Vinny Cerrato Out, A Step in the Right Direction for the Redskins

Yesterday the Redskins' general manager Vinny Cerrato resigned and Bruce Allen was hired as his replacement. Cerrato has been general manager for Snyder ever since he bought the team, but now he has finally been forced out. Despite resigning, it was made clear that Cerrato was told to either resign or be fired. "This is obviously the right time for change," Snyder said yesterday.

Getting rid of Cerrato was definitely the right move. Cerrato has been criticized for many years as being nothing more than a "yes man" for Snyder. While Snyder seems committed to winning he definitely doesn't know how to build a team. Having a general manager with no spine doesn't help if you don't know what you're doing.


Bruce Allen also appears to be the right choice as a replacement. Allen was the general manager for Tampa Bay for five years, but was fired along with Jon Gruden in January. Despite Tampa's recent struggles the Buccaneers were a constant playoff contender. Allen clearly knows how to build and maintain a competitive team. He also knows a bit about the Redskins organization being the son of the great Redskins' coach George Allen. While the Redskins clearly need help building a team, Allen will first need to find a new coach. This is what makes Allen's hiring so encouraging.

The Redskins clearly struggled to find a replacement for Joe Gibbs. By hiring a coaching staff before a head coach, Snyder made it clear that he was going to ultimately run the team himself, alienating most available coaching candidates. As I have written numerous times before, there will be several well established NFL coaches available at the end of this season. If Snyder were to run the process the same way, the Redskins would again find themselves with an unproven commodity as their coach missing out on more deserving candidates such as Mike Shannahan, John Gruden, Bill Cowher, and possibly John Fox and Mike Holmgren. None of these coaches would come to DC if it meant being Snyder's puppet. The real fear for Redskins' fans was that Snyder would again hire his own coaching staff, retool the team, seek these candidates who would refuse to work for him, disregard their objections, and hire the only people who were left. A few weeks ago, Greg Blache publicly defended Snyder, possibly throwing his hat into the ring for possible consideration for the head coaching position. While Blache has done well as defensive coordinator, I'd rather have any of the other candidates I listed above instead of Blache. To hire Blache would most likely mean another two years of lack-luster performance at least and then there's no guarantee that there will be any good candidates available.

By bringing in a general manager who knows what he's doing and maintains a good relationship with numerous NFL coaches, the Redskins have taken a huge step forward. Let's hope Snyder continues to do what's right for the team.