The Redskins yesterday promoted Senior Personnel Exec Doug Williams to Senior VP/Player Personnel after three months of deliberations over the "direction of their front office following the nasty divorce" from GM Scot McCloughan, according to Mike Jones of the WASHINGTON POST. Williams, the team's Super Bowl XXII MVP, has worked the last four seasons with the Redskins, "helping with talent evaluation" while working under President Bruce Allen and McCloughan the past two years. Allen said that he "interviewed 'over a dozen' candidates for the general manager opening." However, it was "long expected that the Redskins would wind up promoting from within." Williams’ first act was to expand the Redskins' scouting department and "strengthen the front office," and the team "wasted no time" doing that. The Redskins promoted VP/Football Administration & General Counsel Eric Schaffer to VP/Football Operations while also "expanding his duties." Schaffer has "long served as contract negotiator and general counsel." However, now he will "study roster composition, assist in talent evaluation, and compile detailed talent reports for coaches while still serving as point man for negotiations" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/14).
BUSINESS AS USUAL: ESPN.com's John Keim noted Williams was a personnel exec for the Buccaneers from '04-08 when Allen was GM for the team. Williams: "I don't think by me knowing Bruce had the impact as much as the plan and the trust that he had in me." Keim noted the question that has "long been asked" with the Redskins involves "who has the power." McCloughan was said to "have control over the 53-man roster," but coach Jay Gruden had "heavy input in that area as well." Allen said, "That'll be the same. It's going to be a Redskins decision. No different than how we did free agency, no different than how we did the draft. Coach Gruden has influence, Doug will have influence and between them they ought to be able to work it out. And, yes, I will be involved." Williams: "I'm not going to interfere with who needs to be playing. That's not my job. I'm not the GM, I'm not the president and I'm not the coach." He added that it was "his idea to have his new title -- and not become a general manager." He said that he "did not want to get involved ... in every detail of the organization." He just "wanted personnel." Williams: "It wasn't important to me. We had a general manager. It didn't work out that well. ... If we do a good job, no matter what happens, we'll all get credit for what this football team does" (ESPN.com, 6/13).
IN THE HUDDLE: In DC, Nora Princiotti notes at the end of yesterday's practice, Williams was "called into the center of the huddle to address the team" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/14). Introducing Williams to the players, Gruden said, "It’s great to hire somebody in-house, somebody who has worked very hard for this team and organization and done some great things not only as a player but also working here in the scouting department. He’s worked very hard. He’s never used his name and what he’s accomplished here as a crutch to get him to where he is right now" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/14).
THE SAFE CHOICE: THE MMQB's Peter King writes there was a "distinct 'stay in your lane' element" to the Redskins' front-office realignment yesterday. The "real winner" might be Allen, because it is "likely he’ll continue to have final say on personnel matters." The Redskins "went the safe route." Regardless of authority, this "was a good day" for the team. This is Williams' 11th year "climbing the personnel ladder in the NFL for two franchises." The move should be a sign that the "normally impatient" Redskins Owner Dan Snyder "likes the direction of the team and of this front office" (MMQB.SI.com, 6/14). In DC, Jerry Brewer writes the Redskins "didn't change the way they function." There was "no dramatic ushering of a new era, no significant shift in vision, no new faces." They just "reintroduced the same people" yesterday morning, with "enhanced titles." And that was the "most honest, self-aware and possibly encouraging thing they could have done." The team "isn’t going to change because it doesn’t want to change." Brewer: "Don't expect Williams to whine about the limitations of power. ... He can handle Washington's crazy." His ego "doesn't require a ton of credit or final say on personnel matters." He knows that if he "does the job properly, he won't be overruled often" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/14).
YOUR TURN NOW: In DC, Thom Loverro writes the Redskins "presented Williams as the next, latest savior." The target was "placed on his back, as he was presented as the guy responsible." However, the person "truly responsible" remains Allen. Redskins fans will now trust Williams to do what "no one has been able to do in 25 years." They will "trust him to turn the franchise into a respectable, consistent winner" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 6/14). YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Edholm wrote this is still the Snyder and Allen show, "no matter how anyone at Redskins Park spins it." As long as Snyder owns the team, as he has since '99, it will be "business as usual." And as long as Allen "lords over whomever the de facto GM might be, we know he will be the one ultimately pulling the strings." Edholm: "We don’t know if Williams, a smart football mind with two stints as a college head coach at Grambling and extensive personnel experience, would be a great GM or not, but we’re never going to find out as long as the current structure remains static" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/13).
