Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

The Washington Redskins have released longtime football operations official Louis Riddick, according to league sources. He must have been the guy that recommended Lloyd and Achuletta.
[URL="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/"]Redskins Insider[/URL]

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

There was probably a better way to fire him than to have the guy who used to report to him do the firing. Still, it's for the best. The writing had been on the wall for him for several months. I'm curious to see who moves up into his spot.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

It's a good thing we don't live a few hundred years ago because I have a sneaky suspicion Snyder wouldn't fire anybody. He would just have them taken out to practice field number three blindfolded and shot. Just Kidding. Kind of.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[QUOTE=wilsowilso;447988]It's a good thing we don't live a few hundred years ago because I have a sneaky suspicion Snyder wouldn't fire anybody. He would just have them taken out to practice field number three blindfolded and shot. Just Kidding. Kind of.[/QUOTE]

And his name would have been Napoleon.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

I think Riddick was a goner when Cerrato realized within the last year that every free agent or trade acquisition we've made within the last few years has failed when our coaching staff had not had any direct experience with the players in question.

If you can't successfully recommend the acquisition of free agent/trade talent without relying on your own coaches for input, then you don't bring a whole lot of value.

Peace out Riddick.

Question though, why do people care how Dan Snyder chooses to fire a scout? Why do people care if Dan Snyder is a nice guy? That's what I want to know.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=Schneed10;448012]I think Riddick was a goner when Cerrato realized within the last year that every free agent or trade acquisition we've made within the last few years has failed when our coaching staff had not had any direct experience with the players in question.

If you can't successfully recommend the acquisition of free agent/trade talent without relying on your own coaches for input, then you don't bring a whole lot of value.

Peace out Riddick.

Question though, why do people care how Dan Snyder chooses to fire a scout? Why do people care if Dan Snyder is a nice guy? That's what I want to know.[/quote]

If a guy has worked there for 7 years you'd think Snyder would have the balls to do it himself. Just another bad PR move for Dan and Vinny. Now we know that Vinny is the one guy to blame if shit doesn't go right.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

At this point not giving JLC freakout material has to be a major concern as well. Seriously, this guy is on the hunt for any perceived misstep. Riddick must not have been one of his inside sources since we weren't treated to pages about how the organization dissed him.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

Of course, take anything JLC reports with a grain of salt. I mean, who knows why they weren't there. And why doesn't JLC talk about what Riddick actually accomplished or didn't accomplish, particularly in the past few years?

Either way, it would have been preferable for Vinny to be there. Even though Riddick most recently reported to Campbell, under the circumstances of their professional relationship the news should have come from one level above Campbell.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

Yeah pretty much they should've gotten someone besides Scott Campbell to do it, but whatever, it needed to be done and I guess they didn't really care about leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

The writing's been on the wall for several months now so this isn't that much of a suprise. Good luck to him elsewhere.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

Inner workings of a business are completely unique. Given that Campbell was his boss I think it completely kosher for him to have let Riddick go. Where this type of issue needed to be settled was when they promoted Campbell over top. If they hanlded that professionally then all should be cool. In the end though I gotta agree with Schneed. Who really cares? And y?

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

See, I kinda miss when all I knew about the team was how they played on Sunday. But somehow I can't look away and am actually posting on this thread. I sort of liked Riddick's occasional appearances on skins.com TV. No doubt this is the serious house cleaning we've all been waiting for.

(It really must be the offseason...:sleep: !)

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

what exactly was his job? i know what the job title was. but what did he do?

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=Schneed10;448012]I think Riddick was a goner when Cerrato realized within the last year that every free agent or trade acquisition we've made within the last few years has failed when our coaching staff had not had any direct experience with the players in question.

If you can't successfully recommend the acquisition of free agent/trade talent without relying on your own coaches for input, then you don't bring a whole lot of value.

Peace out Riddick.

Question though, why do people care how Dan Snyder chooses to fire a scout? Why do people care if Dan Snyder is a nice guy? That's what I want to know.[/quote]

I think I see where you're coming from, it's business & we support the biz by watching, buying tickets, etc.

Yet maybe that's it, since we support the skins we feel like shareholders w/a vested interest & we want our top people to be good at what they do but also to foster a good work environment. Essentially the 2 are one in the same, the days of dictator type bosses are not entirely over, but today's work force doesn't respond well to that kind of authority.

I didn't mean to start rambling this much, so to try & conclude; Skins fans don't want to hear about Snyder coldly letting one of his top guys go after 7 years because it brings up bad memories of what happened w/Lavar, ARch & L. Coles & almost w/Springs this past year. As a loyal fan, I'd be happy if I could feel that Snyder is not so much a "nice guy" but is decent & fair w/his employees, as I feel that's what's best for the team.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

One more thing for fans to bitch about. Some people just eat up whatever BS JLC puts out there.

No big deal if you ask me. And who cares if Snyder didn't do the firing? The head of the dept. Riddick worked under is perfectly appropriate. I don't know about where you guys work, but where I work the CEO of the company doesn't fire employees.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

I mean Eric Schaffer is the best at what he does and he is being treated quite fairly. It's a results based league, results based world really, and the fact that Vinny or Danny were or were not there when Riddick was notified of his dismissal is a lot less significant than the fact that the guy has not performed well at his job recently. Seriously, who cares?

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

Does anyone here get let go by the owner of the company or the CEO? I think that it is the norm that people get let go by their supervisor. That is exactly what happened in this case. The fact that they Campbell was once subordinate to Riddick is circumstantial. JLC will do anything to stir the "Melrose Place" plot. We all know that he is about to be canned soon too. He is obviously doing everything he can to scrap together interesting pieces for the Post.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

I think the fact all of JLC sources are employees who seemingly have a bent against Snyder really tint his thoughts. Put someone in an environment where employees bitch and moan and complain and they'll think everything is completely screwed up. Put them in a situation where everyone is happy then they'll think everything is great. In JLC's case though he gets to CHOOSE who he hangs with(Ie his sources) and they all lead him to believe the place is crap. It is the exact opposite of what Maske perceived when he was the lad beat guy and the Post fired him for being to positive.

I guess the Skins' penchant for restricting access is the main cause here since they make it hard for the local media to access a balance of employees rather than making media find sources who'll always tend to be nagative since they are fundamentally going against procedure.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[QUOTE=dmek25;448050]what exactly was his job? i know what the job title was. but what did he do?[/QUOTE]

He oversaw all pro scouting. Meaning off and in-season free agent workouts/signings, scouting from other leagues (Chris Wilson), trades.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

Some have touched on it. My thing is ultimately, I care if the Redskins win or lose. I don't care how they do it. If they do it by buying every player in sight and they win a title, I'll be happy. If they forego free agency and win a title, I'll be happy. They can win it eating spam, they can win it with green eggs and ham, they can win it with a coach named Sam.

Ws and Ls folks.

Admit it, come Sundays in the fall, you're all going to give two craps about how Louis Riddick was let go. Hell, come Sundays in the fall, you'll be like Riddick who???

Bad PR move. Who the frick cares. Will it affect wins and losses? No, then what freakin ever.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

I don't even buy that it's a bad PR move. It's barely a blip on the NFL news wire today.

The Redskins aren't the only team in the league that fires scouts.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=Schneed10;448085]Some have touched on it. My thing is ultimately, I care if the Redskins win or lose. I don't care how they do it. If they do it by buying every player in sight and they win a title, I'll be happy. If they forego free agency and win a title, I'll be happy. They can win it eating spam, they can win it with green eggs and ham, they can win it with a coach named Sam.

Ws and Ls folks.

Admit it, come Sundays in the fall, you're all going to give two craps about how Louis Riddick was let go. Hell, come Sundays in the fall, you'll be like Riddick who???

Bad PR move. Who the frick cares. Will it affect wins and losses? No, then what freakin ever.[/quote]

LOL! Yeah but it's May and there isn't shit to talk about. Even NFL Network is getting tough to watch right now. I mean they are showing repeats of the Cheifs in training camp and I'm so hard up for some football I watch it. , even though I've already seen it. Any news is good news. Even if it's bad or boring news.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

It'd be nice if JLC applied the same amount of scrutiny and "inside info" on the promotion process of Eric Schaffer as he did on the firing of Louis Riddick.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

More here ... [url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2008/05/front_office_shakeup.html#more]Front Office Shake-Up - Redskins Insider[/url]

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

Everyone's been jumpin all over JLC lately about his opinion of the draft, the coaching search & now this. True, he only can gain access to so many people at redskins park & his views are of course affected by them, but he at least he does talk to somebody there.

He also talks to other nfl people, who if you read the blog regulary, have both criticized & complimented the skins over the years. e.g. he quoted a source last summer that said putting Heyer in at LT during the preseason was crazy (which I can agree with). The same source later in the year said Buges had done a good job of coahing Heyer up.

Is it still a surprise to anyone that people from other teams have negative views of the Skins management? Is it still a mystery to any of us here why the Skins have the rep they do under Snyder? It shouldn't be, and while I give the danny et al credit for adjusting over the years, I still think it's too early to say that they've changed their ways & are building a consistent, winning team. Are there good signs of improvement? Yes, but things would look a lot different now to me if we'd made the deal w/Cincy.

JLC, if you believe him, has seen a good deal of the danny's dysfunctional moves over the years. He's also been told one thing by skins mgmt., only to see things go differently. Is he too jaded to see anything good now? I really don't think so, I think he's doing what most any person would in his shoes; be skeptical.

I hope Vinny is really good at what he does, and I also believe he deserves a fair chance at running the show. I'm not one of those that was always calling for his head, because I've never been able to tell who is calling most of the shots anyway. Now that it appears he's running the show, I'll be as patient as possible, likewise w/Zorn. However, I won't be the least bit surprised if & when a lot of people here start calling out vinny again.

Yeah, firing somebody in this biz is no big deal & I"m not saying it's "bad PR." But I will go so far as to say that it's not unreasonable to look at moves like this and associate them w/a past pattern of behavior that was unhealthy as JLC did.

If I would criticize JLC for anything it would be that he didn't elaborate enough in the past or in this article about Gibbs' coming close to replacing some of the scouting dept.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

I don't really see how this is even worthy of the whole article JLC did. His ax to grind with Snyderatto is getting pretty tiresome. One of the biggest complaints about the Redskins is how poorly they've done in free agency, who was in charge of the department that scouted other pro's? Riddick. Now it's an issue that he's gone? It's like arguing with a woman, the only right answer is what suits their argument at the time.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;448094]It'd be nice if JLC applied the same amount of scrutiny and "inside info" on the promotion process of Eric Schaffer as he did on the firing of Louis Riddick.[/QUOTE]

Novel idea. It goes to the the crowd he runs with when it comes to the Skins. They see negativity in everything so that's what he knows. He is set up to think this front office is a sham by those inside who wanted it to go another way in terms of the coaching search or who plan just don't like Snyder/Cerratto. I don't blame the guy all that much but it is tiresome. His blog at one point was a must read throughout the year.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=Paintrain;448114]IIt's like arguing with a woman, the only right answer is what suits their argument at the time.[/quote]
You must know my wife....LOL

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=Paintrain;448114]I don't really see how this is even worthy of the whole article JLC did. His ax to grind with Snyderatto is getting pretty tiresome. One of the biggest complaints about the Redskins is how poorly they've done in free agency, who was in charge of the department that scouted other pro's? Riddick. Now it's an issue that he's gone? It's like arguing with a woman, the only right answer is what suits their argument at the time.[/quote]
I am with you. I still check his site, because it gives us constant Redskins news, but I am sick of him critizing the Redskins organization. They are getiing better, with experience. We have had more success in the last four years, than the previous fifteen.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[QUOTE=Paintrain;448114]I don't really see how this is even worthy of the whole article JLC did. His ax to grind with Snyderatto is getting pretty tiresome. One of the biggest complaints about the Redskins is how poorly they've done in free agency, who was in charge of the department that scouted other pro's? Riddick. Now it's an issue that he's gone? It's like arguing with a woman, the only right answer is what suits their argument at the time.[/QUOTE]

That's well said. Who has been more critical of the Redskins' recent free agent acquisitions than JLC? I don't think JLC has held true to his bargain to be less critical as the team becomes more successful (they have, he hasn't) and this is another example of that.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=SC Skins Fan;448103]More here ... [URL="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2008/05/front_office_shakeup.html#more"]Front Office Shake-Up - Redskins Insider[/URL][/quote]

I guess someone had to take the fall for Lloyd and Arch. It's Vinny's show now so he is the one guy we can all point to.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

As a fan for 40 + years, my job is to support and cheer the guys that wear the burgundy and gold each Sunday. How or who picks or scouts them
is beyond my control.

Riddick does need to learn the business proverb..."be nice to people under you, because you never know when they will pass you on their way up."

HTTR

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=freddyg12;448109]Everyone's been jumpin all over JLC lately about his opinion of the draft, the coaching search & now this. True, he only can gain access to so many people at redskins park & his views are of course affected by them, but he at least he does talk to somebody there.

He also talks to other nfl people, who if you read the blog regulary, have both criticized & complimented the skins over the years. e.g. he quoted a source last summer that said putting Heyer in at LT during the preseason was crazy (which I can agree with). The same source later in the year said Buges had done a good job of coahing Heyer up.

Is it still a surprise to anyone that people from other teams have negative views of the Skins management? Is it still a mystery to any of us here why the Skins have the rep they do under Snyder? It shouldn't be, and while I give the danny et al credit for adjusting over the years, I still think it's too early to say that they've changed their ways & are building a consistent, winning team. Are there good signs of improvement? Yes, but things would look a lot different now to me if we'd made the deal w/Cincy.

JLC, if you believe him, has seen a good deal of the danny's dysfunctional moves over the years. He's also been told one thing by skins mgmt., only to see things go differently. Is he too jaded to see anything good now? I really don't think so, I think he's doing what most any person would in his shoes; be skeptical.

I hope Vinny is really good at what he does, and I also believe he deserves a fair chance at running the show. I'm not one of those that was always calling for his head, because I've never been able to tell who is calling most of the shots anyway. Now that it appears he's running the show, I'll be as patient as possible, likewise w/Zorn. However, I won't be the least bit surprised if & when a lot of people here start calling out vinny again.

Yeah, firing somebody in this biz is no big deal & I"m not saying it's "bad PR." But I will go so far as to say that it's not unreasonable to look at moves like this and associate them w/a past pattern of behavior that was unhealthy as JLC did.

If I would criticize JLC for anything it would be that he didn't elaborate enough in the past or in this article about Gibbs' coming close to replacing some of the scouting dept.[/quote]

I had almost turned the corner on Vinny. But after that Chad Johnson fiasco I simply don't think he knows how to build a team. I still can't believe that he almost gave up 2 first round draft picks for Chad Johnson. Would Bill Polian ever do any dumb shit like that? Hell no! I don't trust the guy.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=skinsfan69;448358]I had almost turned the corner on Vinny. But after that Chad Johnson fiasco I simply don't think he knows how to build a team. I still can't believe that he almost gave up 2 first round draft picks for Chad Johnson. Would Bill Polian ever do any dumb shit like that? Hell no! I don't trust the guy.[/quote]Well, he then spent the result of trading those picks on a pair of receivers...so the short-term impact of it is null. Long-term, we will be better off for not dealing for CJ, but if the goal was to not take two picks and throw them at a position of middling need, we failed.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

ah, the Vinny haters/doubters have re-emerged! :)

Seriously though, there are any no. of reasons to question the way the front office has run under Danny (& vinny). I like that Vinny has now been apparently been given some teeth to make decisions, though time will tell & I imagine we'll hear about it somehow if Snyder is indeed making big football decisions while Vinny is still his front man. In essence, I want to see Vinny really be our GM, which is what his title & all indications are that he's doing now. If that doesn't work I'll want to see him replaced, but I'd like to see him get an honest chance w/some real power first.

As for this first draft w/Vinny in this role, I agree w/Boswell's article, that they followed the draft board to an extreme. But, only they know to what extent they followed it. IF Davis is only 1% better than Groves from Auburn (who I believe was still available), then they followed the board to a fault. If Davis was 10-15% better, then I think they made the right move. Same for the Kelly selection. I won't argue the Thomas selection as I think it was a near steal. I also applaud the trading back as it decreased the cost/risk factor of the picks.

Overall though, I think the fact that we used 10 picks & made some smart trades on draft day should speak highly of the draft & Vinny's work so far. I'm hopeful about a no. of things the team is doing, but the CJ trade talk still lingers in my mind as evidence that the Danny isn't too much of a changed man just yet. Riddick being fired may just be another inconsequential move in the long run, but as I said earlier, there's still plenty of reason to be skeptical of how things roll at Redskins Park.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=GTripp0012;448376]Well, he then spent the result of trading those picks on a pair of receivers...so the short-term impact of it is null. Long-term, we will be better off for not dealing for CJ, but if the goal was to not take two picks and throw them at a position of middling need, we failed.[/quote]

I would much rather draft two guys, let them learn your system, let them grow in your system and pay them less. Thank god for Mike Brown.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[quote=freddyg12;448384]ah, the Vinny haters/doubters have re-emerged! :)

Seriously though, there are any no. of reasons to question the way the front office has run under Danny (& vinny). I like that Vinny has now been apparently been given some teeth to make decisions, though time will tell & I imagine we'll hear about it somehow if Snyder is indeed making big football decisions while Vinny is still his front man. In essence, I want to see Vinny really be our GM, which is what his title & all indications are that he's doing now. If that doesn't work I'll want to see him replaced, but I'd like to see him get an honest chance w/some real power first.

As for this first draft w/Vinny in this role, I agree w/Boswell's article, that they followed the draft board to an extreme. But, only they know to what extent they followed it. IF Davis is only 1% better than Groves from Auburn (who I believe was still available), then they followed the board to a fault. If Davis was 10-15% better, then I think they made the right move. Same for the Kelly selection. I won't argue the Thomas selection as I think it was a near steal. I also applaud the trading back as it decreased the cost/risk factor of the picks.

Overall though, I think the fact that we used 10 picks & made some smart trades on draft day should speak highly of the draft & Vinny's work so far. I'm hopeful about a no. of things the team is doing, but the CJ trade talk still lingers in my mind as evidence that the Danny isn't too much of a changed man just yet. Riddick being fired may just be another inconsequential move in the long run, but as I said earlier, there's still plenty of reason to be skeptical of how things roll at Redskins Park.[/quote]

I can live with the way the draft went. The bottom line is we're not scoring enough points to be a SB contending team.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[QUOTE=skinsfan69;448407]I can live with the way the draft went. The bottom line is we're not scoring enough points to be a SB contending team.[/QUOTE]

SB contender? We generally don't score enough points to have a positive record... I'm thrilled when we make it to the playoffs. And quite honestly we will be lucky to make it there this year.

Re: Louis Riddick Is Gone
 

[QUOTE=Cowell;448886]SB contender? We generally don't score enough points to have a positive record... I'm thrilled when we make it to the playoffs. And quite honestly we will be lucky to make it there this year.[/QUOTE]

Lucky is right. New coach, new system, and another year on those O and D-lines, if we make 8-8 I'll be excited.