s lack of snaps with the starting unit for most of the regular season. He also has kept harmony on a unit that could easily be incompatible. Some of that is Brunell’s leadership, but at the least Lazor does not get in the way, I can’t see any reason to get rid of him or start over so w might as well keep him.

Greg Blache, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line
Safe

Lack of a pass rush from the front four is a concern. But you have to take the bad with the good sometimes. The good in this case is solid play from Andre Carter at the end of the season and the development of youngsters like Golston and Montgomery. He will have to find a way to replace Daniels and Wynn, one or both may be gone this season, but he may get an infusion of talent from the first draft pick we select to help him.

Dale Lindsey, Linebackers Coach
Dump Him

No unit has regressed more over the last 3 years then the line backing unit. Once one of the high points of the organization; the unit is not even a shadow of its former self. They can’t over, they can’t tackle, they can’t blitz. And on top of that is the Holdman situation. Despite players with more inherent talent sitting on the bench the last two years, Warrick Holdman continues to find his way into the starting lineup. When Holdman was a free agent this last summer do you know how many NFL teams wanted him? Exactly none. Snyder gave him a 25k signing bonus. That is the equivalent of a Toyota Camry, used. The NFL has made its judgment on Holdman but not Lindsey. His continuing story of a player not knowing the scheme and that is why Holdman is starting is Rumsfeld-esque. Not to mention he seems to be the only position coach willing to give bulletin board material to opponents and act like a classless jerk in front of the media. I haven’t touched on the regression of Marshall and Washington under his watch either. Lindsey has become synonymous with liability in my book.

Jerry Gray, Secondary/Cornerbacks
Steve Jackson, Passing Game Coord./Safeties
Dump Them

If only 10 percent of Tom Friend article of ESPN is true it is more then enough to warrant the dumping of one or both of our secondary coaches. Apparently these two can’t get along; perhaps they both should be dumped. Jerry Gray has had only one year here, but what a horrible year. Rogers regressed, could not adjust to the loss of Springs, Wright seems lost. Steve Jackson’s safeties were erratic and inconsistent all year long as well. Perhaps one overall secondary coach should be brought in so there is a clear chain of command.

Danny Smith, Special Teams
Safe

Mea culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea culpa. There has been no bigger critic of Danny Smith then myself the past few years. I always felt that the kicking game was the most important job of the special teams and we were horribly inconsistent in that department. It looks….looks mind you…that we might have some stability there with the emergence of Shaun Suisham and the new reliability of Derrick frost. However real competition needs to be brought in at both positions next year just to be sure. Preferably not washouts from Australia. The coverage units have been excellent this year on both punts and kickoffs. Blocked kicks have become more frequent this year, winning a couple of games for us.

That’s it for now. Up next week I will identify the Redskins that probably should be cut for Salary cap or performance reasons as the off-season game plan continues.

Hail to the Redskins!!!