It's official - Al Saunders is our new offensive coordinator!

I found it...

Here it is--Redskins Reportedly Hire Saunders From K.C. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011902124.html)

I'm not seeing any articles on WP.com... or redskins.com... where's this info coming from??

Redskins Reportedly Hire Saunders From K.C. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011902124.html)


By Jason La Canfora
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; 2:21 PM


The Washington Redskins reportedly have hired Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders for the coaching staff, according to a story on The Kansas City Star's Web site.

That Post article is wonderful. I'm truly excited!

Man teams are hating the Skins now taking Two head coaches of the market. Maybe Gibbs realized that he could not spend freely on players so he would make up for it by spending freely on coaches. Next the league is going to have a cap on coaching staff.

Man teams are hating the Skins now taking Two head coaches of the market. Maybe Gibbs realized that he could not spend freely on players so he would make up for it by spending freely on coaches. Next the league is going to have a cap on coaching staff.

I doubt it. The cap rule thing on coaches won't fly.

I say Breaux is No Moeaux

Breaux may retire but Gibbs will never force him out. They go way back together.

Someone was asking what Musgrave's role was. He was brought in to add aspects of the West Coast offense to Gibbs' more Gillmanesque approach to passing. I wouldn't be surprised if he moved on, now.

The NFL has rules about parallel coaching moves and tampering which is why you heve all these Assistant Head Coaches. Russ Grimm is an Assistant Head Coach for Pittsburgh even though he's really the O.L. coach. Other teams cannot hire him away as offensive coordinator without tampering. It would be considered a parallel coaching move. Likewise if Saunders becomes an Assistant Head Coach, the only way he, Bugel, or Williams could leave would be a head coaching job. In addition, if Breaux or Blache, who have the coordinator titles, leave, they would have to be either Head Coaches or Assistant Head Coaches.

Having said all that I don't see how it helps the Redskins all that much. Unless Larry Johnson, Trent Green, Willie Roaf, and Donte Hall come with, I don't see how Saunders schemes will improve the Skins all that much. What plays do they run that our current coaches aren't capable of diagramming? Their offense is derived from the same sources that ours is. Don Coryell, Ernie Zampesi, Sid Gillman, Norv Turner, Mike Martz, Joe Gibbs... they all run the same stuff. Saunders is entrenched in this school as well. Perhaps he is a better teacher, a better practice coach if you will, but I guess we shall see.

Breaux may retire but Gibbs will never force him out. They go way back together.

Someone was asking what Musgrave's role was. He was brought in to add aspects of the West Coast offense to Gibbs' more Gillmanesque approach to passing. I wouldn't be surprised if he moved on, now.

The NFL has rules about parallel coaching moves and tampering which is why you heve all these Assistant Head Coaches. Russ Grimm is an Assistant Head Coach for Pittsburgh even though he's really the O.L. coach. Other teams cannot hire him away as offensive coordinator without tampering. It would be considered a parallel coaching move. Likewise if Saunders becomes an Assistant Head Coach, the only way he, Bugel, or Williams could leave would be a head coaching job. In addition, if Breaux or Blache, who have the coordinator titles, leave, they would have to be either Head Coaches or Assistant Head Coaches.

Having said all that I don't see how it helps the Redskins all that much. Unless Larry Johnson, Trent Green, Willie Roaf, and Donte Hall come with, I don't see how Saunders schemes will improve the Skins all that much. What plays do they run that our current coaches aren't capable of diagramming? Their offense is derived from the same sources that ours is. Don Coryell, Ernie Zampesi, Sid Gillman, Norv Turner, Mike Martz, Joe Gibbs... they all run the same stuff. Saunders is entrenched in this school as well. Perhaps he is a better teacher, a better practice coach if you will, but I guess we shall see.

Well, I think he will help the offense in the same way that Gregg Williams has lifted the defense through his genious. I think it's reasonable to think that Saunders would add to our offense.

Well, I think he will help the offense in the same way that Gregg Williams has lifted the defense through his genious. I think it's reasonable to think that Saunders would add to our offense.

I think the first question you ask is:

Who will call the plays? If Gibbs were to give that up, you would have one heck of a story. If not, they're just adding one more person to an already overstaffed comittee.

I've never heard of Sid Gillman. Can someone give me a background on him?

The only thing I can gather from this at the outset is that Gibbs is ready to hand over the reins so he can ease up a bit on the hours at Redskin Park. An article by Joseph White from the AP ran in my local paper a couple of days ago saying that Gibbs complained more this season about the long hours than at any point in his career.

Maybe he's ready to take a step back and handle just the head coaching responsibilities apart from coordinating and playcalling duties. Notice he didn't bring a 'West Coast' guy in here. He still wants to stick with his offensive philosophy, so I think this is a good move.