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Redskins miss out on top potential defensive coordinator replacements, unlikely to make change

By Jacob Camenker

JACKSONVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 16: A Washington Redskins helmet is seen before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field on December 16, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 16: A Washington Redskins helmet is seen before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field on December 16, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Redskins were thought to potentially make some changes on the defensive side of their coaching staff. However, with each passing day, it seems that Greg Manusky may return for another season.

One of the major storylines of the Redskins offseason has been that the team has been unusually quiet. And I don’t mean in terms of making moves. I’m talking about the fact that the front office literally hasn’t been saying much at all about their squad in recent weeks. Fans and media members alike are in the dark about potential decisions they might make to their coaching staff, and only Jay Gruden has been confirmed as returning for the next season.

At the start of the offseason, it seemed possible that the Redskins would try to make some changes on the defensive side of the ball. Greg Manusky hadn’t performed poorly in two seasons, but his defense lacked discipline and effort at times last season. While it can be argued that issue stems from the head coach, it might not have hurt to bring in a new voice to help and develop the team’s young, talented unit into a top-10 squad. Or, more importantly, the team could have looked to add a motivator to help on that side of the ball.

However, it’s now appearing that the team is mostly going to stand pat and keep its coordinators for another season. And that’s because the team missed out on the top potential replacements at the position.

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This offseason was supposed to be a good one for defensive coordinator candidates. Guys like Todd Bowles, Steve Wilks, and Vance Joseph were all available after being fired following their head coaching stints, and Gregg Williams wasn’t tapped to return in Cleveland after serving as the interim head coach there. Those four were widely wanted across the league, and so was former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano. If the Redskins wanted an upgrade, there were certainly some available.

In particular, Bowles and Williams stood out as coordinators that the ‘Skins could have a shot at. Bowles played with the Redskins during his NFL career and he was teammates with Doug Williams, a man who currently is involved with the team’s front office.

Meanwhile, Williams led the Washington defense from 2004-2007, but his potential return was complicated by the fact that the team didn’t tap him as the Redskins’ next coach following the retirement of Joe Gibbs. But still, there was a chance that the two sides could reconcile if the opening was attractive enough to Williams.

The Redskins made a small effort to upgrade their coordinator slot. They at least talked to Bowles about a potential role with the team before he went to the Buccaneers. But for the most part, it seemed that the team was content to stick with what they had. And that doesn’t seem like a good thing.

Washington needed to have some sort of change on their coaching staff to at least make it seem like the team was trying to improve with its coaching staff. It didn’t have to be at defensive coordinator, but it had to be something.

Instead, they now will, apparently, bring back what is largely the same staff as last year. Unless they make some big-time changes at position coaches, it’s unlikely that the team will be significantly different in 2019, and at the very least, they definitely missed a chance to make (or at least attempt to make) an impactful change on the defensive side of the ball.

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Of course, it is worth noting that Manusky is far from the team’s biggest problem. And there’s no guarantee that the team could have actually landed an upgrade given the chaotic state of their organizational structure. Still, the lack of effort put into either targeting replacements or confirming that Manusky would be back was strange, and it will be interesting to see at what point the team will address the state of their coaching staff.

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