Where's the Chef?

I just finished reading an excellent post over at Hogs Haven about the Redskins' dire need for a General Manager. Open up a new browser window, read Skin Patrol's post, and come back over here. Don't worry, we'll wait for you. It's better than this post, anyway.

Okay, good. Skin Patrol references a Wilbon column in today's post that laments the current lack of strategic direction at Redskin Park and the good that a GM would do to fix this. I agree completely. I've lumped a lot of crap in Joe Gibbs' direction this season, but now I'm beginning to understand that it's not all Ol' Joe's fault. In addition to his on-field duties as Supreme High Head Coach, which include overseeing the Vice Head Coaches, calling plays (sometimes), dealing with bad player behavior and fending off the media, Gibbs is expected to evaluate draft picks and scout free agents for the offseason. As the Crocodile Hunter (R.I.P.) would have said: "Crikey!"

But wait, you say: haven't I accused the Redskins of having too many cooks in the kitchen all season long? I have, and I stand by it. But now I understand that the problem is that they are all sous chefs at the hottest restaurant in Manhattan on New Year's Eve. They need a head chef, a guy whose head is high enough out of the weeds of day-to-day operations to see the long view. There is no such person in the Redskins' organization now, just a wide chasm between Gibbs' stoic coaching and Dan Snyder's Willy Wonka-esque reclusive irrationality. No wonder we traded a third round pick for Duckett.

This dovetails nicely with a debate that's been raging over in the Washington Nationals blogging world. Some fans are (understandably) upset about team President Stan Kasten and General Manager Jim Bowden's apparent desire to completely sacrifice the 2007 season for the longer-term success of the franchise in 2008 and beyond. No one likes to suffer through a lost season, but we take solace in the fact that there are baseball men making decisions for the years ahead.

The Redskins have no such football man, and they need him badly. We've lamented the fact that the team is constantly pulling out all the stops to win now, at any cost. Dan Snyder doesn't mind robbing from next year to pay the present because he can always rob the year after that. To quote Wilbon:

Every coach worth his whistle wants to trade all the draft picks the club has for a guy who can help him win this Sunday. The responsibility of an overseer is to plan for this Sunday and three years from Sunday, which often means telling the coach no.

This kind of stuff catches up to teams like credit card debt catches up to shopping addicts: it's simply not sustainable.

Hopefully there will come a dreary January day when the Redskins' brain trust gathers around the fire and performs a sobering self-assessment. All of the free agents, head coaching whiz kids and blockbuster trades of the past seven years simply aren't working. It's time to try something new: hire a proven football guy, let him put together a multi-year plan for success, and stick to it. If I'm going to keep watching a lousy football team, it should at least be a lousy football team with a purpose.

Redskins chef hat picture cooked up at CoolAprons.com