[SolidSnake84]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

Thought it was important to highlight these two points.

Contrary to the current opinion in our front office, our culture is not "damn good" - its been the complete opposite. The Prince of Darkness has ruined the culture of this team. Jay was a little too easy-going. Whoever we bring in needs to really change that culture and create a professional environment here - from the front office down to the locker room.

To the other point, hiring great assistants really is key. Now, Gruden had some great offensive assistants here - the fact that 2 of them are successful head coaches now is a testament to that. But he could never bring in a good DC. And aside from Tomsula, I don't think any of our other defensive coaches would be ranked in the top half of the league. Gruden had a chance to get Wade Phillips and turned it down. He stubbornly stuck with Manusky last offseason... why? In both instances, there were rumblings that Jay was insecure and afraid to bring in someone who could be viewed as a potential replacement for him should he be fired. His insecurity lead to him NOT making the best hire. The new head coach cannot be that kind of guy. He's got to be someone who not only has the desire, but also the ability, to convince the best assistant coaches available to come here.

Given our reputation in the league, finding the head coach who can do both things is going to be very, very difficult. I sincerely hope Snyder has already started the process of searching for a new GM and/or head coach. I say both because, while traditionally, you'd hire a GM and let him pick the coach, sometimes, if the coach is elite enough, you can do the reverse - you hire the coach and let him select the GM. I don't think there are any coaching candidates out there that have that cache, but its always possible someone unexpected could become available.


There were rumors last offseason that part of the reason Jay

Didn't it come out after Jay's firing that Jay wanted Manusky gone but he (Gruden) did not have the power to hire / fire staff?