Redskins hire offensive consultant

Listening to ESPN980 right now and two really really interesting points were made:

1) If the skins have success, then Sherman Lewis, not Jim Zorn, will get all the credit.

2) - and this one's much more interesting. They replayed the last portion of Cerratos conference call with the media yesterday about the hire. Cerrato was asked what Sherman Lewis had been doing for the past 5 years. Cerrato's answer was something along the lines of "uhhh, i'm not really sure. I know he hasn't been coaching. uhhh, his son's the defensive coordinator at Michigan. Ok, thats it." Now, there are two possibilities which explain Cerratos response.

Possibility 1) Cerrato and Snyder didn't do a lick of due diligence before bringing in Lewis. They wikipedia'd "West Coast Offense" and his name came up, so they called him.

Possibility 2) Getting Lewis wasn't Cerratos idea (and it certainly wasn't Snyders because he's probably never even herad of the guy before). If it wasn't Cerrato's idea, then someone else told him to bring Sherman in. To me, this is almost complete confirmation that Holmgren told Cerrato to bring Sherman in, because Holmgren plans on taking over this team, if not midseason, then at the end of the year.

No, that Cerrato did. Cerrato said Snyder was giving him two years in his current role. After that, he'd be removed from his current position (and in my opinion, move to some other, non-operational aspect of the franchise).

Yeah, well I mean I've been saying for a while now that within the next couple of years VC will probably move to a more "executive" position (even more so than now). Although that could always change of course, depending on the coaching situation.

But anyway, I know that Jay Glazer (or maybe it was Peter King?) said that Cerrato told him that he and the new head coach would have two years to turn things around or they'd be gone...but that's also the way Cerrato tends to talk sometimes. I don't believe he ever actually said Snyder said they would be fired.

Yeah, well I mean I've been saying for a while now that within the next couple of years VC will probably move to a more "executive" position (even more so than now). Although that could always change of course, depending on the coaching situation.

But anyway, I know that Jay Glazer (or maybe it was Peter King?) said that Cerrato told him that he and the new head coach would have two years to turn things around or they'd be gone...but that's also the way Cerrato tends to talk sometimes. I don't believe he ever actually said Snyder said they would be fired.

Well, ultimately, I don't think Cerrato, himself, is a problem. I think he's a good talent evaluator. The problem is, Snyder's got his hand in things and Cerrato either lacks the balls or the authority to veto Snyder on certain personnel moves.

I just don't get though why we didn't hire shanahan as an "offensive consultant" all he would have to do is look over zorns shoulder on the sidelines, and he would already have a head start knowing who to keep and getting used to the players. This way its guranteed that we win the shanahan sweepstakes.

Wow. I love BighairedAristocrat's points.

Interesting views.

Well, ultimately, I don't think Cerrato, himself, is a problem. I think he's a good talent evaluator. The problem is, Snyder's got his hand in things and Cerrato either lacks the balls or the authority to veto Snyder on certain personnel moves.

You know, you make a really interesting point about Cerrato as a talent evaluator. If you look at his 2 drafts where he's had complete control he's made two OBVIOUS mistakes (Durant Brooks, Fred Davis) but he also brought in some players who can contribute for the next 4-5 years in Kelly, Kareem Moore, Chris Horton, Chad Rinehart, Justin Tryon, Brian Orapko, Jeremy Jarmon, Marko Mitchell, Kevin Barnes..

I don't think he's very good at assembling a team or self scouting and making decisions based on need. I also think he over inflates the value of some players and over drafts based on that (Davis, Rinehart, Tryon, possibly Barnes). That doesn't mean they won't be good and productive players, but maybe were picked ahead of other players that may have been more productive.

I think he had a 3 year plan to fix problem areas from the Gibbs era (receivers year one, defensive line year two, offensive line year three). I don't think he thought the OL would deteriorate as rapidly as they did because it was (at the end of '07) the best performing unit out of the three mentioned. If he's in place to handle the '10 draft I'd expect him to draft 3 linemen, a RB and a LB (based on what we do in FA) which would then round out his plan.

I just don't get though why we didn't hire shanahan as an "offensive consultant" all he would have to do is look over zorns shoulder on the sidelines, and he would already have a head start knowing who to keep and getting used to the players. This way its guranteed that we win the shanahan sweepstakes.

Shanahan or Holmgren wouldn't come in at this point with Zorn still in place as the HC, that'd be really difficult because they're an obvious replacement. Zorn would probably quit if one of them were brought in above him because it would completely undermine him in the organization and locker room.

You know, you make a really interesting point about Cerrato as a talent evaluator. If you look at his 2 drafts where he's had complete control he's made two OBVIOUS mistakes (Durant Brooks, Fred Davis)

I don't think Fred is/was a mistake. He will eventually produce, I'm waiting for him Kelly and Thomas to also get of their butts. I think they will very soon.

You know, you make a really interesting point about Cerrato as a talent evaluator. If you look at his 2 drafts where he's had complete control he's made two OBVIOUS mistakes (Durant Brooks, Fred Davis) but he also brought in some players who can contribute for the next 4-5 years in Kelly, Kareem Moore, Chris Horton, Chad Rinehart, Justin Tryon, Brian Orapko, Jeremy Jarmon, Marko Mitchell, Kevin Barnes..

I don't think he's very good at assembling a team or self scouting and making decisions based on need. I also think he over inflates the value of some players and over drafts based on that (Davis, Rinehart, Tryon, possibly Barnes). That doesn't mean they won't be good and productive players, but maybe were picked ahead of other players that may have been more productive.

I think he had a 3 year plan to fix problem areas from the Gibbs era (receivers year one, defensive line year two, offensive line year three). I don't think he thought the OL would deteriorate as rapidly as they did because it was (at the end of '07) the best performing unit out of the three mentioned. If he's in place to handle the '10 draft I'd expect him to draft 3 linemen, a RB and a LB (based on what we do in FA) which would then round out his plan.

I don't think Durant Brooks was a bad decision at the time - it just didnt work out. I don't think Fred Davis is a bust, but I agree it was the dumbest move he's made in the draft in the past 2 years. As far as free agency goes, I think thats where Snyder generally gets more involved, so what we see has less to do with Cerrato and more to do with Snyder. The problem is, Cerrato will never have the kind of control he needs to judge him as a true GM in Washington.

Listening to ESPN980 right now and two really really interesting points were made:

1) If the skins have success, then Sherman Lewis, not Jim Zorn, will get all the credit.

2) - and this one's much more interesting. They replayed the last portion of Cerratos conference call with the media yesterday about the hire. Cerrato was asked what Sherman Lewis had been doing for the past 5 years. Cerrato's answer was something along the lines of "uhhh, i'm not really sure. I know he hasn't been coaching. uhhh, his son's the defensive coordinator at Michigan. Ok, thats it." Now, there are two possibilities which explain Cerratos response.

Possibility 1) Cerrato and Snyder didn't do a lick of due diligence before bringing in Lewis. They wikipedia'd "West Coast Offense" and his name came up, so they called him.

Possibility 2) Getting Lewis wasn't Cerratos idea (and it certainly wasn't Snyders because he's probably never even herad of the guy before). If it wasn't Cerrato's idea, then someone else told him to bring Sherman in. To me, this is almost complete confirmation that Holmgren told Cerrato to bring Sherman in, because Holmgren plans on taking over this team, if not midseason, then at the end of the year.

Nothing negative about it, but this thread is in offseason form. LOL.