Jay Gruden hired as head coach of the Redskins

Just watched the McVay interview on Redskin Nation, like what I heard and saw from him so far.

Almost certainly, this is a case of money talking. I imagine the conversation was something like:
BA to JG -- You can hire your own staff, but we would really like not to pay people to sit at home. Could you live with Haslett for this year?

JG -- Hey Haslett and I are good, I can work with him.

BA -- Good answer Jay.

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in other words, while I hope Jay was given the option not to keep him, the team made clear that their preference was to let the contract play out.

I have no proof of this, just how I hope it went. Remember, Jay didn't change out a lot of the Bengals staff when he took over at OC. He seems to be a "I'll work with who's there" type coach.

I get the "choosing his own staff" defense.

I get the "interfering head coach" defense.

I get the "not a lot of talent in the defensive backfield" defense.

All in all, however, Jim Haslett's defense sucks.

Agreed, and I wish he'd been fired after the bye, but it looks like one more year for him. :(

I get the "choosing his own staff" defense.

I get the "interfering head coach" defense.

I get the "not a lot of talent in the defensive backfield" defense.

All in all, however, Jim Haslett's defense sucks.

I think it calls into question the impact that any coach truly can have. Don't get me wrong, I think there's separation between coaches. But player talent trumps coaching and scheme when it comes to determining Ws and Ls.

Hell, look at turnovers. Nothing impact Ws and Ls like turnovers. A few unlucky or lucky bounces of the ball after fumbles and you could be talking about a 2 win swing on any team around the NFL.

In other words, the benefit of continuity may be better than overreacting to what we saw last year. Our offseason acquisitions will have more to say about this turnaround than Haslett will.

What if hiring Wes Phillips is a back hand way to get Wade in the door at Redskins Park. Then next year if no coaching opportunities arise, and Haslett does what we all expect, bada bing bada boom, Wade is the new DC.

There is good use for conspiracy theorist mentalities at Redskins Park!!!

What if hiring Wes Phillips is a back hand way to get Wade in the door at Redskins Park. Then next year if no coaching opportunities arise, and Haslett does what we all expect, bada bing bada boom, Wade is the new DC.

There is good use for conspiracy theorist mentalities at Redskins Park!!!

If thats the case, they should just hire him now and dump Haslett. Dont have to higher his son for that.

Since Chris Foerster is staying as OL coach does that mean we are staying with the zone blocking.

Almost certainly, this is a case of money talking. I imagine the conversation was something like:
BA to JG -- You can hire your own staff, but we would really like not to pay people to sit at home. Could you live with Haslett for this year?

JG -- Hey Haslett and I are good, I can work with him.

BA -- Good answer Jay.

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in other words, while I hope Jay was given the option not to keep him, the team made clear that their preference was to let the contract play out.

I have no proof of this, just how I hope it went. Remember, Jay didn't change out a lot of the Bengals staff when he took over at OC. He seems to be a "I'll work with who's there" type coach.

Except the WaPo article about Haslett's retention talks about an extension for him.

I'm okay (not thrilled) with the idea of having Haslett as a DC (again) and I am willing to give him another chance and see what happens. Hopefully with some improvements we can have a defense that can complement our offense.

Haslett's defense was pretty aggressive and had a lot of takeaways in 2012 when we had a good offense. They did have a lot of issues that year too, but they were productive when the offense played well and the special teams didn't stink.

I don't know how any single unit in the team could have been successful in 2013.

Someone quoted the ineptness of the defense during the first game against the Eagles, yet the offense went an entire half without scoring a single point. Ironically, the defense scored 7 points in the first half during that game. Something similar happened during the Green Bay game.

You can find several examples throughout the 2013 season where either the offense or defense, f*cked things up royally. Sometimes it was the offense, sometimes it was the defense (and the constant terrible factor of Special Teams).

I'm not trying to convince anyone that Haslett is a great DC. But at the same time, focusing on JUST last year it's a bit ridiculous.

Save for 2012, our team has faced lot of issues that were either residuals from Vinny's crap, bad decisions by Shanahan, penalty cap, and just bad luck. We've always wanted a GM in charge, and that man is Bruce Allen. I personally feel he has done a lot of good things for the organization and I trust his judgement.

I think fans should give Jay Gruden and the staff he has picked an opportunity to show what they can do without any drama and with the resources we've been lacking.