A breakdown of dysfunction in Washington

Firing former head coach Jay Gruden won’t fix the problems that exist within the Washington Redskins organization. Here is a breakdown of its dysfunction.

The Washington Redskins became the first NFL team this season to fire their head coach. After an 0-5 start, that was enough for the Washington front office to part ways with head coach Jay Gruden after five-plus years on the job. That move won’t solve all the Redskins’ problems, as they remain arguably the most dysfunctional franchise in the entire league.

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame, Josh Hill and Mark Carman uncover what is actually ailing the Redskins. Quite frankly, it’s not all that hard to figure out. Their problems start and end with owner Daniel Snyder and team president Bruce Allen (15:42).

The guys did bring up that the Redskins organization fired Gruden at 5:00 a.m. ET on Monday. Nothing like starting your Monday morning off super early by getting whacked, I suppose. Offensive line coach Bill Callahan will try to reclaim this sunken Redskins ship as the interim head coach for the rest of the season. Who’s to say he’ll even make it to Black Monday?

“The idea that firing Jay Gruden is going to fix that complete dumpster fire in the nation’s capital is so ridiculous,” said Verderame. “So Dan Snyder, the owner of the team, doesn’t even bother to show up to the press conference. He sends Bruce Allen because Bruce Allen is really the owner of the team because he’s the one there on a day-to-day basis.”

“Bruce Allen is the one who tells Dan Snyder what’s going on on a day-to-day basis. Don’t think there’s a little bias to that? That’s why Bruce Allen has been there forever. The other reason he’s been there forever is his father George Allen was the head coach of the Redskins in the ’70s when they went to the Super Bowl, beloved figure.  So he’s kind of grandfathered in.”

Simply put, as long as the Redskins have Allen in the building, the Washington franchise will remain inherently dysfunctional because Snyder can’t even be bothered to show up to a press conference for when his team fired its head coach mid-season. Washington will hire somebody underqualified to replace Gruden and we’ll continue to see this dysfunction remain on display.

It’s a shame because this team has a loyal and passionate fan base that hasn’t seen consistent winning since the glory days of Joe Gibbs in the 1980s and early 1990s. Ever since Snyder bought the team two decades ago, the Redskins have been nothing short of being the biggest disaster in the NFC. Good luck for Callahan, rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins and the rest of the team.

Here are a few other topics that were discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Hiring Freddie Kitchens was Plan B for the Cleveland Browns (2:10).
• The San Francisco 49ers still need to prove themselves (5:25).
• Are the Oakland Raiders a playoff team (45:35)?
• Will Dan Quinn be the next head coach fired (52:00)?

All this and more!

Subscribe to Stacking The Box and follow Matt Verderame, Josh Hill and Mark Carman on Twitter.