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Riggo’s Rag Roundtable: Top picks to replace Jay Gruden as Redskins head coach

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on from the sidelines during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at FedExField on October 14, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on from the sidelines during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at FedExField on October 14, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – OCTOBER 26: NFL Network analyst Bill Cowher appears on set during the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins game at M&T Bank Stadium on October 26, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – OCTOBER 26: NFL Network analyst Bill Cowher appears on set during the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins game at M&T Bank Stadium on October 26, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Tim Payne’s Pick: Former Steelers HC Bill Cowher

It’s very hard for me to believe that any choice Bruce Allen could make to fill the Redskins coaching vacancy could possibly succeed. That’s not because there aren’t massively qualified candidates available. It’s just extremely unlikely that any coach with other valid options would choose to work for Bruce Allen. And it’s even more unlikely that said coach would be given the level of influence and autonomy necessary to change the culture of this franchise with Bruce Allen still occupying the office of team president.

Since it doesn’t seem like Bruce Allen is going anywhere — his press conference this week sure didn’t give any hints of a lack of job security — the only glimmer of hope for success in Washington would be to bring in a coach with such an undeniable resume that Dan Snyder would side with him over Bruce Allen on matters of football operations. The most successful stretch of Dan Snyder’s ownership was with Joe Gibbs as the head coach, with two playoff appearances in three years.

So my ideal candidate for the Redskins coaching vacancy starting in January 2020 is Bill Cowher, currently of NFL Today, and formerly the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The culture he maintained and advanced there in Pittsburgh led to a Super Bowl victory in 2005 and set up the Steelers to win another in 2008.

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Cowher is a leader of men. He is a culture creator. He’s a stickler for details and accountability. He’s not afraid to take a stand, and he, like Gibbs in his second stint in D.C., would have the strength of personality to stand up to Bruce Allen.

Cowher’s reputation is that of a leader, more than a tactician, which makes it likely he would hire tacticians as his coordinators (like maybe Todd Bowles and Kevin O’Connell). But he’d also likely hire some old-school ball coaches to help him instill a winning, accountable culture in Washington, which could be a great thing. He also succeeded with a young quarterback with many of the same traits Dwayne Haskins possesses….and he wasn’t afraid to customize his offensive approach to accommodate a young Ben Roethlisberger’s particular talents.

It might take a Jon Gruden-like $100 million-plus contract to entice Cowher out of retirement. But maybe, just maybe, that would be a big enough investment from Dan Snyder to get him to finally let Ol’ Brucie ride off into the Rockies with a cooler of Coors Lights. One can only dream.

Follow Tim on Twitter @TheRealityIs__ for more of his work and Redskins analysis.

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