Jay Gruden is in Way Over His Head with Washington Redskins

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on December 10, 2014

Back in March, after former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden had been announced as the new head coach of the Washington Redskins, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was asked if he thought Gruden knew what he was getting into.

Lewis, who was Washington’s defensive coordinator in 2002, laughed and simply said, “We’ll see.” When asked if he gave his former coordinator any warnings about heading to an organization not quite known for its high standing in sports, Lewis simply said, “I didn’t get the chance.”

As we head into the final weeks of the 2014 season, it’s safe to say Gruden badly wishes Lewis had indeed gotten the chance to warn him about what it’s like to work for Washington.

Gruden’s first year with the Redskins could only be labeled as a disaster. Washington is 3-10, losers of four straight. Three different quarterbacks have started for the team, none of which has sustained any sort of success. Robert Griffin III, once seen as the savior of the franchise, has become alarmingly ineffective on the field, however he doesn’t seem too focused on actually improving. Fans are furious, and suddenly rumors are surfacing regarding Gruden’s job security.

Things bottomed out this past Sunday, as Washington treated their fans to a 24-0 loss to the St. Louis Rams. As if this weren’t enough, Gruden and the rest of the organization were given the ultimate trolling by Rams coach Jeff Fisher when he sent out all the players the team had selected from their returns in the Griffin trade as team captains.

You’d love to say this was indeed rock bottom, but there’s hardly enough reason to believe things won’t get worse.

One thing you can believe, though, is just how much of a toll this first year of head coaching has taken on Gruden. Any excitement from finally getting his chance to run a team likely vanished a long time ago. As he finishes up his initial year in Washington, it’s become very clear Gruden just wasn’t ready for the chaos which comes from coaching for such a toxic organization.

All you need to do is watch his press conferences from this past Sunday and Monday. Gruden looked absolutely deflated in each meeting with the media. His voice sounded like that of a man who’s been to hell and back. Often times, Gruden could barely muster the strength to look up from the podium to give his answers.

At one point, he was asked if this opening year with Washington was a little more than he initially thought it’d be. Gruden didn’t mince words in his response.

“It’s a little bit more than I expected, yes, if that’s the question,” Gruden said. “I understand that there are stories to be had, and if you look around every corner, you can find a story about somebody negatively if you want to. We try to stay positive and upbeat, and I try not to let the stories get to me or this team.”

Because of the aforementioned disheveled mood he brought with him to the press conference, it was pretty tough to buy the whole “staying positive and upbeat” shtick.

Can you blame him, though? Look at what he’s had to deal with in this, his very first year as a head coach.

Beyond the disastrous results on the field, reports are coming out claiming there is infighting in the locker room. Gruden is now apparently reading his players’ tweets aloud to the team, proof he is indeed keeping his eye on their social media. What’s being sold as a way to “keep things light” in team meetings is coming off like someone who wants to make sure nobody talks badly about the club on Twitter.

However, the crux of his nightmarish first season with Washington is rooted solely in his quarterback situation.

It’s been two years since Griffin looked anything like the man who once won Rookie of the Year. Like Mike Shanahan before him, Gruden eventually grew tired of the young quarterback. He noticed how poorly Griffin was playing on the field, and got sick of the finger-pointing and increased focus on endorsements off of it. He likely also heard from his players, who, according to TMZ, no longer believe in Griffin anymore.

He wants a clean break from Griffin. Any other organization, and this request might not be met with any resistance at all.  You want to bench a bad quarterback who’s apparently almost universally hated in the locker room? Sure thing.

Not here. Not where his boss, owner Dan Snyder, has spent the past few years treating Griffin like a Greek god, after he gave up a bounty of draft picks for his services. Snyder reportedly fired Shanahan last year in a dispute over Griffin, and if reports are true, he might do the same to Gruden this year.

Gruden has never dealt with anything like this. He’s never dealt with the cattiness of Washington’s front office, which appears to now have an annual practice of leaking “anonymous” stories regarding the job safety of their coach due to conflicting feelings about one specific player. He’s likely flabbergasted about the idea of his job being on the line due to his lack of commitment to an emotionally shattered quarterback with startlingly diminishing skills.

Though I understand the fact Washington mortgaged a ton to get Griffin’s services, it appears nobody taught them how to cut their losses. Griffin will never again succeed in Washington, and Gruden is aware of this. However, it doesn’t appear his bosses are. If reports are true, Gruden needs to get on board with their train of thought, or start looking for other means of employment.

Everything Gruden has had to deal with during his first try at head coaching has been a mess, but it’s also just status quo in Washington. All indications are the whole endeavor has left him broken and trying to assemble the pieces. His last couple media availabilities showed us a man who no longer appears to know the answers, and he’s well aware of this.

Will he get a chance to try it again next year? Who knows. Perhaps the real question, though, should be whether or not this first horrendous year in Washington will shatter him completely? Right now, it sure looks to be a likely scenario.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CDrottar19 or “Like” him on Facebook