The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Ryan Clark: Jay Gruden Wasn’t Ready to Be a Head Coach in Washington 4
posted by HogHunter on Sep 02, 2015
washingtonpost.com

"When you get to the NFL and especially in Washington, you have to know how to handle yourself," Clark said on First Take Tuesday morning. "You can’t come out and say ‘RGIII’s our guy.’ "

"The job in Washington is 90 percent about handling people and 10 percent about Xs and Os and knowing how to coach," Clark said. "Listen, this is a place that feeds off of negativity. Other than 2012, the last 10 years have been a wash for the Washington Redskins. There’s not a lot of winning that goes on. So as a coach, you have to manage the media. And dealing with RGIII, you also have to manage that player and the things that surround him.

"They needed a guy who can stand in front of the mic, who can stand in front of the cameras and present the Washington Redskins to the world as an organization who has their stuff together, has everything straight," Clark went on. "Jay Gruden’s not that guy. Is he a good coach? Does he understand football? Yes. But he doesn’t understand how to deal with a situation like that. He wasn’t ready for this job."

Its obvious Robert and Jay are a bad fit. But like I said before Jay was in way over his head to begin with.

Problem was Bruce and Dan chose Jay. Too bad they didnt hire Scott first. Otherwise Im sure Scott would of chosen a more experienced and qualified head coach.

For goodness sakes. Jay hasnt even won anything in this league and many of you swear like hes proven already.

Robert is going to be gone. Its a forgone conclusion at this point. But I fear this is going to be another huge mistake by this franchise. Sigh)

My worst fear is Robert ends up with the cowboys and replaces Tony Romo after retirement and kicks our butt for the next ten years.

There isn't a team in the NFL outside of the Jets that would start Griffin over who they currently have. Nothing to worry about if he resigns with another team.

StorminMormon86 wrote:There isn't a team in the NFL outside of the Jets that would start Griffin over who they currently have. Nothing to worry about if he resigns with another team.

geez man - enough already ... how do you know for certain that Griffin cannot become a good NFL QB

and,

how do you know for certain that Jay Gruden is going to be the HC here next season if Cousins and McCoy do not prove to be capable QBs

"They needed a guy who can stand in front of the mic, who can stand in front of the cameras and present the Washington Redskins to the world as an organization who has their stuff together, has everything straight," Clark went on. "Jay Gruden’s not that guy. Is he a good coach? Does he understand football? Yes. But he doesn’t understand how to deal with a situation like that. He wasn’t ready for this job."

This is BS. We had a guy two years ago who could "stand in front of the cameras and present the Washington Redskins to the world as an organization who has their stuff together". Mike Shanahan was rock solid in front of the media and as polished as they come. The media hated him because he didn't give them jack. That didn't stop the circus from coming to town repeatedly while he was in charge.

Yes, no doubt Gruden needs to learn polish his media skills. What Gruden really needs is to put together a winning football team. And he needs to have a chance to do that without the owner putting up roadblocks, bad personnel and draft decisions and salary cap penalties. I'm much more concerned with whether or not he can prove to be a good coach. We'll find out this year.

One Lombardi would cure everything. Unfortunately, it is probably the only thing that would cure ANYTHING in this mess.

It will be a long, nasty ride.

riggofan wrote:

"They needed a guy who can stand in front of the mic, who can stand in front of the cameras and present the Washington Redskins to the world as an organization who has their stuff together, has everything straight," Clark went on. "Jay Gruden’s not that guy. Is he a good coach? Does he understand football? Yes. But he doesn’t understand how to deal with a situation like that. He wasn’t ready for this job."

This is BS. We had a guy two years ago who could "stand in front of the cameras and present the Washington Redskins to the world as an organization who has their stuff together". Mike Shanahan was rock solid in front of the media and as polished as they come. The media hated him because he didn't give them jack. That didn't stop the circus from coming to town repeatedly while he was in charge.

Yes, no doubt Gruden needs to learn polish his media skills. What Gruden really needs is to put together a winning football team. And he needs to have a chance to do that without the owner putting up roadblocks, bad personnel and draft decisions and salary cap penalties. I'm much more concerned with whether or not he can prove to be a good coach. We'll find out this year.

Ryan Clark was talking about Jay Gruden. Yes Mike was rock solid in front of the camera and media. That was not the problem. Mikes one major mistake was the handling of Robert. Namely letting him play when he was hurt as a rookie. Mike was the head man in charge he should of known better and yanked Robert from the game.
Robert was hurt in the Ravens game already. At that point he was already hobbling around.
Then the Seattle game he reggrivated it once more. Then finally he tore it once again. No matter how headstrong the player is who was and still is a young man in Robert. It was ultimatley Mikes job to protect his future franchise player.

The other issue with Mike was his drafting talent. He can sure pick runningbacks. However outside of a few good picks he missed on most of his picks. Kerrigan, T. Williams, Kirk, Alf maybe one or two other players that Mike picked are actually good.

Now compare Miket to Scott in one off season. Scott has already a starting saftey in Goldson, starting corner in Culliver, Preston Smith drafted rookie already looking good, Terrance Knighton a NT, added two solid Dlineman,
signed potential pro bowler in Gallette, (hurt now) , drafted Scherff, resigned Kerrigan and Williams, drafted rookie Matt Jones RB, and many other good moves. In one off season Scott has acquried more talent then Mike did in three full seasons.

Mike knew his Xs and Os. Mike was great with the media. Mike was a good leader and commanded respect from the locker room.

He was fired because he ultimatley let the franchise player at the time who was a rookie get hurt. Also he did not draft enough talent to survive when Robert got hurt. Ironically the player he did not want to draft was the one who carried them to the playoffs.

StorminMormon86 wrote:There isn't a team in the NFL outside of the Jets that would start Griffin over who they currently have. Nothing to worry about if he resigns with another team.

And you know this how?

Robert is pretty much gone. You have what you wished for. Yet you continue to pour salt on this wound.


Why so much hate for Robert? You do know Robert is only a 25 years old? He is a young man and sure he is not perfect. But the fact remains he still took us to the playoffs and got us a division title.

Dont you think you should just say Thanks Robert for what you did give us and good luck the rest of the way?

HEROHAMO wrote:And you know this how?

Robert is pretty much gone. You have what you wished for. Yet you continue to pour salt on this wound.


Why so much hate for Robert? You do know Robert is only a 25 years old? He is a young man and sure he is not perfect. But the fact remains he still took us to the playoffs and got us a division title.

Dont you think you should just say Thanks Robert for what you did give us and good luck the rest of the way?

The truth hurts, I guess.

Look at the other rosters currently. If you think there is a legitimate shot that Griffin as it stands right now can go to any other team in the NFL and "light it up", I don't know what to tell you. The Lions game was not an illusion. Neither was 2013, or 2014.

SkinsJock wrote:geez man - enough already ... how do you know for certain that Griffin cannot become a good NFL QB

and,

how do you know for certain that Jay Gruden is going to be the HC here next season if Cousins and McCoy do not prove to be capable QBs

When did I ever say that? I said there is no team that would start Griffin over their current starters outside of maybe the Jets.

Take your emotional investment away from one damn player and start worrying about the team.

StorminMormon86 wrote:

SkinsJock wrote:geez man - enough already ... how do you know for certain that Griffin cannot become a good NFL QB

and,

how do you know for certain that Jay Gruden is going to be the HC here next season if Cousins and McCoy do not prove to be capable QBs

When did I ever say that? I said there is no team that would start Griffin over their current starters outside of maybe the Jets.

Take your emotional investment away from one damn player and start worrying about the team.

A year ago NFL.com wrote there were 15 worse starting quarterbacks in the league than RGIII. That might be subjective but there's no chance 15 NFL franchises improved their starting quarterback situation this past off-season. Making a carte blanche statement like only one team in the league would take RGIII over their current starter is baseless. There are multiple credible sources that say otherwise.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000 ... arters-132

StorminMormon86 wrote:

HEROHAMO wrote:And you know this how?

Robert is pretty much gone. You have what you wished for. Yet you continue to pour salt on this wound.


Why so much hate for Robert? You do know Robert is only a 25 years old? He is a young man and sure he is not perfect. But the fact remains he still took us to the playoffs and got us a division title.

Dont you think you should just say Thanks Robert for what you did give us and good luck the rest of the way?

The truth hurts, I guess.

Look at the other rosters currently. If you think there is a legitimate shot that Griffin as it stands right now can go to any other team in the NFL and "light it up", I don't know what to tell you. The Lions game was not an illusion. Neither was 2013, or 2014.

There is a shortage of good QBs in this league always has and always will be. If released or cut there will be a coach and GM who will take a chance on him.

Robert has too much talent for a QB needy team not to take a chance.

I don't care what Clark says about Gruden. This is Gruden's second year and the roster should fit his offense and defense a little better this year and they finally allowed him to pick his QB, a guy who can execute his offense. Gruden has a somewhat better hand to play this season, hopefully the team is better and we are encouraged at the end of the year.

I'm tired of the intrigue and drama and want to see some football, the best I hope for this year is mediocre football but that would be a step forward.

HEROHAMO wrote:Ryan Clark was talking about Jay Gruden. Yes Mike was rock solid in front of the camera and media. That was not the problem.

I know who Ryan was talking about and I don't really require a history lesson on what went down with Shanahan. My point is that is his whole "critique" is BS. The issue with these coaches is not whether or not they can handle the media. Its about whether or not they can put together a winning team. The problem with RG3 isn't that the coach came out and said, "He's our guy". The problem is that RG3 hasn't be able to stay healthy and he's been a disaster passing from the pocket.

I'm tired of this stuff. RG3 said he's the best in the world. The GM's wife sent a nasty tweet. The coach didn't speak glowingly about his QB after a bad game. Shut up and win some football games.

Hard for me to argue with Ryan, I never thought he was head coaching material. With Bowles available I would have went with him, but of like most things around here lately everything was catered to RG. One thing for sure Gruden went "all in" on his decision to bench Robert and start Kirk.

DEHog wrote:Hard for me to argue with Ryan, I never thought he was head coaching material. With Bowles available I would have went with him, but of like most things around here lately everything was catered to RG. One thing for sure Gruden went "all in" on his decision to bench Robert and start Kirk.

Gruden did not do well last season nor did he do well in how he handled the QB mess here ...

Gruden is now on the hot seat - if Cousins does not do well, both will be looking for work - Cousins as a backup QB and Gruden as a backup coach

HEROHAMO wrote:Problem was Bruce and Dan chose Jay. Too bad they didnt hire Scott first. Otherwise Im sure Scott would of chosen a more experienced and qualified head coach.

My worst fear is Robert ends up with the cowboys and replaces Tony Romo after retirement and kicks our butt for the next ten years.

I don't think that a "more experienced and qualified" HC would have taken a job in DC. After all, we literally couldn't get a non-damaged goods GM or defensive coordinator last year. Coaches who are looking for an opportunity and not a paycheck don't find DC as an attractive destination.

As far as RGIII, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Romo will play another 3 years at least and I don't see RGIII having a huge turnaround. What he did in 2012 is not sustainable in the NFL and has been schemed against. And if RGIII does miraculously turn it around somewhere else, I think that is great. RGIII is a good person and if it happens elsewhere --- it wouldn't have happened in DC. We have given him chance after chance. Our organization is not talented enough to complete such a task.

StorminMormon86 wrote: I said there is no team that would start Griffin over their current starters outside of maybe the Jets.

Take your emotional investment away from one damn player and start worrying about the team.

Again - how do you know for certain that no team, other than maybe the Jets, will take him - maybe making him a starter is a reach but this kid's ability and his stats from 2012 are a lot better than a lot of starting QBs - nobody really knows what other GMs may be thinking about him

this RG3 bashing is just juvenile - I'm not defending him, just trying to stop the vicious rhetoric

SkinsJock wrote:
Again - how do you know for certain that no team, other than maybe the Jets, will take him - maybe making him a starter is a reach but this kid's ability and his stats from 2012 are a lot better than a lot of starting QBs - nobody really knows what other GMs may be thinking about him

I believe the Redskins already tried to TRADE him and there were no takers. Now, being traded and released and signed are 2 very different things.

And I don't think GMs care very much what someone did over 2 and 1/2 years ago WHEN they've had the opportunity and played poorly ever since. That time frame is LITERALLY a lifetime in the NFL (ironically since the average NFL tenure is 2 years, 8 months).

And I am not bashing RGIII. I think he is a great person. I am just stating facts as I know them.

markshark84 wrote:

SkinsJock wrote:
Again - how do you know for certain that no team, other than maybe the Jets, will take him - maybe making him a starter is a reach but this kid's ability and his stats from 2012 are a lot better than a lot of starting QBs - nobody really knows what other GMs may be thinking about him

I believe the Redskins already tried to TRADE him and there were no takers. Now, being traded and released and signed are 2 very different things.

And I don't think GMs care very much what someone did over 2 and 1/2 years ago WHEN they've had the opportunity and played poorly ever since. That time frame is LITERALLY a lifetime in the NFL (ironically since the average NFL tenure is 2 years, 8 months).

And I am not bashing RGIII. I think he is a great person. I am just stating facts as I know them.

Well to be fair who wants to pick up the injury clause in his contract, if he were to waive it there might be a taker??

HEROHAMO wrote:
My worst fear is Robert ends up with the cowboys and replaces Tony Romo after retirement and kicks our butt for the next ten years.

hmmmm.......not with those knees and ankle. A few more solid hits (that all qbs get) ..........and Griff is on the IR list and retiring from football.

HEROHAMO wrote:
Dont you think you should just say Thanks Robert for what you did give us and good luck the rest of the way?

Yes, thank you and good luck Griff and God bless you. You seem to be a good Christian kid, always quoting scripture. So take the good with the bad, learn to be content Bob. And oh, try to be humble cuz at times, you were not (perhaps it's just your young-ness showing through).

SkinsJock wrote:Gruden did not do well last season nor did he do well in how he handled the QB mess here ...

Oh god, how in the world is anyone supposed to handle the "QB mess" here when the owner is dictating who he wants to start? This stuff is ludicrous. The only thing people seem to be able to come up with is that Gruden should have invented some mystery offense that miraculously turns RG3 back into a good QB. If all a coach had to do for a QB was "call plays to his strengths", then Geno Smith wouldn't suck.

We can't act like our coach is on a level playing field with the other 31 coaches in the league, and its obviously not been the case since the day Dan Snyder took over. The only coach Snyder has been afraid to interfere with was Gibbs.

I'm not buying into anything this team says anymore. We need to judge them on their actions. If the company line is that McCloughan is in charge and Gruden is free to start whomever he wants, that's great. I'll believe it all after a full year of no shenanigans.

Btw even now that Gruden has picked Cousins as his starter for the season, is anybody really 100% sure Cousins is the guy he wanted? There's been speculation that he just couldn't sell the team on benching Griffin to start McCoy.

I'm not saying that's true. Just given how things have gone so far, it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

riggofan wrote:The only coach Snyder has been afraid to interfere with was Gibbs.

More like Marty. If he hadn't interfered with Joe, we would have never had Al Saunders and his 1,000,000 page playbook.

Countertrey wrote:One Lombardi would cure everything. Unfortunately, it is probably the only thing that would cure ANYTHING in this mess.

It will be a long, nasty ride.

Well a nice playoff run would probably cure it. Even a playoff birth.