Who Will Replace Gibbs?

[Bob 0119]

Has anyone else considered the possibility that neither Al nor Greg want the job?

Or maybe at the least said they want time to think about it?

Makes sense when you think about it. Neither of these guys were really prepared to be the HC this year.

They may be happy where they're at.

[GoSkins]

Schwartz takes Williams' place and Grimm takes Bugel's place. Williams is HC, Saunders remains OC.

[Jake]

Source: Williams set to interview with Redskins
By Chris Mortensen

ESPN.com

Updated: January 12, 2008, 1:37 PM ET

The Washington Redskins planned to interview their defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, for their vacant head coaching job on Saturday afternoon, according to a Redskins source. Williams is considered the frontrunner for the job.

They have also interviewed Arizona Cardinals line coach Russ Grimm and Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

The Redskins still have not complied with the Rooney Rule, which requires that they interview at least one minority candidate for the job. They plan to interview Colts assistants Jim Caldwell and Ron Meeks, which would put them in compliance with the rule. But they cannot interview the Colts assistants until after their playoffs.

Chris Mortensen is an NFL reporter for ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3193242

[UK Skins Fan]

In five years as Titans defensive coordinator, Schwartz's defences have been ranked 19th, 25th, 27th, 32nd, and then 5th in the NFL?! This hardly seems like the CV of a defensive genius, does it? He doesn't come close to Williams' record.

The defensive rankings don't really tell the whole story though. The Titans' defense was absolutely gutted a few years ago because of major salary cap problems. We all saw what happened with our defense last season when the talent wasn't quite there.

That's true enough, but we can't go hiring people on the basis that "their performance might have been better if they'd been given better tools for the job". If he was dealt crappy players, then he has an issue with his current employers, but I don't see how the results of his five years in charge of the Titans defence give any reason to raise expectations in Washington.

[SkinsJock]

... Just out of curiosity what is it specifically that we’ve seen recently?? I keep seeing all this support for the “new” Snyder… but outside of hiring Gibbs and allowing him to be the face and voice of the organization what is it that you’ve seen??

I’m not saying it’s not true I just see no evidence. I’m just reserving my judgment until I see how he conducts business without Gibbs, so far….

He has not and doesn’t intend to hire a GM. When all things good point to GW as the next coach he’s looking elsewhere, which tells me he hasn’t learn patients from Gibbs like he said he had.

It is the fact that we have not seen (or heard) from him in the past 4 years that is in itself an indication that he might be relying on others to assist him, that is the point.

I understand and share your concern about Snyder - I just think that IF he has learned anything at all in the past few years, we are going to see him do his due diligence here and end up with a coaching group that takes us a little more down the path that Gibbs has started us on - I think that means Williams and Saunders et al BUT, the next step, and hopefully soon, is a GM Now that is not happening (apparently) soon but hopefully the new HC can lobby for that as this coming season develops.

We shall all see the "new" or SOS (same old Snyder) soon

[chiefhog44]

Schwartz takes Williams' place and Grimm takes Bugel's place. Williams is HC, Saunders remains OC.

Guys, take Grimm off the list for any position except for HC. We do not and will not receive permission to speak to him about any job except for HC...period

[aswas71788]

What's all the excitement about Schwartz? Of course he is the front runner, he is the only one we know of that has been interviewed publically. But remember, since he is the only one publically interviewed (a field of 1), he is also in last place.

[SkinsJock]

Today we hear that despite all those reports about Grimm interviewing with the Redskins - he not only has not interviewed, we have not been given permission (as of today) to interview him - this situation is being very badly reported

as usual when it concerns our team the media is looking for anything that makes no sense - this will continue IMO because they are still refusing to think it is possible that Gibbs has affected how we operate.

[por-tiz2skins]

I say Russ Grimm.He'll upgrade that OL pursue better for JC and is a redskins OL legend.

[PulpExposure]

Redskins, Schwartz could be a fit
Titans coordinator has in-depth interview with Snyder
Posted: Friday January 11, 2008 2:34PM; Updated: Friday January 11, 2008 2:43PM
You can hold off on the notion that Redskins assistant Gregg Williams is a slam dunk to replace the re-retired Joe Gibbs in Washington, in light of the news that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder started his coaching search Thursday by interviewing Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

And this was no cursory three-hour, keep-your-name-on-file interview either. Snyder and Redskins vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato met for about nine hours with Schwartz at Sndyer's mansion overlooking the Potomac River.

Sources say Snyder came away very impressed with Schwartz's intelligence, coaching philosophy and communication skills. That Schwartz, 41, is close to Snyder in age (the owner is 42), and knows the D.C. market from having grown up in Baltimore and attended Georgetown further boosts his candidacy. That common ground lent itself to a long and surprisingly detailed and wide-ranging conversation that stretched from morning until early evening.

And there's another factor that could work in Schwartz's favor: He's suddenly in demand, at least in terms of head coaching interviews. Schwartz was scheduled to be in Atlanta on Friday to interview for the Falcons' coaching vacancy, and the Dolphins received permission to meet with him about their opening on Monday. Knowing he may have competition for Schwartz can't possibly do anything but deepen Snyder's interest in him, since Snyder seldom shies away from a bidding war.

Conventional wisdom was that Sndyer would follow his familiar pattern of seeking a head coaching candidate who has headline name potential -- see Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier and Gibbs -- but there are indications that he's unconcerned with such factors this time around. While it is believed that the Redskins have ex-Steelers head coach Bill Cowher on their radar screen, the NFL analyst for CBS has again put the word out that he intends to remain out of coaching in 2008.

Sndyer is said to be focused on how to seamlessly build on the success that the Redskins had this season, when they rallied to a 9-7 finish and made the NFC playoffs as a wild card entry. Interestingly, that desire seemed to strongly favor Williams, the team's assistant head coach-defense under Gibbs. Several Redskins players have come out strongly in favor of Williams being elevated to replace Gibbs, and his three years of head coaching experience in Buffalo (2001-03) was seen as another plus.

But in Schwartz the Redskins would be hiring someone who runs a very similar style of attacking and aggressive defense to the one Williams has installed in Washington. In part that's because Schwartz served two years as a defensive assistant under Williams in Tennessee (1999-2000), when Williams was the Titans' defensive coordinator.

The Titans were ranked fifth defensively this season, and Tennessee made the AFC playoffs for the first time since 2003. Schwartz' only previous head coaching interview took place in San Francisco in 2005, before the 49ers hired Mike Nolan.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/01/11/coaches/index.html

Does it bother anyone else that Snyder is misspelled several times (Sndyer) in this article? Seriously, he's a writer for a major sports publication; at the very least his editors should have caught it.

Sloppy. Just sloppy.

[CanesSkins26]

Williams Interviews For Redskins' Vacancy

By Jason La Canfora
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 13, 2008; Page D01

Gregg Williams was interviewed for the Washington Redskins' head coaching vacancy yesterday, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, while numerous NFL executives and agents continue to say they believe he is the favorite to get the position. Williams, Washington's assistant head coach-defense, spent the past four years on Joe Gibbs's staff and has strong support from players and coaches at Redskins Park.
Gibbs and owner Daniel Snyder have stressed the importance of continuity as they search for a leader for the organization -- and Snyder's sixth coach since buying the team in 1999 -- and hiring Williams is seen by many as best ensuring they retain stability from this season's playoff finish. Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, the team's vice president of football operations, have been conducting the meetings at Snyder's home. Williams served as head coach in Buffalo from 2001 to 2003, was a successful defensive coordinator with Tennessee before that and his defenses in Washington have finished ranked in the top 10 in three of the past four seasons.

Snyder is known for being meticulous when it comes to interviewing coaches since beginning a failed experiment with Steve Spurrier six years ago, with sessions often lasting 10 hours or more. With the team at a crossroads after Gibbs's sudden retirement, there is much to go over. Several general managers contacted said they believed the job of Al Saunders, the Redskins' associate head coach whose offense has under-performed in two years in Washington, could be in jeopardy, and some turnover on the offensive coaching staff may be inevitable.

Snyder soured on the lack of offensive progress since Gibbs handed off play-calling duties to Saunders, according to several league sources who spoke with members of Washington's management through the season, and many braced for a change even had Gibbs stayed. Saunders, who earns more than $2 million per season, has not been considered as a candidate for the coaching vacancy at this point.

Saunders and Williams are not close, according to team sources, and though they could likely work together, there would have to be much greater interaction between them if Williams were head coach, and they have differing philosophies on many football matters. There will certainly be consideration given to how Saunders's presence relates to the development of young quarterback Jason Campbell, who has been through eight systems in the past nine years, as well.

Several high-ranking personnel executives said it also is inevitable that the topic of the front office will be discussed as well, given that Gibbs was also the team president, leaving just Snyder and Cerrato in decision-making roles with no general manager.

Snyder has been adamant that the club's system of player procurement is working and that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But, as one NFL personnel executive said, "They're talking a lot about stability, but if you're not set up the right way, things can become unstable real quick." There would also be a matter of extensions for the existing assistants to finalize in meetings with Williams, as most of those coaches are in the final year of their contracts.

The Redskins began the interviewing process Thursday by meeting with Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, a Baltimore native and Georgetown graduate, and interviewed another assistant coach Friday. That coach's identity has not been disclosed but it was not former Redskins player and coach Russ Grimm, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.

The Redskins would like to interview two coaches still involved in the playoffs -- Indianapolis's Jim Caldwell (offense) and Ron Meeks (defense), according to a source with knowledge of the situation -- and will ask for permission to contact both. But they are not eligible to interview until the Colts' season ends, or, should Indianapolis reach the Feb. 3 Super Bowl, until the bye week before that game.

Caldwell and Meeks would meet the requirements of the Rooney Rule -- the NFL's rule that clubs interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching vacancies -- and it is possible the Redskins may have already interviewed a coach who meets that requirement. A source close to Schwartz said he would be surprised if the Redskins waited until next month to hire a coach, considering Meeks and Caldwell could be off-limits until then. Schwartz, the Titans' assistant, "got the sense that they were moving fast on this," the source said.

The source who spoke to Schwartz said his sense was that the team was not leaning toward hiring an executive in the mold of a general manager at this time, and believes that Williams is clearly the front-runner. The source also believed that the four offensive coaches who were with Gibbs from his first stint in Washington -- Joe Bugel, Don Breaux, Rennie Simmons and Jack Burns -- would remain a part of the staff, and they have expressed their desire to continue coaching.

Staff writer Mike Wise contributed to this report.

The part is bold is very troubling to me. When talking about continuity, the person that would be most affected by all of this would be Jason Campbell. If we are going to change things offensively then I don't think that GW makes very much sense as the HC.

[ChocolateMilk]

I dont understand why we cant just hire GW after we finish that one Runey rule or something. He can keep running the defense and run the team and Saunders can stick to the offense. i mean is it more complicated than that or something?

[CanesSkins26]

I dont understand why we cant just hire GW after we finish that one Runey rule or something. He can keep running the defense and run the team and Saunders can stick to the offense. i mean is it more complicated than that or something?

It is slightly more complicated that that. We don't really know how Snyder feels about Saunders and the offense. Most new head coaches hire their staffs and do not inherit a full staff. So perhaps GW would want to bring in his own people, instead of sticking with Gibbs' people. We also don't know what type of offense GW would want his OC to run. A lot of people are saying that hiring GW would result in continuity and no major changes, but until we get more information I'm not sure how accurate that is.

[Snout]

Here are three reasons Snyder cannot hire Williams:

If Williams is not successful in his first year, the Washington Post will say "You gotta give him time to bring in his own people and do things his own way" and Snyder's hands will be tied.

If Williams is not succcessful in the second year, the Washington Post will say "Snyder has to learn to be patient" and Snyder's hands will be tied.

If Williams is not successful in his third year, the Washington Post will say "That dummy Snyder doesn't know anything about football. After seeing the result in Buffalo he should have been smart enough to forsee the same result here" and Snyder will have no choice but to do what he probably wants to do now, which is to bring in his own guy.

I don't see Williams getting the job.

[PigSkin]

If Williams is not successful in his first year, the Washington Post will say "You gotta give him time to bring in his own people and do things his own way" and Snyder's hands will be tied.

etc.

Do you really believe that Dan Snyder is influenced by the Post or anyone else in the media? You're paying the press a great compliment.

When Spurrier quit and Snyder brought in Joe Gibbs I was impressed, thinking that Gibbs was part of a bygone era about which Skins' fans could only reminisce. Gibbs was not on many people's radar screens during the head coach search of four years ago, and there was lots of praise for Snyder when he signed Gibbs to a five-year deal.

Now ... there's not another Joe Gibbs out there, but Snyder would take a lot of pride in pulling another rabbit out of his hat. If Williams does not get the head coaching position, it'll be due to the fact that Snyder makes (or trys to make) another high-profile move.

[El Mexican]

Lets face it, guys. Joe was the gel that made Williams and Saunders stick together.

I´ve said before. Both GW and Saunders have inmense egos. There is no place for both of them without a legend--Gibbs--holding them in place.

If GW gets the nod then Saunders will go. GW certainly has more merit than him. That Snyder has not interviewed Saunders speaks for itself. You talk to the guys you trust BEFORE seeking someone from the outside. It´s called protocol and it seems to me Snyder is doing it on purpose to send the message to Saunders that he definetly is not happy with the offense.

As CanesSkins explained it before, how exactly will this affect Jason Campbell? I worry about the same thing.

[Snout]

Do you really believe that Dan Snyder is influenced by the Post or anyone else in the media?

Yes. I think that Snyder wants the support of the Washington media and the fans, and therefore he pays attention to what the media says. Unfortunately the media talks out of both sides of its mouth, and has the benefit for 20/20 hindsight. Examples:

Wilbon on Sep 25, 2002:

"It takes the coaches more than three regular season games to figure out what their players can do, too. The players didn't choose to go from Norv Turner to Coach Marty to Spurrier; those were Dan Snyder's decisions. I probably would have made the same decisions, but the upheaval is undeniable."

Kornheiser on Jan 14, 2002:

"The owner in Washington doesn't have a quarterback worthy of Spurrier's spit, and his most reputed wide receiver has been seven years worth of disappointment. But he hired Spurrier in a heartbeat. (It's like signing Tom Cruise to star in your movie, and only afterward writing a script.) What does he expect Spurrier to do, wave a magic wand over these guys? That's the one hiccup. Look, I beat the drum to hire this guy. But what if Spurrier isn't Merlin?"

Jenkins on Jan 12, 2002:

"Steve Spurrier wouldn't fit in here in Washington. And that's exactly why this town needs him. Danny Snyder should do whatever it takes to hire Spurrier as the Redskins' coach, not merely because Spurrier would win, which he would, but because we need one guy who doesn't wear blue oxford cloth shirts, and wire rimmed spectacles, and a security pass and key card on a chain around his neck."

Boswell on Jan 11, 2002:

"Now, as soon as he shows Marty the door, Snyder can have fun again. And attempt to bring joy to his team's fans as well. He will probably hire an ex-Redskins legend, Bobby Beathard -- whom he grew up worshipping -- to come back as GM. He can ask Beathard, who has refused to come if Schottenheimer stays, to hire an exciting coach. In their dreams, it would be Steve Spurrier. In reality, there's little chance it will be. But it's fun to think that way."

[DEHog]

Yes. I think that Snyder wants the support of the Washington media and the fans, and therefore he pays attention to what the media says.

If that were really the case he'd have hired a GM long ago.

[SkinsFreak]

Here are three reasons Snyder cannot hire Williams:

If Williams is not successful in his first year, the Washington Post will say "You gotta give him time to bring in his own people and do things his own way" and Snyder's hands will be tied.

If Williams is not succcessful in the second year, the Washington Post will say "Snyder has to learn to be patient" and Snyder's hands will be tied.

If Williams is not successful in his third year, the Washington Post will say "That dummy Snyder doesn't know anything about football. After seeing the result in Buffalo he should have been smart enough to forsee the same result here" and Snyder will have no choice but to do what he probably wants to do now, which is to bring in his own guy.

I don't see Williams getting the job.

You're giving credence to anything the Washington Post has to say about the Redskins?

Yes, yes... the Washington Post is gospel for all things related to the Redskins.

If GW gets the nod then Saunders will go. GW certainly has more merit than him. That Snyder has not interviewed Saunders speaks for itself. You talk to the guys you trust BEFORE seeking someone from the outside. It´s called protocol and it seems to me Snyder is doing it on purpose to send the message to Saunders that he definetly is not happy with the offense.

Again, this came from JLC and his notorious "several league sources". Whatever.

I think most here believe it was Gibbs holding Saunders back and the way Al wants to run his offense. To justify that, all you have to do is review about 5 years worth of film from Al's tenure with the Chiefs.

Some here seem to have forgotten that both Williams and Saunders were hand selected by Gibbs himself, not Snyder. Even though Snyder is conducting the interviews, for the purposes of due diligence and the Rooney Rule, you can be assured that Gibbs is still leading this organization at this point. Since Joe's return, all he's preached for this organization is stability and continuity. Snyder isn't going to do spit without Joe's approval right now.

And believing as fact, the conjecture and speculation the media spits out right now is just stupid. Chris Mortensen is the only member of the media that garners any credibility in my opinion. The rest of em' are just drama queens trying to stir up a story and continuing to directly and indirectly take more shots at Snyder. Whatever.

[DEHog]

Some here seem to have forgotten that both Williams and Saunders were hand selected by Gibbs himself, not Snyder. Even though Snyder is conducting the interviews, for the purposes of due diligence and the Rooney Rule, you can be assured that Gibbs is still leading this organization at this point. Since Joe's return, all he's preached for this organization is stability and continuity. Snyder isn't going to do spit without Joe's approval right now.

I wish we had proof that this it true!!! I know that Joe is not part of the interveiw process...so outside of Grimm and Williams I don't think he could speak to who the next coach should be.

[Countertrey]

Does it bother anyone else that Snyder is misspelled several times (Sndyer) in this article? Seriously, he's a writer for a major sports publication; at the very least his editors should have caught it.

Sloppy. Just sloppy.

Well... in the minds of sheep, it's a major sports publication, anyway...

[KazooSkinsFan]

Does it bother anyone else that Snyder is misspelled several times (Sndyer) in this article? Seriously, he's a writer for a major sports publication; at the very least his editors should have caught it.

Sloppy. Just sloppy.

This...is a job for Fios. He would haven't allowed such misspellings to occur!

[Skinsfan55]

This Colts loss is really good for the Redskins, we were waiting to interview Jim Caldwell who is one of their assistants so we could comply with the Rooney rule before making a decision and Gregg Williams has a second interview scheduled for Monday.

Either Caldwell could blow us away, we could hire GW or we could go with Schwartz. Either way, I think this means a decision gets made sooner so we can get on with our coach hiring and they can start college scouting and working with the players and staff for next season.

[spudstr04]

FoxSports' Jay Glazer reports that Gregg Williams will have a second interview with the Redskins on Monday.

A great sign that he's the favorite to get the job. Washington may also want to talk to Jim Caldwell of the Colts now that they are out of the playoffs.

http://www.rotoworld.com

[Snout]

You're giving credence to anything the Washington Post has to say about the Redskins?

Yes, yes... the Washington Post is gospel for all things related to the Redskins.

Yes, actually. Snyder has to respect the Washington Post in the same way one has to respect a brawling mob -- because the Washington Post is the first to try to incite the mob when things are not going well for the Redskins. If that angry mob is your customer base, and if as the owner you are a fan too, then you have to pay attention.

I hate the Post because, to use Kornheiser's words, they "beat the drum" for all of the major decisions Snyder made since he got here -- and then they turned on him like a pack of wolves when the Redskins did not win.

They have even tried that again during Gibbs second term, suggesting that the real problem is that Snyder has not hired a "real general manager". Well guess what? That is because he turned final control over personnel decisions to Gibbs as team President. Does anyone think for one minute if Gibbs said "We need a real GM" that Snyder would have refused?

This is called damned if you do and damned if you don't. If Snyder doesn't hire a GM, the Washington Post says that he cannot give up control over personnel decisions. If he does hire a GM, then the Washington Post says he is meddling with the structure Gibbs supported as team president. It's a no-win situation for Snyder.

Even so, he has to respect the power of the mob.