What does Vinny Cerrato do?

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

One of my bosses here worked with him at IMG, said he's "fuckin' brilliant" Could easily run a team, could be Commissioner even.

Can't remember where, but I've heard at least twice he's really the brains behind the whole Snyder, Cerrato, formerly Joe Gibbs three-headed monster.

[FRPLG]

Schaeffer is the cap guy who keeps us out of cap hell.

[WillH]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

As I understand it, essentially you've got Louis Riddick leading a team of scouts that research and target pro players (NFL, CFL, AFL) and then Scott Campbell leads the team that does the same for the college players. And Vinny oversees both groups, participates in the latters stages of player evaluation, makes suggestions based on their findings, and essentially serves as a filter of information to ownership (and Gibbs when he was here).

But they supposedly give Riddick/Campbell pretty much carte blanche, not sure I'm using the term right actually but Snyder and Cerrato usually go off their recommendations without much pushback.

And the other key player is Eric Schaeffer, who handles the money.

Okay, thanks for some clarification on this.

So, if this is the way things are structured what problem could Gregg Williams have with Cerrato? Why would he want a GM to come in, and what would that mean for the current setup?

BTW, sorry for the length of my original post, I just wanted to be as clear as possible on what I was trying to understand. I wasn't sure if this was thread worthy, but I asked a similar question in another thread and got no response. Also this debate with Rob has gone on for a little while now and was going nowhere because of lack of understanding, So I just wanted to push the discussion forward a little bit.

[SmootSmack]

What a GM would mean is a great question, because no one really knows. That's why I always say the "We need a GM" argument carries little weight because no one can really say what that would mean.

The prolbem with Vinny is really this: No one likes him. Almost to a man (and woman), every person I've talked to who works/worked with him says the same thing. "Smart guy. Knows what he's doing. But he's hard to like."

Honestly, it's the weirdest thing. No one can ever really tell me why. Best I can gather is that no one really trusts him.

But there's one person who does...and that's all that matters. Actually I don't even know how much Snyder trusts him entirely.

[RobH4413]

Quite the enigma, that Mr. Cerrato.

He kind of looks like a rat... that's why no-one likes him.

I'm on the "aint broke, don't fix" band wagon. As fans, it looks as if we don't really know entirely what he does. So either arguments, for or against VC, carry little weight.

It is what it is.

That pisses me off.

[WillH]

Interesting. I guess that leads us nowhere really. There are only two ways of looking at this:

1. If Vinny "Know's what he's doing," who cares if "he's hard to like." And in that case you would have to side with Snyder. If it is continuity he wants then the best option is to keep things in the FO the way they are, AND make Williams head coach.

2. If Vinny is so disliked and hard to trust, then why should any head coach be forced to work with him. For an organization to work the heads have to be able to work together. You may not need to like someone to work with them, but you certainly need to trust them. And in this case you would have to side with Williams. He should be able to set things up in a way that he is comfortable (with as little change as possible for continuity's sake) so that he can manage this team as best as possible.

It is hard to determine which side to take on this. I guess the first option seems to be the most logical, but we would hate to see major turmoil the next couple of seasons because these guys can't work together. All and all I hope that they work things out, other wise we are looking at one of two other less appealing scenarios:

1. Williams makes FO changes, which could disrupt continuity.

2. Someone else is named head coach, which could disrupt continuity.

Of course any of these options could pass or fail the test of time, so I guess this is a moot point. Thanks for indulging me.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I would suppose that anyone who is viewed, rightly or wrongly, as a "yes man" who has the bosses ear is going to be disliked. IMO, we as fans do not really know what is going on behind the curtain, but many of us view Vinny as a "yes man" and, therefore, blame him for whatever blunders our FO makes.

[skinsfan_nn]

Ah yes then there was Vinny. What does he do....? Besides kiss Dans ASS, anyones guess.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by skinsfan_nn

Ah yes then there was Vinny. What does he do....? Besides kiss Dans ASS, anyones guess.

I think SS broke down his general duties pretty well. But, as you and others noted, it's far from clear as to exactly which decisions/recommendations he made.

[Moseley_in_the_snow]

Vinny manages the cap, helps negotiate contracts, and kisses Danny's big white ass. He's a money guy. We need a personel guy, a bottom line football talent evaluator with the authority and backbone to stand up to Dan. This person is called a General Manager.

The fact that Vinny and Danny are the ones who are in total control of the future of this franchise scares me, and it should scare you too. If they give the Head Coaching job to someone outside of the oganization, who comes in, cleans house and starts rebuilding, all because their egos were to big to let GW question their collective genius, God help us.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Moseley_in_the_snow

Vinny manages the cap, helps negotiate contracts, and kisses Danny's big white ass. He's a money guy. We need a personel guy, a bottom line football talent evaluator with the authority and backbone to stand up to Dan. This person is called a General Manager.

The fact that Vinny and Danny are the ones who are in total control of the future of this franchise scares me, and it should scare you too. If they give the Head Coaching job to someone outside of the oganization, who comes in, cleans house and starts rebuilding, all because their egos were to big to let GW question their collective genius, God help us.

I've seen alott of coaches clean house and the team was much better after all was said and done. If you really think that Snyder is going to let that happen right now then we have to look at what Gibbs said and figure out who was elling the truth.

[SmootSmack]

Someone else, I won't say who (Touchdown! Washington Redskins!), also told me that Cerrato was extremely close to Snyder's father (who many suspect was the real catalyst behind a lot of personnel moves around say...2000), and he suspects part of why Snyder won't get rid of Cerrato is that it'd be like firing his own dad. The theory is a bit out there, but I suppose not entirely.

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Someone else, I won't say who (Touchdown! Washington Redskins!), also told me that Cerrato was extremely close to Snyder's father (who many suspect was the real catalyst behind a lot of personnel moves around say...2000), and he suspects part of why Snyder won't get rid of Cerrato is that it'd be like firing his own dad. The theory is a bit out there, but I suppose not entirely.

SS is down with Larry Micheal. Or Frank Herzog?

[skinsfan_nn]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Someone else, I won't say who (Touchdown! Washington Redskins!), also told me that Cerrato was extremely close to Snyder's father (who many suspect was the real catalyst behind a lot of personnel moves around say...2000), and he suspects part of why Snyder won't get rid of Cerrato is that it'd be like firing his own dad. The theory is a bit out there, but I suppose not entirely.

All kidding aside Vinny's made some good moves and some bad moves player wise, cap wise he/Dan fail. It has always appeared from the outside that they are attached at the hip, but who really knows.

One thing is for sure, we heard a little talk last year about a possibly cutting of the cord with Vinny and that never materialized. I'm really surprised he has lasted this long under Dan.

IMO a GOOD GM could really help the Redskins, and there are several good ones out there. It worked the first time when we where at the TOP EVERY YEAR consistently! We have THREE SB trophies to prove that! I don't understand why Dan is so slow to catch on.......? I guess I could answer the question and just say it has to be a power trip IMO.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

SS is down with Larry Micheal. Or Frank Herzog?

I can't say

Skinsfan_nn, I hear what you're saying but times are different now with salary cap and free agency issues. I think a really underlooked issue is to have a good scouting system in place, and I feel like we have really improved in that area. For all the deserved credit Grunfeld gets as GM of the Wizards, one thing people don't realize is all the work that Jordan put into revamping and expanding the scouting department.