Leadership, the Downfall, and the Resurgence of the Washington Football Team

In late 2019, Jay Gruden was fired as head coach of the then Washington Redskins after an 0-5 start and an overall record of 35-49-1. Based on these numbers alone, such a firing may seem justified in a League that has little patience for losing. It only takes a little bit of digging, though, to understand that Gruden was only one part of the problem that had been the Washington Redskins / Washington Football Team / Washington Commanders for nearly twenty-five years.  hip

In 1999, 35-year old Daniel Snyder bought the storied franchise that had been around since 1932 and had won three Super Bowls. Once one of the most dominant teams in the NFL, the WFT become one of the worst teams in football with a record under Snyder of 159-216-1. Over this time period, the team won a mere two playoff games and was led by 9 different head coaches. Gruden played a role in this, but it is undeniable that the organization’s problems preceded him and followed him. People in Washington and outside of it had enough evidence over the two+ decades to know that the organization was not set up for success and that leadership was to blame.

In football as in other fields, be they turf or Berber carpet, leadership sets the tone for success. It is hard to prevent great leaders from achieving and it is hard to achieve greatness with poor leaders. It can happen, but it requires a level of accountability and humility that very few poor leaders possess, Dan Snyder among them.

In the absence of this accountability, a system must be in place to remove poor leadership that has no intentions of improving or removing itself. There is no such system in today’s NFL. For years, Dan Snyder  appeared to be immune to the consequences of his own leadership, while the rest of the franchise and its fans suffered. In October of 2022, allegations arose that Snyder hired private investigators to find dirt on other owners and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to ensure that he was never held accountable. broken promise.

LACK OF RESULTS

After winning three Super Bowls in one decade, the Washington won just two playoff games in the twenty-four years that Dan Snyder owned the team; they finished dead last in their division nearly half of this time and never got above 10 wins. In a League built on parity, all teams go through winning and losing seasons, but few go through such a long span with such limited success. When this does happen, as in the case of Washington, there are more reasons than simple bad luck. Teams win by design and teams lose by design. Throughout Snyder’s tenure, this team lost by design.

One of the many reasons Washington struggled over the years was the owner’s micromanagement and meddling. Snyder had no previous experience as a player nor coach, yet he insisted on making decisions at the football level. This can be troublesome even when owners are effective, but it is disastrous when they are not. In Snyder’s case, he was not.

Snyder had a penchant for flashy players already past their prime, and these transactions rarely worked out. Bloated contracts to big names such as Albert Haynesworth, Donovan McNabb and Josh Norman hurt the rest of the team roster in a zero-sum salary cap League such as the NFL. You simply cannot pay other players enough when you are paying certain players too much.

On the flip side, when Washington had talent on the team worth paying for and holding onto, they consistently mishandled it. From playing quarterback RGIII when he was hurt to refusing to give a contract to their potential franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins to mishandling the medical treatment of Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams, this organization could not seem to get out of its own way, or rather, Dan Snyder’s way.

The challenge for fans, players and personnel who recognized that leadership was the problem was that there was not much they could do about it. To affect change and move forward, leadership must acknowledge its role in what is happening and commit to improving it. There were no such signs from this team’s leadership.

LACK OF APPRECIATION

Washington has traditionally enjoyed one of the most loyal fanbases in football, and throughout their history, have had a hold on a city that has supported them and created an identity around them. For most franchises, this is a blessing and one that should be appreciated and rewarded. For the Washington Football Team, however, this was perceived as an opportunity to exploit that relationship. Despite being one of the most financially successful organizations in sports, the WFT consistently found ways to charge their fans more and more.

Daniel Snyder was the first NFL owner to charge fans to watch practices (and then charge for parking to watch said practices.) During the regular season, he tried to ban people from walking to the games under the guise of safety but in an obvious ploy to require paid parking for all fans.  In another bizarre but telling example, FedEx Stadium was caught intentionally selling expired food to its fans in an attempt to save money. In a more dramatic example, Dan Snyder sued his own ticket holders who could no longer pay for their season tickets due to the 2008 recession, a move made even more bizarre by Snyder’s claim that there were 200,000 people on the season ticket waiting list at the time.

In addition to overcharging fans, Dan Snyder had a history of underpaying his employees, shortchanging vendors, and in a personal case, losing a judgment against a former nanny for unpaid services.

Despite all of this, fans continued supporting the team out of loyalty, though that loyalty began to wane. After decades of poor performance and poor treatment, Washington fans finally started to walk away. Reports from several home games indicated that visiting fan bases far outweighed the home one, if not in number than at the very least in volume. TV market shares also continued to decline.

LACK OF AWARENESS

Early in the 2019-2020 season, after an 0-5 start, a fresh firing of the head coach, a diminishing fan base and a Pro Bowl left tackle who refused to play, team president, Bruce Allen announced that when it came to his team, “the culture (was) actually damn good.”  Not so different than when, in 2014, after a 4-12 season he proudly declared that the team was , “winning off the field.” What exactly winning off the field meant or what Allen found damn good about the team’s organizational culture is anybody’s guess. Perhaps even his own.

Bruce Allen was finally fired as team president at the end of 2019 after over a decade in the role. The consequences of his poor leadership remain.

Another example of the team’s lack of awareness involves its storied name, about which there had been controversy for years. Some groups were adamantly opposed to keeping the name while others were equally opposed to changing it. Rather than listen openly to both sides, Snyder was unrelenting and on record as saying “We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.”

Of course, in 2020, the team did officially “retire” its name and logo and after two years of being known as the “Washington Football Team” finally decided on the Commanders. A hyped up announcement that was easily leaked ahead of time by, yet again, lack of planning and follow through by the organization.

LACK OF TALENT RECOGNITION

Strong coaching alone does not make or break a team, but it is a necessary (if not sufficient) part of its success. Amidst Washington’s carousel of head coaches, the Redskins hired and then let go some of the best assistant coaches in the League. Head coaches Sean McVay and Matt LaFleur spent time as coaching assistants and have a Super Bowl between them as well as a winning record.

The Redskins’ lack of recognizing talent is not relegated to just coaches, however. The operations side of the organization has experienced similar rates of turnover, despite hiring some of the biggest names in the game. In one of the more dramatic examples of employee dissatisfaction with the organization, no fewer than forty employees resigned after team president Bruce Allen took charge of both football and business operations. Forty. Something stinks in DC suburbia.

There was also that strange handling of the Kirk Cousins situation when Allen refused to honor Cousins’ contract request and instead paid him far more using the franchise tag in two consecutive seasons. And then, in a show of defiance (?), suddenly forgot his name and started calling him Kurt. During the same time period, he was responsible for the firing of Scott McCloughan after just two years, two back to back winning years that had not happened for nearly a decade.

When organizations cannot recognize talent from within, they lose their top performers who, in many cases, move on to perform for their competitors. Running a successful organization necessitates the ability to recognize, develop and hold onto top performers. Poor organizations push them out the door. And when talented employees run out the door screaming when a new person is put in charge, it is a pretty clear indication that the person in charge is the issue, not the people they have sent screaming.

LACK OF TRUST

Successful teams operate based on trust. They understand that in order to be successful, they must hire the right people for the right roles, give them what they need to do their jobs well, and then get out of their way. Team owners handle team owner stuff, management handles management stuff and coaches handle coaching stuff. Each one stays in their respective lane and focuses on what they do best. Not so with Washington.

Owner Dan Snyder had a history of inserting himself in the football side of things, despite his lack of knowledge, experience and track record of success. He told his coaches who they needed to draft and who they needed to play. He expected to be involved, and he made it clear that final decisions were his and his alone.

To be effective, leaders must hire talent and trust them to do their jobs. This does not mean neglecting them, but instead, giving them the opportunity to shine and trusting them to execute. The role of leadership is to develop and support their talent, give them what they need to succeed and show appreciation for what they do. They should not interfere unnecessarily. They should not pretend they know more than they do. They should not diminish the expertise of others or take it for granted.

LACK OF INTEGRITY

Snyder’s tenure as owner of the Washington Football Team was riddled with scandals and poor judgement. One such scandal involved ongoing allegations of sexual harassment by the team’s cheerleaders going back years and involving the team owner himself. Past and former cheerleaders shared consistent stories and testimony of blatant exploitation and abuse. Washington’s response? Dismissive and unsympathetic.

The Redskins cheerleader program is one of the NFLs premier teams in participation, professionalism, and community service. Each Redskin cheerleader is contractually protected to ensure a safe and constructive environment. The work our cheerleaders do in our community, visiting our troops abroad, and supporting our team on the field is something the Redskins organization and our fans take great pride in.

This was in addition to a 2020 report in which 15 female employees of the organization alleged sexual harassment by team staff going back 18 years.

Another example of the team’s lack of integrity was its repeated mishandling of the sudden and tragic death of Sean Taylor, one of the team’s most beloved players. After an inexplicable 12 years, the team finally decided to hold a halftime ceremony to honor him in 2021, one that was quickly blasted for its poor planning and execution. The timing was also criticized as a PR distraction tactic from yet another scandal the team was involved in regarding racist, homophobic and sexist emails.

LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Team president, Bruce Allen’s party line remained consistent during his tenure- the team has all it needs to succeed. They are this close to turning the proverbial corner. There is reason to be hopeful. Despite all evidence to the contrary. This was a gross lack of awareness, acceptance, admittance and accountability. But there was a bit of genius in it. By not admitting there is a problem, there is no need for leadership to admit that they have in any way contributed to it. It is like the emperor’s new clothes but in burgundy and gold.

Toward the end of Snyder’s tenure, Redskins players experienced a disproportionate number of injuries. Trying to explain them away as bad luck, organizational leadership said and did nothing to try and understand why this was happening. It was speculated that Pro Bowl holdout Trent Williams’ main reason for not playing the 2019 season was his dissatisfaction with the team’s medical staff. Despite this, the Redskins did not appear to do anything about it. They continued to try and appease its base by assuring it that their star player would return, a move that nobody actually believed and one that ultimately did not end up happening.

Despite the many organizational issues and problems over the years, you never heard Washington’s ownership accept any responsibility for any of it. Not the losses or the declining attendance or the increasingly vocal public disapproval. In fact, you will barely heard from ownership at all. Though visible, owner Dan Snyder largely refrained from talking with media, and instead, spoke through his staff, equally distrusted and disliked.

Everyone outside of the team’s leadership seemed to identify the team’s leadership as the source of the problem. When Gruden was fired, sports pundits across the country posted articles and shared opinions on social media that leadership was to blame, and that, in one such case, Snyder should fire himself. Many were quick to point out what we already knew to be true- that until leadership changes, nothing else in the organization can change. This is as true in Landover, Maryland as it is anywhere. As ESPN anchor and lifelong Redskins fan Scott van Pelt so powerfully stated, “As long as the song remains the same at the top, what’s ever going to be different?”

Finally, after twenty-four years, Dan Snyder sold the team in 2023. In 2024, with new ownership, coaching, and a promising new quarterback, the team almost immediately become a contender once again. Leadership changes do not always result in such quick and dramatic changes, but they will absolutely never change if poor leadership is allowed to continue.

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Organizations fail based on several factors, one of the most salient of which is leadership. If poor leadership is the problem, nothing but stronger leadership can fix it. Unfortunately, it is rare for poor leaders to have the insight, willingness, and humility to invest in bettering themselves. Instead, poor leaders tends to stay in power until they are eventually removed or run their businesses into the ground.

To be successful, organizations require strong leadership that consists of all that Washington lacked for so many years: results, appreciation, awareness, recognition, trust and accountability. Whether you run a team, a department or a Fortune 500 company, your responsibility as a leader is to serve your clients by supporting your employees. When you face challenges in your leadership, as you most certainly will, examine yourself first, and surround yourself with people who will help reveal your blind spots. You can not lead effectively without doing so honestly and transparently with a true desire to do good and a true commitment to lead well. I wish you great success and joy on the journey.