Earlier today, Twitter was buzzing with reports that the Redskins are giving senior executive AJ Smith an “enhanced” role in the front office, and that they are also considering giving secondary coach Raheem Morris the defensive coordinator job.
My response:
Before going into my reaction, I will first acknowledge that in regards to the reports on Smith, no one is quite sure how “enhanced” his role will be, and in regards to the reports on Morris, it’s not like he’s been handed the job already; both situations are still pretty vague and nothing is set in stone yet.
Now, with that being said, I don’t really care if Smith’s enhanced role doesn’t amount to much, or if Morris doesn’t even get the job, because these rumblings shed light on a much bigger problem: the Washington Redskins have the lazy, awful habit of trying to fix their organizational issues with people who are already in house, a habit that will make it impossible for them to ever return to levels of respectability.
I mean, seriously, what the heck are they thinking?
How can they not realize how hypocritical it is for them to say they intend to change directions and get things right, then immediately turn around and give out/think about giving out key promotions to guys who got us into this mess in the first place? As a fan, it is absolutely infuriating to watch.
Instead of going out and searching for a young, up and comer from a winning organization, a guy who has been around a winning culture and would bring with him fresh, new ideas, the Redskins lazily scrolled through their contacts, called up AJ Smith, and said, “Hey man, want a promotion?” Why put in the effort and go through all that difficult research when you can make a move that doesn’t even require you to look up a phone number, right? It’s just so LAZY.
The same goes for the rumors about hiring Morris to take over the defense. Isn’t this the same Raheem Morris that was fired by the Buccaneers, after he went 17-31 in three seasons as head coach there? The same Raheem Morris who has been coaching the secondary the past few years, a secondary that leaves receivers open, makes Shaun Hill look like Andrew Luck, and Andrew Luck look like God? Who in their right mind is sitting in the front office and saying, “Yeah, I want THAT guy to be running the defense. Let’s give him MORE responsibility!”
The Redskins are so badly in need of some fresh air and are so badly in need of front office personnel and a defensive coordinator from the outside, people who have different perspectives and actually know what they’re doing. What they don’t need to do is keep breathing in the same, disgusting smog that has been floating around this franchise for 15 years, which is what promoting Smith and thinking about promoting Morris represents.
The most disheartening thing about all of this is? It’s probably not even over; I’m sure we’ll see this thought process of giving in house people second chances and larger roles rear its ugly head when it comes to player evaluation, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if guys like Brian Orakpo, Brandon Meriweather, Stephen Bowen, Logan Pauslen, Tyler Polumbus, EJ Biggers, and many more players who should be replaced by younger, newer talent are back in the burgundy and gold next year. Why go out and search for new players when we already have 53 right here?
There was once a point when the Nationals, Wizards, and Redskins were all in the same boat, notching losing season after losing season and showing no growth or reason to have hope. But while the Wizards and Nationals are now rising to the upper echelon of their respective sports, led by new players and coaches who came from outside the area, the Redskins are stuck in neutral. And until they stop being so lazy, stop making the easy hires instead of the right ones, and stop trying to fix the problems with the guys who created them in the first place, they won’t be going anywhere.
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