# Jay Gruden Replaces Shanahan
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [January 9, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357 "2014-01-09T14:31:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/1 "2014-01-09T14:31:26Z")
Just announced from Redskins front office – Jay Gruden, Tampa Bay offensive coordinator and brother of ESPN analyst and former Raiders coach Jon Gruden, will lead the Redskins in the 2014 season.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/2 "2014-01-09T14:41:21Z")
Seemed to be the “hot” name these last few years. He made a decent QB out of Andy Dalton, I think (hope) he can unfuck whatever’s fucked up with RG3’s game (perhaps _not_ make QB runs a staple of the offense and teach him to, like, throw and stuff?).
And he can’t possibly be any worse than Steve Spurrier or Jim Zorn, so all in all, as a Skins fan I’m happy with this.
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### Author:  [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/3 "2014-01-09T14:49:34Z")
Slight Correction - [Gruden’s the the OC for the Cincinnati Bengals](http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10267454/washington-redskins-hire-jay-gruden-coach), not the terrible (this year) Tampa Bay Buccanneers.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/4 "2014-01-09T15:35:05Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#):
>
> Slight Correction - [Gruden’s the the OC for the Cincinnati Bengals](http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10267454/washington-redskins-hire-jay-gruden-coach), not the terrible (this year) Tampa Bay Buccanneers.
:smack:
It was JON Gruden who once coached the 'Bucs.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/5 "2014-01-09T15:37:27Z")
Well, he _did_ work in Tampa Bay as an assistant for Jon, but he was never the OC there.
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### Author:  [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/6 "2014-01-09T17:30:52Z")
Why anybody would want to coach under Dan Snyder is a mystery.
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/7 "2014-01-09T17:51:02Z")
Money
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/8 "2014-01-09T18:28:46Z")
Yes. To that end, Shanahan didn’t coach very well, but he seems to have done a masterful job in crafting a contract with an employer he knew to be unreliable and incompetent.
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### Author:  [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/9 "2014-01-09T18:28:51Z")
Not just money, though.
If you’re confident enough and ambitious enough, you’ll believe you can make something work, even with suboptimal conditions. If you’re an NFL coach, it’s not like your dream job is just going to fall into your lap, so you have to make things work with what’s available and believe your own skills will be sufficient to the task.
ETA: Though, if I were Gruden, I’d make sure Snyder pays through the nose when he inevitably meddles and screws up my team.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/10 "2014-01-09T18:42:02Z")
Synder, having gone through eight coaches in sixteen years (is that any kind of a record?) has shown one thing: he’s unwilling to fire the one common element in this ongoing clusterfuck.
But I have to admit something: I sort of get it. I am honest enough to admit to myself that because I am a football fan, if I had enough money to buy the Redskins, as owner I’d be worse. I would meddle in the coaching like the Mayor of Meddleburg. I would be involved in the draft, the training camp, the sidelines on game days… I might suit up and take a few snaps just to be able to say I played pro football. why? _Because I could_.
Now, hopefully after a year of seeing how disastrous that was, I’d wise up, because I’m not a moron.
OK, not much of a moron.
OK, not a complete moron.
Ok, you know what? Never mind.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/11 "2014-01-09T19:11:20Z")
Jon was a quality control (read: “Related to the coach? Cash this paycheck!”) coach in Tampa and was hardly ever around the facility. His full-time job back then was coaching (and frequently quarterbacking) the Orlando Predators, the most successful Arena Football franchise during his tenure. He got a DUI and was quietly run out of Tampa, then lost his job with the Preds when the league took a hiatus. I was kind of shocked to see him resurface in Cincy, and more shocked to see him do so well.
I predict things will go badly in DC as long as Bruce Allen is the GM, even if Shanahan stops interfering. That guy is fucking useless.
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### Author:  [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/12 "2014-01-09T19:36:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> I predict things will go badly in DC as long as Bruce Allen is the GM, **even if Shanahan stops interfering**. That guy is fucking useless.
bolding mine
Haha! I’m guessing that won’t be a problem… but it’d be hilarious if it was!
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/13 "2014-01-09T19:40:47Z")
> [@USCDiver](#):
>
> bolding mine
>
> Haha! I’m guessing that won’t be a problem… but it’d be hilarious if it was!
I’m thinking he meant ‘Snyder’ and just slipped up.
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### Author:  [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/14 "2014-01-09T19:44:32Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> And he can’t possibly be any worse than Steve Spurrier or Jim Zorn, so all in all, as a Skins fan I’m happy with this.
This the same Jim Zorn who coached young Charlie Batch, Matt Hasselback, and Joe Flacco to career highs. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/15 "2014-01-09T19:47:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Yes. To that end, Shanahan didn’t coach very well, but he seems to have done a masterful job in crafting a contract with an employer he knew to be unreliable and incompetent.
His first head coaching job was for Al Davis.
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/16 "2014-01-09T19:59:34Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> Synder, having gone through eight coaches in sixteen years (is that any kind of a record?) has shown one thing: he’s unwilling to fire the one common element in this ongoing clusterfuck.
I’m assuming you mean his own self. But why should he fire himself as owner? He’s making money for himself hand over fist.
FWIW, Snyder’s only had seven coaches, even if you count Terry Robiskie’s three-game pinch-hit after he fired Norv.
In all fairness, we should start the clock on this particular count with the first coach that Snyder hired, which would be Marty Schottenheimer. Starting with Marty, he’s gone through five coaches in thirteen years, from the welcome with open arms to ‘don’t let the door hit your sorry ass on the way out.’ That’s still only 2.6 seasons per coach, not exactly an inspiring record.
Snyder’s just 49 years old. Redskins fans may have to put up with this guy for a long, long time. And it’s already seemed like an eternity, but it’s only just begun.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/17 "2014-01-09T20:00:24Z")
He should fire himself as GM, but then, so should Jerry Jones.
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### Author:  [@bob\_bolger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_bolger)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/18 "2014-01-09T20:05:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> Synder, having gone through eight coaches in sixteen years (is that any kind of a record?)
Not in a world with Al Davis.
Al managed to “beat” that twice with the Oakland Raiders
96-2011 - 9 different coaches
97-2012 - 9 different coaches.
The only one in that era with a winning record… Jon Gruden. Bringing us back to the OP.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/19 "2014-01-09T20:12:50Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> Snyder’s just 49 years old. Redskins fans may have to put up with this guy for a long, long time. And it’s already seemed like an eternity, but it’s only just begun.
Well, they’re consistently entertaining _off_ the field at least, if not on.
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-gruden-replaces-shanahan/678357/20 "2014-01-09T20:40:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> He should fire himself as GM, but then, so should Jerry Jones.
…and Mike Brown
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