Our new Offensive Coordinator: Al Saunders.. possibly?

[UK Skins Fan]

As an aside, if Saunders British does he have the cool accent and all?

Just hearing him call plays in that accent will be awesome enough. It's like M telling James Bond the parameters of his next mission. Bond being Mark Brunell, etc.

God this is a silly post, but I had to do it!

You're quite right - this is a silly post. We don't all speak like Hugh Grant, you know, or Dick Van Dyke's stunning cockney impression.

But let's keep being silly, and listen in on Saunders' first rousing half time team talk:

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day"

Courtesy of Mr W Shakespeare.

[UK Skins Fan]

Is he from London, or does he just have a house there? He went to college in the States and has been in the NFL for 24 years.

Born in London.

Became a U.S. Citizen in 1960.

I do hope we're not going to start squabbling over him, are we?

[cvillehog]

Is he from London, or does he just have a house there? He went to college in the States and has been in the NFL for 24 years.

Born in London.

Became a U.S. Citizen in 1960.

I do hope we're not going to start squabbling over him, are we?

Nope, just repeating what I read.

[Gibbs4Life]

In madden 2006 Saunders' Offense is significantly more threating with much more complicated pass plays and better running plays...of course Gibbs' offense doesn't even come with shotgun formation.

ps- traded Gardner for K. Robinson and I'm killing with him. lol R.Royal is a white guy~!

[HEROHAMO]

Too much hype. An offensive corodinator is only as good as his player personell. Lets see what he would do with the Texans. One thing I am excited about is will this new guy bring Jason Campbell up to Par as far as the offense goes. If he can do that than Im sold.

[die cowboys die]

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. we now have the best defensive coach in the league, the best offensive coach in the league, and the best leader in the league (Gibbs). i think some of us feel we could have finished a few games better in the regular season with slightly better play-calling.

obviously i have serious doubts about brunell's durability, but in the seahawks playoff game it seemed like for the first 3 quarter, gibbs was running his typical offense and the seahawks knew exactly where every play was going. then in 4th quarter desperation, gibbs busted out his more wide-open stuff that isn't seen too often. the defense didn't know what to expect and as a result, we did much better in the 4th quarter offensively.

maybe that's a totally bum hypothesis. perhaps KC's execution has been better than ours, not the play-calling. but at least we can be pretty certain either way that we're getting the most out of the players we have.

[UK Skins Fan]

Here are a couple of articles from today's Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/20/AR2006012001673.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/20/AR2006012002000.html

From Wilbon's column:

The Redskins aren't going to mess around with tweaking the offense; the hiring of Al Saunders says they're going to overhaul it, take a jackhammer to what didn't work and start over.

So, who's going to help Saunders teach his system to the Redskins? The Gibbs Gang that doesn't know Saunders's system? It would seem Saunders needs at least two or three of the boys in his band to teach the new music. That would mean, not that Snyder would care, having, oh, 23 or 24 assistants, instead of the 21 he has now.

Now, I'm excited about Saunders coming on board, but I've started to think about what the implications really are. Gibbs has always been great at assimilating other people's stuff, bringing in fresh minds (for Saunders today, you could have said Dan Henning or Rod Dowhower in the past), and turning it all into a single coherent package.

But that approach suggests more of a tweek than a real shift. Musgrave's arrival last year was a tweek, a small but significant adjustment. The arrival of Saunders may just mean more. Presumably, a $2m coach expects to call the plays? I'm interested to see now where Breaux fits into the mix. Maybe he doesn't?

It's an exciting move, but may be a gamble. It may change the whole dynamic of the coaching setup, and it's difficult to know what that might lead to. Then again, Gibbs is a genius of using people's strengths and blending teams together, so I have to assume that he'll make it work.

BUT, if this is an overhaul, does that put back the development of this team? What's the story on teams with new offences winning the Superbowl in year one? Evolution, or revolution? That is the question.

And, here's another thought: if this is a revolution, would you prefer to start it with a new young quarterback? I'm one of those who expects Brunell to be the starter next year, but this might just change things. If everybody is going back to square one, why not go with Campbell instead?

It is possible that this is this the most significant move that the Redskins have made since Gibbs came back, but do any of us really know what might happen next?

[fredp45]

I really like the signing of Saunders...in the Gameday thread this year, I've said over and over -- you must suprise in the NFL, but our offense did NOT do that this year. We ran way too many times on 1st down, way too many times on 2nd and threw on 3rd and long. The defense knew, just like we did, what was coming. I believe Gibbs was able to get away with his predictible run, run, pass in his first go around, because we had possibly one of the best Olines of all times. Our line now is very good, not dominant.

The other interesting part is KC has been the best Offense for 4 years running and I dare half the folks who post here to name 1 WR on the Chiefs (not TE)- without looking it up. I wonder if Gibbs will realize that he can save some cap space and not spend on another expensive free agent WR...I know I'm a serious broken record, but our WRs are good enough to win in the NFL...I truly believe that. If we need a less expensive possession guy, I'd understand that but to go out and get Wayne or Moulds and spend millions makes NO sense to me. I really hate to tie up too much money on WRs, I'd rather spend more on lineman...I don't believe WRs win championships - See Pats. How about the teams playing this weekend...who do they have?

Steelers - Hines Ward. Randal El is good, I wouldn't break the bank for him.
Panthers - Steve Smith. Ricky Proehl - give me a break
Seahawks - Darrell Jackson. Bobby Engram - give me a break.
Broncos - Rod Smith. Ashlie Lelie -- he's fast, I'll give him that.

The teams that have spent big bucks on WR are home, just like us. Ask the Lions what 3 years of 1st round WRs are doing for them now -- hey, they get to host the Super Bowl!

[fredp45]

Found something very interesting on WR's -- the team with the best WR duo is probably Arizona...Look how close these guys are...

Fitz:
103 catches
1409 yards
13.7 YPC
10 TDs

Boldin
104 catches
1402 yards
13.7 YPC
7 TDs

The Cards ended the year at 5-11. Not so great considering they play the 49'ers twice and the Rams twice. I continue to feel that great WRs don't make the team.

[Smithian]

No doubt Fitzgerald and Boldin are the best in the NFL. Either of them could start for us easily.

[Steve Spurrier III]

The Cards ended the year at 5-11. Not so great considering they play the 49'ers twice and the Rams twice. I continue to feel that great WRs don't make the team.

Arizona's miserable record has much more to do with ranking 26th in league in points allowed as opposed to 1st in passing yards. New England and Indianapolis, who finished 2nd and 3rd, did not seem to suffer from their ability to throw the ball.

[skinpride1]

Gibbs and Saunders have worked toghther before and have the same mentor!!!Check it out and read up on it on redskins.com

[fredp45]

Steve Spurrier III -- why would you ever have this as an id? He was worthless?

My point is -- when you have 2 expensive WRs, you have to cut somewhere...unfortunately, the Cards cut on defense.

The Colts have outstanding WR's no doubt about it. Do the Pats even have a #1 WR?

[Irn-Bru]

The Colts have outstanding WR's no doubt about it. Do the Pats even have a #1 WR?

For the offense that they run, they don't need one. Deion Branch would be the closest to a number 1 that they had. And, while he wasn't a bad receiver by any means, he was no superstar there.

[Scottskins]

The Chiefs and the Redskins run very similar offenses. I see it breaking down like this...

Saunders will call the plays under Gibbs watchful eye. It will be somewhat of a collaberation, but Saunders will call the plays.

Our base offense won't change a whole lot. What we run out of our base packages will change. I expect us to be a lot more unpredictable, play to Portis' strengths a lot more and go downfield a lot more. I also expect us to run a lot more 3 receiver sets. The main thing I see changing is our early game mentality. We currently like to grind a team into exhaustion before we attack them. I think Saunders will attack them from the start of the game.

It's gonna be a great ride!!!

[John Manfreda]

The Chiefs and the Redskins run very similar offenses. I see it breaking down like this...

Saunders will call the plays under Gibbs watchful eye. It will be somewhat of a collaberation, but Saunders will call the plays.

Our base offense won't change a whole lot. What we run out of our base packages will change. I expect us to be a lot more unpredictable, play to Portis' strengths a lot more and go downfield a lot more. I also expect us to run a lot more 3 receiver sets. The main thing I see changing is our early game mentality. We currently like to grind a team into exhaustion before we attack them. I think Saunders will attack them from the start of the game.

It's gonna be a great ride!!!

Sanders better be calling the plays, the play calling really hurt us against Seattle, well this whole season.

[skinpride1]

The goal for next year will be exactly what alot of people having been screaming up and down about and that is for offense to not be so one dimensional!!!!Gibbs wants to add some more spark to the "O" and saunders can only help!!Damn what a coaching staff we have got now it has to be one of the best in the nfl!!!I know that there has got to be plans for that third wide receiver to be on the way.I think that David Patten still can surprise alot of people next year!!!I'm hoping we will have two great receivers next year and one awesome Moss!!!I can see Gibbs and Saunders sitting down and drawing the play book up that will take us to the super bowl!!

[skinsRin]

Every teams goals at the begining of the season is to win it all but our chance will be very realistic. If the Skins don't win their division or atleast make the playoffs I will be very disapointed. I will also be just as disapointed if we don't go deep into the playoffs.

[air_hog]

:SPECIAL REPORT:

I just saw on ESPN that "For the first time in his career, Joe Gibbs will be handing over the play calling to Al Saunders. Gibbs will take over more of a GM role, such as deciding what to do with QB Patrick Ramsey and LB LaVar Arrington"


I find that very interesting. I mean, besides the GM part, what will Gibbs really do? Just me a mentor???


Hey, here's the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2301861

[Scottskins]

Gibbs will be the head coach. There are a lot of HC's who have both offensive and defensive coaches. It was rare back in Gibbs first run, but is somewhat common these days.

I personally love this move. Obviously Saunders is a great OC. Him together with GW should make a lethal combo. And haven't we all been bitching about needing a GM for a few years now? I personally couldn't think of a better one than Joe Gibbs.

Maybe this is Joe's way of stepping out of his coaching contract early and moving into the GM role for at least the last couple years of his contract without people being able to say he didn't fulfill the contract? If we win the superbowl next season, I could definitely see Joe stepping aside so GW can take over, while Joe moves to full blown GM for the next couple years or more.