By John Pappas
Warpath Confidential Editor
The Washington Redskins will hold a press conference today to officially announce Mike Shanahan as their new head coach. Fans could not be more thrilled.
And why shouldn’t they be? After all, they are the people most responsible for his hire. In fact, the fans are responsible for a lot of stuff lately at Redskins Park.
The revolution started in 2008 during the last coaching search, when word leaked that Jim Fassel was set to be named head coach following the retirement of Joe Gibbs. Fans were less than thrilled. After the expectations of a return to glory with legendary coach Gibbs went unfulfilled, they were in no mood to settle for a coach they considered a retread. They wanted something new, something innovative.
It began as message board rants and commiseration. It spread to callers to radio shows and responses to newspaper articles, until it became fodder for the shows and articles themselves.
At its peak, fan dissatisfaction was almost universal and being expressed in every medium available. At the time we had heard Fassel was definitely the guy, and the job was his. But no announcement came and it soon become obvious that Fassel would not get the job. A few week later the team announced the hiring of Jim Zorn, and a victory for the fans.
That quieted the mob for a time. And the 6-2 start in 2008 seemed to put it to bed. Then the team started to backslide. They went 2-6 to end the season at 2008.
Despite the late-season collapse, fans remained patient. After all, they reasoned, Gibbs went 8-8 his first year.
But whether the team knew it or not, they were on a short rope.
When the team lost the 2009 opener to the Giants it was disappointing. Then the Redskins barely beat a horrible St. Louis team, and lost to Detroit, who had not won a game in 19 tries. Almost overnight, fans reacted.
The revolt spread faster and farther than 2008. The message boards went nuclear. The phones blew up at the sports radio stations. Websites sprang up. Tee-shirts, bumper stickers, and signs appeared. Folks turned in fan cards, sending them to the team and news outlets. Most significant, attendance at FedEx Field dropped quickly, and remained low throughout the season.
And as the season progressed, the revolt worsened, until it became a burgundy revolution.
The object of the revolution was ambitious. Fans wanted nothing less than a reorganization of the team’s management structure. They were tired of the paltry offense, losing seasons, and poor decisions by the organization. They hated seeing the once proud franchise being turned into a laughing stock. They blamed it on the unorthodox management structure that featured owner Dan Snyder too involved in operational decisions, and Vinny Cerrato as executive vice president of football operations. They demanded less owner involvement, a more traditional structure with a real general manager, and a competent head coach.
The march to victory was not without struggle. First, the team tried to undermine the effort by bringing in offensive consultant Sherman Lewis. A short time later, they gave Lewis play calling duties. It was a move that implied Zorn would be leaving the team soon. But it did not quell fan discontent.
Next, the team banned signs at home games. The move backfired with fan anger even greater and national news outlets ridiculing the team.
At the same time, fans who supported the team shunned the members of the revolution, accusing them of betraying their loyalties.
But the revolt continued, and it became obvious that the revolution would not be placated, and would not cease.
The first victory came December 17 with the early morning announcement that Cerrato had resigned. As the story came out it became clear that Cerrato was told by Snyder to do so. The next came two hours later with the announcement that Bruce Allen, son of legendary Redskins coach George Allen, was the new general manager of the team.
Fans were ecstatic. On the same day their long-time nemesis got his comeuppance, they received the reward of an experienced GM. Better, the team reached into Redskins’ history to get him.
The third victory came just hours after the season. Zorn was barely off the bus in the middle of the night before he was called in to Allen’s office, fired, and escorted off the property. Allen’s comments later that day embodied the frustrations and desires of the fans.
“I just know that last place is not Redskin football,” Allen said. ”Last place two years in a row is not Redskin football. Today we can start building the foundation that would make us successful in the future.”
All that remained for total victory was the right coach. Fans wanted one with pedigree, one who understood how to win, one who had done it before.
He came last night in the form of two-time Super Bowl winner Shanahan. By any measure, Shanahan is a major upgrade over Zorn. Next to Gibbs and George Allen, he may be the best coach the team has ever had.
Participants in the revolution should be happy and proud. Their dissatisfaction was the impetus for the firing of Cerrato and Zorn, and the hiring of Allen and Shanahan. They can now retire the websites, the tee-shirts, the bumper stickers, and the signs. They can stop by Redskins Park and retrieve their fan cards. It is again proper to renew their season tickets.
The war is over. The fans won.
Viva La Revolución.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by skinscast: The revolution is over http://bit.ly/7iDCj6 via @AddToAny…
I hope the war is over.
How much of it was dissatisfaction with the Redskins and how much was personal dissatisfaction with life?
HTTR!