Boswell: Skins To Be Bad For Several More Years

[OldSchool]

This article is 4 days old so you may have seen it but I just read it. His thesis is after teams have stunk for several years like the Skins with huge scoring deficts in addition to long strings of losing records it takes 5 years more years to even improve to mediocre. League statistics form the basis of his argument. He doesn't mention Daniel Snyder but he asserts the train of losing seasons is proof of a dearth of talent and a rapid turnaround is statistically unlikely.

I hope he is wrong. I'm not expecting more than 5-6 wins in 2015 but 5 more years before they'll manage a .500 year? I've never read an article quite like this before about the Skins or any other team. It is very plausible to me if Snyder meddles but he stayed out of things and let his GM and coach run the team it wouldn't take 5 years to get to mediocre. Unfortunately I think Snyder will continue to meddle and Boswell may be right. Let's hope not.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/time-for-some-straight-talk-redskins-most-likely-will-be-bad-for-a-while/2015/07/02/1f9dc086-20e5-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html

[Irn-Bru]

He's just saying, most teams that are bad don't improve significantly within a few seasons. So if you want to know what's most likely for the Redskins as a member of the class "teams that have been bad for a few years," there's your data.

The thing to keep in mind is that "Marv Levy, Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, or Andy Reid" weren't Marv Levy, Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, and Andy Reid until they had their success, so it's pointless to say that we can't "see" one of those coaches in Gruden. (Same thing with the quarterbacks: obviously if RGIII doesn't work out, then yes, we don't have a franchise QB. But a lot can happen in just two or three years.) So this aspect of his analysis is totally impotent: if Gruden turns out to be a winner, then he'll just get lumped in with the other names of obvious candidates for success.

The key thing for us is that we now have a competent GM and a strategy for stocking the roster with talent. Instead of just comparing us to every bad team out there, the better comparison might be the 2004 49ers or the 2009 Seahawks. That 49ers team was certainly worse than we are and the Seahawks were probably better, but both were bad. Each had a new GM come in (McCloughan and his fellow traveler Schneider, respectively) that put a plan in place and stuck to it.

Boswell looks at the situation like it's a random number generator, and so he makes no real study of the causes of success — he only sees the recipe for success after the fact, as in the case of those coaches. I think that if you do a better job trying to understand what makes good teams good, then there is reason to be a little more optimistic about the Skins than he is.

[Deadskins]

Yeah, if Scot can add 4.1 pro-bowlers per year as he's done over his career, then it won't take that long to turn the corner.

[SkinsJock]

It will take time to be a consistently competitive franchise again but it's possible as long as Dan Snyder let's Scott manage & make decisions

I doubt it takes more than 2 or 3 years from now ...

[riggofan]

People always seem to assume too that the teams who are currently good are going to continue to be good forever. It just never happens that way year to year with the exception of those two or three teams with truly elite QBs (Brady, Rodgers and Manning).

I don't really have an issue with what Boswell wrote. Probably the safe bet, but we'll see.

[SkinsJock]

I agree with the premise that if we continue down the same path and manage the franchise as we have, there is little to look forward to ....

I think that Dan Snyder is going to let things play out here under Scott's guidance and that gives me hope for change in the near term


I have my doubts about Jay Gruden as the HC (here and now) and whether Griffin can become a really good NFL QB

[riggofan]

I think that if you do a better job trying to understand what makes good teams good, then there is reason to be a little more optimistic about the Skins than he is.

Good point, man.

Also I'll just add that I intend to be optimistic about the Skins every season until I die. I like that there are fans on here that pick 16-0 every August. What I won't be is blindsided or completely lose my **** when we go 4-12. The team is what it is. Either way I can't wait to see them playing again in a few weeks.

[Redskin in Canada]

I think that if you do a better job trying to understand what makes good teams good, then there is reason to be a little more optimistic about the Skins than he is.

On the same token, let me reword the argument:

"I think that if you do a better job trying to understand what makes bad teams bad, then there is reason to be a little less pessimistic about the Skins than he is."

Competition starts at the top. The NFL is a competition off-the-field among front offices as much as it is on-the-field among players. We have lost both competitions BADLY, with a couple of Joe Gibbs exceptions, during the entire ownership of Daniel Snyder over a decade and a half. In Scott we trust to make things better.

[OldSchool]

Boswell quotes stats but doesn't offer an explanation of what is underlying those team stats but I bet the common denominator is a over involved owner.

It would be tough to be an owner of an NFL team and not be too involved. I criticize Dan Snyder as much as any poster on the board but it would be hard to pick a GM and patiently wait for things to improve and not give way to rationalization and deciding to make a few picks yourself. I suspect if you went through every persistently bad team you'd find 8 or 10 an over involved guys like Snyder for every William Clay Ford would was too nice to fire his GM's that became his buddies.

[DarthMonk]

For what it's worth:

NOT AS BAD AS THE BENGALS: THE RAMS OF THE 1990S

This isn’t a post in the Worst Teams of All Time series, but consider it an honorable mention.

The Bengals, in the 1990s, were clearly the worst team, but the Rams were very close. From 1990 to 1999, the Rams went 58-102, to the Bengals 52-108. However, if you exclude 1999, the Rams are worse, going 45-99 to Cincinnati’s 48-96.

John Robinson

John Robinson’s success in the 80s suddenly hit a brick wall in the new decade.

The journey for the Rams in the 1990s actually begins in Los Angeles, where they had been throughout their lifetime. Coach John Robinson was hired after a miserable 1982 campaign, and after drafting Eric Dickerson, the Rams became contenders, reaching the NFC title game in 1985, but losing to the immortal 1985 Bears. After Dickerson was traded in 1987, the Rams continued to reach the playoffs. In 1989, they scored the second most points in the NFL, led behind the hot arm of Jim “Cris” Everett, and the receiving duo of Flipper Anderson and Henry Ellard, The Rams again lost in the NFC Title game to a historically great team, the 1989 49ers.

Jim Everett

Everett, before being driven to insanity by Jim Rome, was a sturdy quarterback for the Rams.

In 1990, L.A. was poised to rise above the challenge, but their success jolted to a halt. They started the season 3-7 and eventually fell to a 5-11 season. An interesting tidbit about the 1990 campaign was that Marcus Dupree made his first NFL start for the Rams against the Giants. Despite the poor record, which was mainly caused by the defense (who surrendered 25.8 points per game), Jim Everett had a very good season, passing for 23 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and 3,989 yards while completing 55.4% of his passes for a rating for a 79.3 rating.

Cleveland Gary

Cleveland Gary? Who’s that? Well, I’ll tell you who he was, he was the Rams’ leading rusher in 1990. Gary carried the ball 204 times for 808 yards and 14 touchdowns.

But, as I said before, the stricken defense seemed to never recover from being whipped in the 1989 NFC Title game. Even though Kevin Greene had a nice 13 sack season, they only scored 1 touchdown the entire season and consistently were embarrassed by opposing offenses.

Also, did you know that Curt Warner spent his final year with the Rams? In 1990, he carried the ball 49 times for 139 yards and a touchdown.

1991 was most likely the worst Rams team in the 90s (despite beating the defending champion Giants in Week 2), whether it be by record alone or just how they looked on the field. Jim Everett had problems throwing the ball the entire season, throwing 11 touchdowns to 20 interceptions, completing 56.5% of his passes for a final rating of 68.9.

Robert Delpino was the leading rusher, with a name that sounded more like a tangy fruit than a running back, but he won team MVP in 1991. He carried the ball 214 times for 688 yards and 9 touchdowns.

The offense, however, was nowhere near as exciting and explosive as the 1989 and 1990 teams, averaging only 14.6 points per game.

The defense was worse, however. They allowed 24.4 points per game, while recording only 17 sacks and 11 interceptions. They allowed 7.86 yards per pass attempt, the 4th worst in the history of the NFL. 1991 Bengals, awful pass defense, 1991 Rams, awful pass defense. Coincidences, huh?

After the horrible finish, John Robinson was fired after 9 seasons as Los Angeles’ head coach.

Chuck Knox

Chuck Knox wondering how this new-fangled game got so complex.

Mimicking the Colts’ back-to-the-future philosophy after their hiring of Ted Marchibroda in 1992, the Rams hired former head coach Chuck Knox. Knox had coached the Rams, Bills and Seahawks in his career, going all the way back to 1973, but the game had started to pass him by. Although he won the AFC West with Seattle in 1988, he had sat through 7-9, 9-7 and 7-9 campaigns in 1989, 1990 and 1991 with Seattle, before being fired. They didn’t make the post-season once in that span. Regardless, he was hired to coach Los Angeles in 1992.

Immediately, it seemed that Chuck Knox wasn’t going to win with the Rams. The game had passed him by. After getting smothered by the two-time AFC Champion Buffalo Bills in Week 1 40-7 in which Thurman Thomas ran roughshod over them, the defense never recovered. L.A. allowed the second-most points in the NFL, 383, while finishing last in total yards allowed (5,523), rushing yards allowed (2,230), and yards-per-rushing attempt (4.. Football Outsiders also calculated that the 1992 Rams had the second-worst run defense they had ever tracked.

In a scheduling oddity, the Rams faced four AFC East teams to start the season, and played their remaining schedule against NFC teams. Against the AFC East, they were 2-2, but against the NFC, they were 4-8.

The offense was slightly better, even with the quarterback pair of Jim Everett and Mike Pagel struggling. Robert Delpino failed to duplicate his momentum he had created in 1991, but Cleveland Gary again had a shining season, carrying the ball 279 times for 1,125 yards, a 4.0 yards-per-carry average and 7 touchdowns. They averaged 19.6 points per game as a unit, while giving up 23.9 per game.

In 1993, the Rams drafted Jerome Bettis in the first round. They showed promise with a 2-2 start, but couldn’t maintain their success, finishing 5-11. Despite having the likes of Bettis, the offense was bare-bones, averaging 13.8 points per game. Peyton Manning averages more touchdowns per game than that (almost). Jim Everett started to wear down, starting only 9 games. He threw 8 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for 1,652 yards, completing 49.3% of those passes for a rating of 59.7. Youngster T.J. Rubley was also shoved in at quarterback, and he faired slightly better. His stats were nice, but he went 2-5 as a starter.

Jerome Bettis had a fabulous rookie campaign, despite the rest of the offense being anemic. He carried the ball 294 times for 1,429 yards for a yards-per-carry average of 4.9, while scoring 7 touchdowns. Predictably, he was the team’s leading rusher, with the next highest rusher, Cleveland Gary, only collecting 293 yards.

Jerome Bettis

The defense had its same old problems, giving up 22.9 points per game. That’s not too bad, but considering how bad the offense was, it was back-breaking.

1994 began with no expectation, and that was filled nicely. Again starting 2-2, the Rams finished 2-12, suffering their worst season since 1991. Cleveland Gary and Jim Everett were now gone, now being replaced with Jerome Bettis and…Chris Miller? Yeah, that’s…yep. No wonder they were as bad as they were. Bettis suffered from a sophomore slump, carrying the ball 319 times for just over 1,000 yards and 3 touchdowns, an average of 3.2 yards per attempt.

Chris Miller

I’m pretty sure Ryan Fitzpatrick was a more stable quarterback than Chris Miller.

Chris Miller, a former Falcon, was now the “starter” for the Rams. He started 10 games, accumulating a 2-8 record. He completed 54.6% of his passes for 2,104 yards, 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. The other quarterback, Chris Chandler, finished with a starting record of 2-4 and had better stats. Tommy Maddox, the one and only MVP of the XFL, was the third-stringer.

Another losing season, 4-12, and in 1994, the two teams of Los Angeles played each-other for the final time. The Raiders won 20-17. The Rams were relocated to St. Louis, and the Raiders were relocated to Oakland, leaving the Los Angeles market with no football, a void that hasn’t been filled as of 2014. Chuck Knox was also fired at the end of 1994, ending his career with a 15-33 record in Los Angeles.

Rich Brooks

Rich Brooks complaining, as he always seemed to do.

Rich Brooks was hired as head coach to rebuild St. Louis, and other personnel changes were made as well. Among other additions, former Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien was brought in, and Kevin Carter was drafted. Initially, Brooks’ leadership was promising, guiding the Rams to a 5-1 start. However, they suffered a horrible collapse, finishing the season 2-8. In their 5-1 start, the offense was ranked 5th in the league. In their 2-8 finish, it was ranked 27th. Chris Miller and two-year wonder Mark Rypien didn’t manage much in terms of statistics, and defenses easily keyed on Jerome Bettis, as he continued to regress, rushing for only 637 yards on 183 carries.

The defense was again an issue, giving up 418 points.

In 1996, the roster was completely refreshed. In the draft, St. Louis made one of the worst mistakes ever, drafting Lawrence Phillips with the 6th overall pick, passing on players like Eddie George, Marvin Harrison and Ray Lewis.

Lawrence Philips

Lawrence “Jailbird” Phillips rushing for minimal yardage, which he specialized in.

Lawrence Phillips was a mediocre running back with way too many off the field troubles and distractions to be a successful professional player. He finished 1996 with 193 carries for 632 yards and 4 touchdowns. The real crime here that in order to sign Phillips, the Rams dumped Jerome Bettis in favor of him. In two years in St. Louis, Phillips spent 23 days in prison.

Tony Banks and Steve Walsh were now entrenched as the starting quarterbacks. Banks couldn’t stop fumbling the ball, and Walsh could barely throw the ball 30 yards. Not a good pair if you ask me. Banks started more games, finishing with a starting record of 5-8. He threw 15 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, took 48 sacks, and fumbled 21 times, setting a league record (since broken). Due to his erratic play and off-the-field controversies, Banks was disliked by St. Louis fans and media, and was out of the city by the end of 1998.

Tony Banks

St. Louis finished 1996 with a 6-10 record, averaging 18.9 points per game on offense and giving up 25.6 on defense. The highlight of the year came against Atlanta, in which they torched the Falcons’ awful defense for 59 points. Safety Keith Lyle also tied for first in the league with interceptions, with 9. Nevertheless, Rich Brooks was fired at the end of the season, with a record of 13-19 in St. Louis. His tenure was summed up with William Floyd and his 49er teammates mocking the crowd in a 44-10 rout in 1995, mocking them on the sidelines.

Same old Rams, man.

Same old SORRY-ass Rams!

Yeah!

In 1997, Dick Vermeil was hired, after a 15 year absence from the NFL. At first, it seemed the game had very much become too advanced for him, as the Rams finished with another yawn-inducing 5-11 season. Tony Banks again matched his TD – INT ratio blow-for-blow, finishing with a 14-13 mix. He was sacked 43 times. Mark Rypien was back, appearing in 5 games. Lawrence Phillips began the season with a promising 634 yard performance across 10 games. Vermeil then told him he was going to be second-string due to his discontent with Phillips’ off-the-field problems. Enraged, Phillips stormed out of the Rams’ facility, and was cut from the team. Vermeil, teary-eyed, then stated that Phillips was potentially the best running back he ever had a chance to coach.

Same ol’ story. Bad offense, bad defense, no clutch performance.

St. Louis started 1998 2-3, but stumbled and finished 4-12. Tony Banks was a living, breathing turnover, fumbling the ball 10 times and throwing 14 interceptions to only 7 touchdowns. June Henley, the leading rusher on the team, only had 313 yards on 88 attempts and 3 touchdowns. The defense gave up 23.6 points per game. However, Kurt Warner made his first appearance on the team, then donned with the number 10. He appeared in one game, completing 4 of 11 passes. However, the team had assembled an extremely talented roster, and in 1999, we all know what happened.

Running back Marshall Faulk was acquired from the Indianapolis Colts, and Trent Green was named the starter.

Trent Green

However, in a pre-season game against San Diego, Trent Green was injured and was out for the season. Kurt Warner was then named the starter, and then came Dick Vermeil’s famous press conference:

It hurts. But we will rally around Kurt Warner, and we’ll play good football.

And then they did. The Greatest Show on Turf began, with Warner’s star-studded offense including players like Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Orlando Pace. Warner was named the NFL’s MVP, as he passed for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns. The defense was good, and the Rams ran away with the NFC West title with a 13-3 record, in the process ending a 17 game losing streak to the 49ers. They then beat the Vikings and Buccaneers in the playoffs to 49-37 and 11-6 scores, before beating the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in the Super Bowl, becoming the greatest turnaround in NFL history.

Like the title says, the Rams weren’t as terrible as the Bengals during the decade, but they came very close, and deserve the honorable mention as much as anyone.

[Redskin in Canada]

How fun is it when we are comparing the Snyder Skins against the records of the worst teams EVER in the NFL, including the Preston Marshall Skins, Bengals and Rams of the past?

No, not wasting my time watching them this season. I will stay away this season AGAIN. I will read it in the papers or the drama tabloids. Time is better spent with family, friends and delightful activities in my life.

And the name of the team WILL change. What else can Snyder mishandle? The list is pretty complete as far as I can see.

[aswas71788]

I have read many articles about the Redskin, how bad they are/were over the years. Lately, the fans blame Dan Snyder for the failure of the team. He may be a part of todays problems but what about the past? I have been a Redskins fan since 1945 and have seen those years of failure and success, mostly failures. Dan Snyder was not responsible for all of those years of failure in the past. Except for the George Allen and Joe Gibbs 1 years (Note: Gibbs 2 was a failure regardless of some people's defense of him.), there has not been many years that have not been either a failure or moderately mediocre. It is easy for writers like Boswell to pen a story like this because no one will remember it next month and the writer can claim to be an expert about something else, penning yet another "expert" story. After all, sports writers make a living at claiming expert knowledge, knowing that no one will remember later. (It is easier to sit on the sidelines and criticize than it is to be part of the solution because no matter what the outcome, you will always be right since there is no proof you are wrong.) They have to find another inflammatory subject each month to keep their job. Example, does anyone remember all of the "expert" predictions of the draft each year? How accurate were they except for the first couple picks?

The Redskins are my team of choice. They may not be perfect or even good but they are still my team and I will still watch them every year and hope for better next year. Look at any team and you will find years where they were the laughing stock of the league or the current "dynasty". For those of you that say that you are moving on to another team, Go! Good riddance! But remember that at some time in the future, that team will be bad or mediocre. Will you again jump ship? You are not the type of person that I want supporting my team.

[yupchagee]

I have read many articles about the Redskin, how bad they are/were over the years. Lately, the fans blame Dan Snyder for the failure of the team. He may be a part of todays problems but what about the past? I have been a Redskins fan since 1945 and have seen those years of failure and success, mostly failures. Dan Snyder was not responsible for all of those years of failure in the past. Except for the George Allen and Joe Gibbs 1 years (Note: Gibbs 2 was a failure regardless of some people's defense of him.), there has not been many years that have not been either a failure or moderately mediocre. It is easy for writers like Boswell to pen a story like this because no one will remember it next month and the writer can claim to be an expert about something else, penning yet another "expert" story. After all, sports writers make a living at claiming expert knowledge, knowing that no one will remember later. (It is easier to sit on the sidelines and criticize than it is to be part of the solution because no matter what the outcome, you will always be right since there is no proof you are wrong.) They have to find another inflammatory subject each month to keep their job. Example, does anyone remember all of the "expert" predictions of the draft each year? How accurate were they except for the first couple picks?

The Redskins are my team of choice. They may not be perfect or even good but they are still my team and I will still watch them every year and hope for better next year. Look at any team and you will find years where they were the laughing stock of the league or the current "dynasty". For those of you that say that you are moving on to another team, Go! Good riddance! But remember that at some time in the future, that team will be bad or mediocre. Will you again jump ship? You are not the type of person that I want supporting my team.

WOW That puts you 10 years ahead of me

[riggofan]

The Redskins are my team of choice. They may not be perfect or even good but they are still my team and I will still watch them every year and hope for better next year.

[SkinsJock]

I don't think that all those who do not like Dan Snyder as an NFL owner think that he's solely responsible for the terrible record since he became the owner but he certainly has not helped with the way that he has managed and interfered with the running of the franchise

all franchises go through ups and downs but with Dan Snyder, the chances of having any consistency are non existent
Dan Snyder does not have any idea on how to properly manage an NFL franchise - NONE

it will take time for Scott to get this franchise back on track but there is a chance that he can do that - there is very little likelihood of that happening with Snyder owning & managing the franchise as he has - Boswell's premise is based on that continuing

If Scott is allowed to be fully in control of this franchise it will take much less time to get back to playing consistently well again

[OldSchool]

I don't think that all those who do not like Dan Snyder as an NFL owner think that he's solely responsible for the terrible record since he became the owner but he certainly has not helped with the way that he has managed and interfered with the running of the franchise

all franchises go through ups and downs but with Dan Snyder, the chances of having any consistency are non existent
Dan Snyder does not have any idea on how to properly manage an NFL franchise - NONE

it will take time for Scott to get this franchise back on track but there is a chance that he can do that - there is very little likelihood of that happening with Snyder owning & managing the franchise as he has - Boswell's premise is based on that continuing

If Scott is allowed to be fully in control of this franchise it will take much less time to get back to playing consistently well again

Snyder has been a nightmare for the the fans and in surmountable impediment for each coach he has employed. He has hired and frustrated several good to great coaches including Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Mike Shananhan, Joe Gibbs and others. He keep changing coaches and styles, and made one ridiculous trade after another climaxing the incredibly dumb 4 high picks for Griffin which did much more harm than the Fat Albert and other debacles.

[Deadskins]

the incredibly dumb 4 high picks for Griffin which did much more harm than the Fat Albert and other debacles.

Actually, it didn't. The cap penalty did more harm than anything, but there is no guarantee that the picks spent on Griffin wouldn't have been squandered by Bruce and Mike, anyway. Had Scot been here then, I might agree with you, but Griffin might still prove to be worth the picks. And, who knows where he'd be in his growth as a QB had he not been injured? I also have to disagree with you on Spurrier being a good to great NFL coach.

[OldSchool]

You're right Spurrier shouldn't be in with others but I think Snyder destroyed his chance for success. As for Griffin, in my mind it is doubtful he'll be prove himself one top pick there is no way he becomes good enough to justify 4 top picks. Don't rationLize and say Snyder would've blown the picks on other losers, he squandered a decade on Griffin.

[fredp45]

RIC --

Intereseting...you won't watch the Skins play but you post on a skins message board weeks BEFORE spring training...hmmmmm

[emoses14]

This hyperbole is out of control; Snyder couldn't have destroyed spurrier's chance for success. Spurrier did it way too fast for dan to do it. Exhibits a through z was bringing in former Florida QBs. They all sucked then and still do now. Spurrier destroyed spurrier's chance for success. You don't get to lay that one at Snyder, not even a little. If anything, it was his fault for not realizing spurrier was a punk sooner. Spurrier was atrocious to awful, not good to great. He may have been worse than zorn.

Oh, and how has a decade been squandered on Griffin in 3 years? That's some fancy math. They are 17-31 since drafting Griffin, never mind how many of those losses he didn't even play in, about 5.7 wins/year. Not awesome. But, how about we get to half a decade before overblowing the valid point that they've horrible two of his three years and NFC east champs in 1 to a squandered decade?

[OldSchool]

I think Griffin is a decade long gamble because if he busts as I think he's going to do than the 4 squandered picks will take a decade to overcome. Three first round picks and 1 second should have produced 4 starters instead the Skins got an undersized college option QB who doesn't seem to process fast enough to function in a pocket. I think he'll play much like last year this season and the Skins will finally bench him for good so they don't get stuck paying him 16M. McCoy will take his place and finish the year.

[riggofan]

This hyperbole is out of control; Snyder couldn't have destroyed spurrier's chance for success. Spurrier did it way too fast for dan to do it. Exhibits a through z was bringing in former Florida QBs.

Good points on Spurrier.

I still think one of Snyder's biggest mistakes was his impatience with Marty. It kind of kills me to think how different things might have gone if he'd allowed that coach to continue another year.

[SkinsJock]

This hyperbole is out of control; Snyder couldn't have destroyed spurrier's chance for success. Spurrier did it way too fast for dan to do it. Exhibits a through z was bringing in former Florida QBs.

... I still think one of Snyder's biggest mistakes was his impatience with Marty. It kind of kills me to think how different things might have gone if he'd allowed that coach to continue another year.

We just need Dan Snyder to stay away from all things to do with the football side of the operation - having a great coach like Marty is only a part of the equation - not even Lombardi could make this franchise be consistently competitive with Dan's involvement

Hopefully Scott gets the time to evaluate what he's got as a HC in Gruden - also he needs to see if Griffin can contribute at QB

it's all going to take time as we finally have a guy in charge and making decisions that knows what it takes to run an NFL franchise

[OldSchool]

This hyperbole is out of control; Snyder couldn't have destroyed spurrier's chance for success. Spurrier did it way too fast for dan to do it. Exhibits a through z was bringing in former Florida QBs.

Good points on Spurrier.

I still think one of Snyder's biggest mistakes was his impatience with Marty. It kind of kills me to think how different things might have gone if he'd allowed that coach to continue another year.

Amen! I knew Snyder was going to be a problem when he fired Marty. Marty's team finished strong that year and looked on their way. Years later an insider explains the Snyder fired Marty because he acted like it was his team and he was in charge so it wasn't any fun for Snyder. Snyder should've focused on the sales end of the business and let Marty run the team. If he'd had been smart enough to that he'd have become a winner on the field instead of an annoyance.

[OldSchool]

I want Gruden to have a chance in 2016 with a new QB if Griffin busts this year as I expect. I don't want to switch coaches again because of Griffin. It's not like top flight NFL coaches are going to want to work for Snyder. Gruden deserves at least 3 seasons to show some improvement and certainly one without Griffin slowing things down if he's a weak link again this season.