QUOTE: “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” -- Japanese proverb
A civil war in Washington
Wednesday on “Inside the NFL” on Showtime, we had an appearance by former Redskins running back great John Riggins. If you subscribe to Showtime and missed it because of the World Series, make sure to catch it later this week. Riggins never holds back, and there was nothing said off camera that wasn’t said on camera. He was passionate about the state of the Redskins and even more passionate about owner Dan Snyder. Here’s what Riggins said about Snyder:
“This is a bad guy that owns this team. I'll just tell you that up front. Bad guy. And if the commissioner is worried about potential new owners and saying some of these guys shouldn't apply, he might want to police his own inside guys.”
Both host James Brown and analyst Cris Collinsworth asked Riggins to be more specific about his charge that Snyder was a “bad guy” – whether he meant in business or on a personal level. Riggins said:
“I am saying that I don't think that this franchise can be successful where you have people saying, ‘Oh, this person Dan Snyder wants to win. He wants to win.’ It's all about priorities. ‘What’s my priorities? The priority is it's all about me. I have to have my needs met, then I want to make money, and those are one and two, and then I want to win.’ You can see by the decisions that are made....I don't know if you have agreed with anything I am saying so far, but at this point, I would think you would say, ‘Yeah, I'll go along with that.’ This person knows nothing about football, absolutely nothing. I don't think they have a clue how a football team comes together, how it works. And yet they are the ones that are basically calling all the shots through a puppet, which is Vinny Cerrato. That is my take on it....I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy.”
We offered Snyder an opportunity to come on the show at any time to refute Riggins’ comments. Snyder needs to be proactive with his public relations — like Jerry Jones of the Cowboys. Love him or hate him, Jerry is not afraid to get in front of a camera and handle a tough situation. Avoiding a confrontation or avoiding an uncomfortable situation only makes the problem worsen. Snyder cannot take the Oakland Raiders approach to public relations, which is to attack anyone who says a bad word and only do interviews they can control -- which in turn essentially become an infomercial. Hiding from this problem is not the right course of action, or the right kind of leadership. Good or bad, a leader must keep leading.
Snyder’s lack of willingness to address these issues might seem to some (me included) that he’s not willing to let go of his overall control. Saying he’s sorry and feels bad about the team’s 2-5 start is a good first step, but telling the fan base there’s a plan in place will win their support. Fans want to know their leader has a plan. They want to know their team is being guided with a purpose, and being silent on these issues sends the wrong message.
The next GM in Cleveland
I hope, I sincerely hope, that Browns owner Randy Lerner is smart enough not to include Eric “The Secret” Mangini in the process of hiring the team’s next general manager. But here’s what “The Secret” revealed Wednesday:
“Yeah, Randy and I talk a lot, so I’m sure we’ll be very engaged in that (decision).” Asked if it would hard to add a GM midway through the season, he said, “We're just going through the process, so I’m not sure how that will all play out. We have to really see what’s there, see what’s available.”
Mangini is part of the problem, not part of the solution. His authority must be scaled back because he can’t be in control of the entire organization. Lerner must communicate to his fan base that he alone is going to make the hire. He may have the next man meet “The Secret” but not allow Mangini to control the selection. Mangini controlled the hiring of George Kokinis because he wanted full control. He doesn’t want to hear a different point of view or a different side to the story; he wants people who are loyal to him. His experience in New York made him more determined to create a loyalist society in Cleveland, and no one was getting into the Browns building without pledging their undying loyalty. Since he’s been a head coach in the NFL, Mangini has wanted to work alongside his longtime friend Kokinis, and while with the Jets, both he and Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum wanted Kokinis to join them. The three have always dreamed of working together at some point in their careers. But Baltimore blocked the Kokinis move, and their dreams were never realized.
Whoever the next guy is, he’ll be walking into a very difficult situation since most of the front office employees were hired by Mangini. So the person Lerner selects must be very strong in his ability to lead, strong in his ability to change the culture in the building and very strong to be able to know and develop a comprehensive plan. Bringing in a good evaluator and making him the general manager is not going to work. Evaluating is one part of the job — certainly a big part -- but leadership and the ability to communicate are other enormous tasks and the most important jobs in Cleveland.
Do you think Lerner even knows the qualifications for the job? Do you think he understands exactly what has to happen from the front office to be a team that can actually compete for the a title? “The Secret” can say he worked for Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick and claim he knows their total program — but knowing the program and implementing it are two different enterprises. That’s like me saying I’ve watched Mario Batali cook and I can open a five-star restaurant. Not going to happen.
Belichick’s and Parcells’ brilliance lies in their ability to motivate, to know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and most critically to understand exactly what kinds of players are essential to winning in the NFL in 2009. The secret to their success doesn’t lie in their ability to keep secrets; it lies in their ability to build a team on and off the field. One of the reasons we’re seeing such a disparity in teams right now is because many NFL front office people don’t understand how to build the right team and then how to develop a program of player procurement that is the foundation of the team. Team building doesn’t mean bringing in a bunch of hard-working players who have been with the coaches at other teams and are willing to be compliant. That’s what occurred in Detroit under former coach Rod Marinelli. They had a bunch of great guys in the locker room but no talent on the field. I see the same course of action developing in Cleveland under “The Secret.”
So how can Mangini be a part of the process when his idea of team building will be diametrically different than the next hire? Only Randy Lerner can answer that question -- and all the other questions that await him as he rebuilds his team.
Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi
Check out the new team pages at the NFP — where the fans get to voice their opinions.
You are spot on... George is a very hard worker and a good judge of talent. Yes, not the best choice for a GM job but he was hung out to dry by some rather unprofessional actions from his "good buddy". They set him up to fail... Eric did not communicate with him at all. Everything about this is bad business. My only hope is that the Ravens take him back. It was a big mistake by the lake!! George deserves better than this!
I don't understand your point about Snyder. Do you really think it is necessary for him to go on national TV to answer claims that he is a "bad guy" from an old player who was not exactly known for his diligence or judgment? Riggins made some decent points earlier in the season, but now he is beginning to sound a little obsessed. Clearly there is more to his animus against Snyder than the team's won-loss record. I give Snyder credit for not getting in a mudlsinging contest.
Big Jets fan here, first fell in love with Mangini but then start to realize there was no brilliance there. His first season as our coach was special, under achieving team goes 10-6, but over the next two years, all I saw was poorly timed trick plays and a god awful defense under a head coach who was on Belichick's defensive staff in NE, so it was quite frustrating. From an outsider's perspective, the Browns suffer from a lack of talent after ditching Winslow, Edwards and moving the #6 overall pick. Yes Winslow and Edwards were headaches at times, but both were staples of that 2007 team, and trust me, I reaped the Fantasy Football rewards of a 10-6 team that just missed the playoffs due to a poor week 16 game by Derek Anderson. As an outsider, I see the browns failing in finding a younger 3rd down back option to Jamal Lewis last season. Lewis has been around a long time and through a lot in his NFL career. It's no shocker that he's broken down. Also, while I didn't disagree with bringing Anderson in initially, I don't think you can move forward with him now. He's had too many god awful games in a row. Back to the Jets thing, Barton's past his prime, Elam was a spotty guy for us, I'm a Stuckey fan, and I loved Brett Ratliffe as a preseason QB. But let's be real here, mangini's imported, what almost a dozen guys from his Jets era where the team was 23-26 including the playoff loss under Mangini's watchful eye. (To be fair, the Jets were 41-44 including playoffs under the Herm Era) How can you expect a cleveland team to turn aroudn when you bring in guys who were commited to mediocrity in New York? Parcells and Belichick have "their guys," but so many of their guys had won prior places earlier in the career.
I don't like this media witch hunt against Eric Mangini. He built a decent core of players in New York and will do the same in Cleveland. He may not be the greatest on game day, but if you hire someone with a mandate to overhaul your organization in 2 or 3 years it's drastically unfair to fire them for not winning in year 1.
If Cleveland had a Chad Pennington they'd be 3-5 right now, finish 6-10 and none of this would be at issue. It's the lack of a QB that is main reason for losing at the moment, and no, drafting Sanchez would not have helped. Without a veteran leader who buys into the system there is never going to be the continuity from coaching down to the players to carry the team forward. If the Browns are no better this time next year, let Mangini go. For now, let him implement his plan properly, and lay off the personal attacks.
Good column, Lombardi.
@Move the Chains - but Lombardi is now in the business of analysis, not implementation. I think it's cool that he tells us who he has worked with. It lends credibility to his "arguments". Implementation is a whole different ballgame.
I can tell you all day long HOW to shovel sh!t, but DOING it is a different story. You would have to choose your shovel, boots and gloves yourself, and then you have to decide how hard to stick the shovel in the pile and how far to toss the sh!t and how thick to spread it.
So... there are still decisions you (Mangini) can make to affect the outcome of the sh!t shoveling project. Then, if I jump in and start helping shovel, I (Lombardi) might be faster at it than you (Mangini). We may do it differently. That's the difference. Lombardi and Mangini both learned how to shovel sh!t from the same people, but everyone is going to implement the plan in their own unique way. My guess is that Lombardi would simply be more precise in tossing the shi!t with his shovel and that he would spread the sh!t more evenly and avoid piling it on too thick... Mangini would tend to put all his sh!t into one pile (Favre last year) and merely move the pile from one place to another. Now Lombardi has spread his sh!t and fertilized a whole field, and Mangini just has another pile of sh!t to move.
Mike, how about a draft analysis (like you did last year for many teams) of Mangini's picks with the Jets and Browns? Other than Gholston, he actually had some very good picks for the Jets it seems to me. Ferguson and Gholston have underachieved but isn't that the risk of the draft? Both were on everybody's top 10, so the Man-Genius wasn't the only one fooled.
The Secret's biggest problem is he is a prick. Parcells could get away with it because he made people laugh when he acted like a jerk, that and the Super Bowl rings. The Secret doesn't have that cache or personality unfortunately.
Uh, Mike, I appreciate your insight on what the next GM of the Browns must be but let me tell ya fella, the one thing HE MUST DO is FIRE any and everyone he can and bring in his own people. He will neva succeed otherwise. Mgmt 101, dude.
Meanwhile, Day # 287 of the Cleveland Browns Hostage Crisis continues with no signs of release of the team nor fans from Lerner's death grip.
And now back to you, Chet....
I think Iain makes a very good point. It is shortsighted and unfair to bring in someone to turn around a hopeless mess but not give them a reasonable time to do it. On the other hand, it is tough to give them that time if the team seems to be headed in the wrong direction or they seem to be in over their head. The same people who scream for the new coach's head will turn around and criticize the owner for lack of consistency and patience. It's not always obvious if a team is headed in the right direction or not. Look at Cincy. Or Tennessee.
"The priority is it's all about me. I have to have my needs met, then I want to make money, and those are one and two, and then I want to win."
Has anyone gotten Dan Snyder's personality better in one sentence? No, and it's not even close.
Should The Daniel refute Riggins? Theoretically, yes. The problem is that he wouldn't have anything to say beyond (1) my coach, who I have the opportunity of a lifetime to, is letting me down, and (2) my players, who I have give the salary of a lifetime to, are letting me down. After that it's just a lot of blubbering about growing up with the Redskins, being a fan as much as an owner, and why doesn't anybody like me? He can't articulate a vision because he doesn't have one, and if he did nobody would take it seriously because it's his.
What'll be really interesting to see is what Sonny Jurgensen says about Riggo's comments. Jurgenson is close to Snyder and about the only person here who could challenge Riggo credibly. Vinny Cerato can't, and i'm not sure Zorn would.
The thing is that at this point, Snyder can't simply apologize, say things will change, and then wait until the off-season to change them. His credibility is so low that he needs to accompany any statement with action -- at the very least to very specifically outline key steps that show he really has learned his lesson. "I'm really, really sorry, we sucked, i screwed up, and to fix all this we're (1) hiring x as my president of football operations, (2) working with that president to hire a new head coach by y date, and (3) asking for your patience as we rebuild the team we all love with smart, tough players who are committed to winning."
Oh, and the apologizing to the fans bit? If he really wanted to do that, he'd do something for them -- waive their parking fee for a game, give them some free merchandise for showing up at the game, something. I don't see that happening any time soon.
Is Riggins really the guy you want evaluating the owner? I mean, isn't he well known for being the sort of guy who would be just as likely to start a grass roots protest against the waitress at the local Denny's or against his own shoes? Wacky/nutty/borderline-crazy is the very essence of John Riggins, is it not?
Let's just say I'm glad I'm not a Redskins fan. Mr. Bowlen has always had a plan in Denver and the Broncos are only going to get better under McDaniles. Bronco management took honest assessments into play and despite the MSM's ambivalence toward us, we'll get back on track against the Steelers Monday en route to a successful season and playoff run. Meanwhile, the fans in Cleveland deserve better so in this month of thanksgiving, I'm glad the owner of the team I cheer for is not an idiot. Thanks, Lombardi.
This is never going to happen but if I controlled both situations here is how I would handle Washington and Cleveland:
In Washington, Cerato has to go 100%. And I think a GM/coach tandem of Bruce Allen and Russ Grimm would bring respectibility to that franchise and win back the fan base. I know that tandem would make Riggins happy. Grimm deserves a shot and the experience of Allen would be a great pair. Allen/Gruden is too comfortable for both men. Allen/Grimm would be a nice change for both and force them to listen/grow together. I think Gruden is going to the college ranks anyhow.
In Cleveland, if I was Lerner, I would break the bank (literally $15 million annually on coaches/GM) for Bill Cowher, offer Schottenheimer a consulting position (or whatever Cowher wanted him for) and try to get a GM/scout/salary cap guy from the Steelers (either Colbert, Kahn or Whaley).
Both of these situations have gotten so bad a first-time coach with an first-time GM is not going to fix the problem. They need at least one of the two positions to be established characters with a proven track record.
I'm not promising either will win a Super Bowl, but I know in 3-4 years the leaks will be fixed and further changes can be made on a level playing field with the rest of the league.
As it stands right now, both situations are sinking ships.
I think Snyder/Cerrato do have a plan for the Redskins. One, build a dominating defense. In the offseason they added Haynesworth and drafted Orakpo in the first round, plus reupped DeAngelo Hall. Two, build a west coast offense. They hired a coach, Zorn, who had loads of WCO experience. They drafted three receivers two years ago to address the size issue at WR. They tried to replace Jason Campbell at QB in the offseason. They brought in a starting guard, Dockery, and a former number 4 pick, Mike Williams, who had been out of football and gotten over 400 pounds, but who is now playing somewhat effectively for them.
They have suffered this season from poor offensive line play, which has magnified their shortcomings at QB and RB. Zorn has seemed to shrink as the pressure has mounted and has not exactly been a tower of strength, although he has been clearly undermined by Snyder/Cerrato.
I do not put this team into the total mess category of a Cleveland because they are two or three players and a headcoach away from being a legitimate playoff squad. The problem is the players they need are hard to find, eg a franchise QB and a couple of dominating tackles. A top five or six draft pick and a couple of free agent signings and they could be right back in the mix next year.
Enjoyable read . Funny so the first step of an owner isn't hiring a GM or president . It's hiring someone to hire a GM or president . Yeah I think the Eric Mangini hire was understandable . I know I mentioned it before but I guarantee you Randy Lerner was convinced that in hiring Mangini he was hiring the Patriot blueprint to success . In bringing in Kokinis , Mangini was bringing in his own Pioli . Though it would seem this George Kokinis thought he would be making personnel decisions . I guess that's where " the secret " part comes in . You know until this Cleveland situation , with the success of the Patriots , I would have thought that if you had the right horse it would be perfectly acceptable to put it infront of the carriage . It would seem not so . I think Arthur Blank got an agency to hire Thomas Dimitroff . Maybe this Randy Lerner tries to get this agencies number over lunch or atleast have lunch with a plenty of NFL guys & get many opinions . With this season lost , time would seem on his side .
Daniel Snyder is not a bad guy . He is an egomaniac . He wants to win but wants credit for it to. Might take lots of losing before he meets humility .
He may not be the greatest on game day, but if you hire someone with a mandate to overhaul.
A list of thank yous and a final...
Even if you called me an idiot,...
Their success will depend on QB...
Titans coach wants Chris Johnson...
Now is the QB’s chance to show...
Nov 05, 2009
11:16 AM
"“The Secret” can say he worked for Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick and claim he knows their total program — but knowing the program and implementing it are two different enterprises. That’s like me saying I’ve watched Mario Batali cook and I can open a five-star restaurant. Not going to happen."
Talk about a self indicting statement, Mr. Lombardi. What is hysterical is that over the year+ this site has been open, you have mentioned several times about your time working with Parcells, Bill Walsh and Andy Reid. Then you proceed to play GM for each team in the league. You are, in fact ,doing exactly the same thing as Mangini.