Sorry Washington Football Fans, Daniel Snyder Isn’t Selling The Team.

Look everyone, I hate to put this as bluntly as I am, but it needs to be said…

The job of Head Coach for the Washington Football club is the worst job in pro sports.

Blame Daniel Snyder for this.

Yet, with the firing of former VP Bruce Allen and the hiring of former Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera to take over head coaching duties, these moves have certainly put a jolt back into a fanbase who has needed something to look forward to for quite a long time.

Rivera, while being mostly successful at Carolina, isn’t the fancy, schmancy hire that most fans clamored for, and thats OK. Because of the latest NFL hiring trends, most fans were eagerly anticipating one of the young, hip offensive minds to come and take over and take this team to the promised land.

Let’s slow down first.

Before we divulge into all of the micro-problems that has made this franchise a laughingstock in the last two decades, lets get one thing perfectly clear.

Daniel Snyder is NOT selling the team.

Now, because of the utter ridiculousness and sheer ineptitude from top to bottom – with so many instances of idiocy that it is far too many to count – no one with a grain of salt “trusts” this man to make the correct decisions in any capacity. At this point in our collective fandom, we must hope that the moves currently being made in those Ashburn offices are conducive to a winning product on the field.

As someone who lives check-to-check as most Americans do, I do not like to advocate for people to lose their jobs via firing but there needed to be a total franchise lobotomy (or the signs of the start of one) and that is exactly what we got when Rivera was hired. Every sorry ass coach and member of the training staff was let go in one big swoop. In their places, Rivera has started the process of bringing in people who he is comfortable with and that is the right of the head coach to do exactly that.

What makes that so reassuring is, for the first time in quite a long time, there seems to be zero interference from Snyder. He is letting Rivera do him.

The hiring of Ron Rivera is the best coaching hire the Redskins could have made this offseason. With Rivera comes the addition of Jack Del Rio, who is the easily the best defensive coordinator this team has had since the days of Gregg Williams during the second Joe Gibbs era. I believe the hire was a home run hire for a franchise that is so desperate for a change in vision and philosophy.

This franchise needs a leader – a leader of men.

If there is one thing you can say about Coach Rivera is he is indeed just that.

His former players adore him, the fans as well.

He will come in with the pedigree of developing a former MVP quarterback in Cam Newton while at the same time, creating a culture of sheer toughness and most importantly, accountability on all three phases of the ball.

Remember the days when the team seemed to have a collective identity? Yea, me neither….

What exactly was this team under the leadership of Jay Gruden? or Jim Zorn? I know what we wont be under Rivera…..that.

One of the fatal flaws that always “grinded my gears” about the team is that they always seemed to be playing on their heels and never the aggressor. Too many times this team was punched in the mouth and never fought back.

Del Rio said on Twitter, regarding his future defense, he wants his unit to be tough, focused, and hungry. Rivera said as much during his introductory press conference/

“You’re not going to play for this team, you’re not going to work for this team, if you don’t have the discipline to give us everything you have. No exceptions, no excuses.”

Coach hyperbole? Maybe. But this is the identity by which the Redskins wish to be known and the only sustainable model of success for the immediate future. Tough, disciplined and all 53 men pulling the rope in the same direction.

Now, if we can guarantee that the man cutting the checks just leave the football people alone and let them do their jobs….crawl before we walk.