Redskins suspend Haynesworth for season

[San Jose Bills Fan]

A few thoughts on this conversation.

 

1) Shanahan has proven to be a terrible GM/President. The more power he got in Denver, the worse the drafts and free agent acquisitions. This is an inarguable fact. People in Denver are still scratching their heads over the one season where he signed 5 former Cleveland Browns defensive linemen…from a defense that had been terrible the previous two years. Why is this relevant? Because he presently has all the power in DC and would have demanded to have all the power wherever he was offered a job. This is the exact reason I didn't want Shanahan to end up with the Bills. He's a poor personnel director and he ardently chased Donovan McNabb as the centerpiece to his Redskins offense.

 

2) Shanahan was a good coach. How good? Hard to say. When he wasn't GM in Denver he was provided with a talented roster. It's hard to win without talent. Shanahan won when he had a talented team and his success dropped off significantly when the talent dropped off. With a marginally talented Redskins team, his record is 5-7 and the team appears to be fading. A good coach does more with less. I'm not of the feeling that Shanahan has coached overachieving teams. That's just my opinion. He did have great running attacks when guys like Gary Kubiak and Alex Gibbs were on his staff.

 

3) Coaches have primes…just as players do. Parcells was never able to replicate his results with the New York Giants. Joe Gibbs had good results in his comeback but nothing approaching his greatness in his earlier Washington tenure. It's possible that Shanahan is past his prime. He is an autocrat, a control freak, and there's no one in Washington who can check him. His son is the offensive coordinator. Many coaches do better when they have less control and when there is more creative disagreement on the staff. Shanahan's now surrounded by "yes men" so he'll sink or swim on his own merits.

 

4) Albert Haynesworth. Yes, Albert chose Washington as a free agent in part because of the money (it was the best offer) and because they played a 4-3 scheme. Well, you and I and just about everyone else in this world knows that in life, there are no guarantees. He signed a $100 million contract. He has been paid nearly $40 million of it already. Albert's actions have made it abundantly clear that he places himself ahead of the team. I have zero patience for the opinion that he was promised a 4-3 and that as a result, that entitles him to be a malcontent. This guy has zero character as illustrated by his endless problems both on and off the field. Again, I did not want the Bills to sign Haynesworth and I'm glad we didn't.

 

5) If Albert was actually motivated, there's no doubt he'd be one of the most dominating D-linemen in the league, regardless of what scheme the Redskins run. Problem is, he's not motivated.

 

6) Donovan McNabb. McNabb was a premier quarterback in Philly even when he was throwing to guys like Todd Pinkston, James Thrash, and Greg Lewis. So he has experience getting good results in spite of not having premier weapons. One of the things that has become more clear (at least in my mind) is that based on McNabb's, Michael Vick's, Jeff Garcia's and Kevin Kolb's performances in Philly and McNabb's poor performance with the Redskins so far, that Andy Reid is a very underrated offensive coach. It's quite possible that Reid is a better offensive coach than Mike Shanahan. Shanahan has the two Super Bowls with Elway, so he has the better reputation than Reid. I wonder what sort of career Donovan McNabb would have had without Andy Reid.

Edited December 10, 2010 by San Jose Bills Fan