Redskins: Three ways Jay Gruden can keep his job in 2020
By Ian Cummings
No. 1 – Delegate offensive roles to other staff members
In the past, Jay Gruden has juggled a number of roles for the Redskins. He’s been the head coach for five years, and obviously, that one role alone comes with a multitude of responsibilities. But on top of that, Gruden has also been the offensive coordinator for most of those years, and he’s also been the one to deal with clock management, and other in-game roles.
With these roles, Gruden has experienced minimal success, and maximal stagnation. The team has been marred by inconsistency, and while the brightest moments have been bright, the team has more often failed to rise to the occasion. And while there’s never one cause for such a trend of failure, Gruden’s lack of clarity as a head coach could factor in.
Perhaps, if Gruden were to delegate more roles to other staff members, such as relinquishing offensive coordinator duties to Kevin O’Connell, he could focus on the more essential roles of a head coach: Leadership, establishing accountability, game planning and contingency planning, adapting, player development, player relations. And with less on his plate, perhaps Gruden could perform with greater success, in the roles maintained.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that, by delegating, Gruden could lose his job. O’Connell could shine as the offensive coordinator, and convince the team to cut ties with Gruden, and effectively move forward with O’Connell. But Gruden’s last chance doesn’t rest with his offensive play calling abilities. Gruden’s last chance is to be the best head coach he can be, even if that means reducing the size of his scope.
Next. Breaking down the Redskins OL depth chart. dark
In the end, suspicions might be confirmed, that Jay Gruden is not the right man to lead the Washington Redskins in the present day. But as long as Gruden still has his job, he has a chance to prove to the front office that he’s good enough. Something has to change. If Gruden is truly good enough, something will change. And if he isn’t, then it will be someone else’s point to prove in 2020.