Washington Redskins: Shanahan Should Be Around For Awhile by Diane Chesebrough

We are entering the 2011-2012 NFL post season and a slew of coaching changes are inevitable. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raheem Morris is no longer head coach of that team nor is Steve Spagnuolo head coach of the St. Louis Rams.  Mike Martz is no longer the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears nor is Jerry Angelo their General Manager. The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t even wait until the season was over before giving nine-year head coach Jack Del Rio the boot back in November.

There have been rumblings in the Washington, D.C. area about getting rid of Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan after two years and an 11-21 record. But I have to believe that he is going to – and should – be here for a while even with the under-achieving the team has done over his tenure here. If he is not, then I will have to assume that owner Daniel M. Snyder has not learned a thing in the past ten years and, as a Redskins fan, I just can’t stomach that.

Shanahan confirmed last week that he believes he will be here for a while in response to media questions during his press conference.

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Shanahan answered immediately, laughing. “Hopefully there’s no doubt in [Owner Dan Snyder]’s mind, too… Like I talked to him about it when I first got here, I said, ‘Dan, if you don’t plan on me coaching here five years and doing it the right way, you’re hiring the wrong guy. It’s going to take some time to get it right.’”

It boggles the mind to think of Shanahan going after just two years. For so long we’ve clamored for stability.  For years we’ve razzed Snyder for making so many changes over such little time.  The owner fired Marty Schottenheimer in 2001 after the head coach had posted an 8-8 season had won seven out of the final 10 games that year.  Head coach Norv Turner was canned part-way through the 2000 season the year after he took them to the playoffs. The team was 7-6 when Turner left. Jim Zorn was only here two years.

To fire Shanahan after just two years would be unwise. Yes, the Redskins are not winning on the scoreboard but they are changing for the better and it’s mostly because of Shanahan.

The team has gone from the oldest roster in the league to having 15 rookies and 22 players with two years or less on the active roster, practice squad or injured reserve.  That’s more than half the team (51+% to be exact). That’s a good mix of veterans and young players. The defense is still hurting for turnovers but it was ranked 13th on one website at one point. The team played hard to the end even though there was no post-season this year and the offense finally became competitive.

Of course, the losing did get to the players.

“I mean, probably the defense is better now than we were last year,” safety Kevin Barnes said Monday in the locker room. “but at the end of the day, we still want to win games. There’s still a lot of improvement to go.”

The running game’s improvement is due in large part to players executing Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme.  Center Will Montgomery and guard Chris Chester have been staples throughout all of the O-line injuries and subsequent changes during the season.

“It seems like no matter who we’re handing the ball to they’re producing,” Montgomery said. “They’re finding the holes and it’s good to have backs back there that are going to do that.”

One of the things that London Fletcher said struck me as encouraging. During Shanahan’s last meeting with the players, he took responsibility for helping the team get better. This is as it should be.

“You know, the thing Coach talked about is us not playing well enough this year,” Fletcher said, “but he’s going to do everything within his power to improve the football team… to get it to where we’re not having this same feeling at the end of the season next year.”

A recurring theme in the locker room was an optimism towards next season despite the losing record. Again, Fletcher summed up why the team feels this way.

“There’s been a lot of things that have happened to the team since Shanahan’s come,” he said. “You look at the talent. The character has gotten better. We’ve become a more competitive football team. I think we’re haven’t learned how to win close games just yet but that takes time. Some of the injuries took [their] toll, some young guys gained some valuable experience and things like that.”

Asked why he thought the team was going in the right direction, rookie running back Roy Helu, Jr. did not hesitate.

“It’s hard to see because our industry is about results and we were 5-11.  But [we’re] optimistic because of what we have as an offensive unit,” he said Monday.

Speaking of rookies, Shanahan was a master at the draft last April, ending up with 12 picks after starting with six and he refuses to overpay for free agents.

He has made some questionable personnel decisions, I will admit. I won’t dare to second-guess the way he handled defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth, his decision-making with regard to the quarterback position by keeping turnover-prone Rex Grossman and untested John Beck or why he made the trade for Donovan McNabb when he first arrived. This season, maybe Shanahan thought that Grossman could be “coached” through his turn-over tendencies and bad decision-making. Maybe Beck practices really well because Shanahan apparently makes a lot of game-time decisions from the practice field. There were times when certain game time-management decisions were incomprehensible and I had to wonder how much he was involved in offensive play-calling when it was decidedly bad. But overall, he’s helped this team become competitive again and is run professionally. After the Vinny Cerrato years, this is most certainly an upgrade.

I have to believe that Snyder has learned that the team must push through the growing pains – which unfortunately in the Redskins’ case, has included a lot of losing – and retain Shanahan for at least four of his five years. A lot more winning will need to happen in 2012 and I have to believe that it will. The head coach built up the defense in the 2011 draft and will likely do the same for the offense come this April. The Redskins need stability and the best thing for this team would be for Shanahan to stay head coach.

Next season has a lot of positives. A couple of this year’s youngsters – defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins and wide out Leonard Hankerson – should be healed up from their season-ending injuries as well as lineman Kory Lichtensteiger and running back Tim Hightower. Talented young players Terrence Austin (receiver), Darrel Young (fullback), Helu and running back Evan Royster showed flashes of real play-making ability. The defense – going into its third year of the 3-4 scheme and its second year with guys like Barry Cofield, Stephen Bowen and Perry Riley – should only get better.  What’s not to look forward to?

The 2012 NFL draft should be interesting and hopefully, constructive for Washington. Shanahan needs to draft offensive linemen for depth and a quarterback. The Redskins could use some defensive play-makers in the secondary. Baylor University quarterback Robert Griffith III – should he decide to declare for the NFL – would look great in burgundy and gold.

Hail.