I’ve been reading John Fienstein’s book Next Man Up which takes you through the 2004 Ravens season. There is a section that looks back on defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s past, which includes a stint with the Redskins. Here is an excerpt from the book about his interactions with Redskins owner Dan Snyder (I haven’t figured out how to properly indent, so just work with me here). This is why I don’t think the Redskins can ever be great with an owner like this:

“I still remember my first meeting with him,” Nolan said, shaking his head. “He was sitting at his desk, smoking a big cigar. First, he did about fifteen minutes on how he got to be rich. Then he said to me, ‘If I guaranteed you a fifty-thousand-dollar bonus for getting our defense to be in the top three in the league, would that be an incentive to get you to work harder?’

“I told him no, it wouldn’t, because with or without a bonus, I was going to give heart and soul to the job. He looked at me and said, ‘You’re probably another one of those guys who lets his wife tell him what to do, aren’t you?’”

….Skipping a bit….Nolan is blathering on about why it’s important to keep the wife happy…..

“I didn’t say anything like that to Snyder, because I knew it was just pointless. He was so busy spewing profanities all around, I just wanted to get out of there.”

For a football coach to notice someone else’s profanities is remarkable, since profanity is the official language of the NFL and most professional sports leagues. That meeting with Snyder proved to be the beginning of a less-than-beautiful relationship. Early that season, after a Redskins loss, Snyder told Nolan that his defensive calls were “too vanilla.” Like the other coaches, Nolan had figured out by then that trying to explain football to Snyder was pointless, since he already had the game figured out. A few days later a gallon of 31 Flavors ice cream showed up on Nolan’s desk with a note that said, “This is what I like. Not vanilla.”

Nolan laughed and sent Snyder a note: “Thanks for the ice cream. My kids enjoyed it.”

“The first time it was actually kind of funny,” Nolan said. “I didn’t mind it at all.”

The next time wasn’t as funny. The Redskins lost on the road to Dallas, and Nolan went into his office late Sunday night to start looking at game tape. When he arrived, there were three giant canisters of melting 31 Flavors ice cream on his desk with another note: “I wasn’t joking. I do not like vanilla.”

END BOOK QUOTING.

I’m sorry, but this type of owner will just never get it. If this doesn’t illustrate what a jagoff this guy is, I don’t know what will. As an owner, you hire the General Manager (in most cases) that you trust to pick the right coach and players. You trust the coaches to implement the right schemes and coach the players properly. It is not your job to tell the coordinators how to do their jobs. Nothing good can come from it. Your job is to hire executives and cut checks. It doesn’t even matter if you want to sit in your luxury box and get bombed during the games.

I really don’t think Snyder will ever learn this concept. He thinks he is much smarter than he is. He thinks he knows better than the coaches. I’ve followed football religiously since I was old enough to know what it was. I’ve researched the history of the league for many years. But I have never played and never coached. I would never get into an X’s and O’s discussion with anyone that has. Watching football and understanding the intricacies of things like zone blocking, Cover 2, zone blitzing, etc., are very different things. Until Snyder realizes this, no one will want to work for him, and he simply will never get over the top.