Callahan in Control
When Bill Callahan took over as interim head coach of the Washington Redskins, following an (0-5) start - he apparently was wielding a big stick.
According to J.P. Finlay of NBC Sports Washington, Callahan is far from your standard interim head coach.
Even if Callahan has total control over the roster as Finlay reports, NOBODY has complete control without the influence of Bruce Allen and to a lesser degree, Dan Snyder.
The benefit for Callahan? Allen has immense respect for him and always has. He didn't for Jay Gruden as the years and frustrations piled up.
Allen brought Callahan here from Dallas and worked with him in Oakland when Callahan replaced Jay's brother, Jon, as Raiders head coach and led them to a Super Bowl appearance.
Color me surprised, but not shocked, assuming that this premise is true. NFL sources that S-I spoke to on Tuesday night, claimed that they were not aware of this arrangement in exact detail.
Jay Gruden never had complete power and control, but he had a ton of roster influence, control and power that grew steadily during the Scot McCloughan era and was stamped after McCloughan's firing.
Callahan knew that he had an opportunity to seize control of a sinking ship. He apparently did.
It should also be pointed out that the Redskins reportedly gave control of the entire roster to a coach who wanted to leave the organization last off-season. Callahan, per sources, tried to leave to join the Cincinnati Bengals. Allen refused to let him out of his contract.
Callahan was tired of dealing with the circus that is constantly in play at Redskins Park. Per sources, Callahan and Gruden did not see eye-to-eye on many issues and that led to even more friction in the building.
Finlay, in his column on NBCSportsWashington.com, pointed out the difference between what Callahan apparently has now (full roster control) and what Gruden didn't have last year. He pointed out that Gruden wanted to move on from D.J. Swearinger much earlier than he did, before finally being able to cut the chord.
Gruden, per S-I sources, also had a disdain for Josh Norman's antics and multiple people inside Redskins Park wanted to move on from "J-No" and he wasn't allowed to do so, for various reasons. A move that has backfired terribly on the Redskins as they are now stuck with a highly paid cornerback that nobody feels helps them enough.
If Callahan does have full control, as the report suggests, it even further bolsters the thought that Callahan is not in on Dwayne Haskins yet. Perhaps, one of the few things he and Gruden were lock-step with.
Callahan, refused to announce Haskins as the starter on Monday, despite being given plenty of chances. He refused to automatically anoint Haskins the starter when he took over for the Miami win. He doubled down on that decision by staying with Case Keenum for losses against San Francisco and at Minnesota.
It's strongly believed that Callahan only went to Haskins because he had no other choice with Keenum not cleared from concussion protocol.
No matter what happens moving forward, Callahan wanted some control of his destiny and the Redskins gave it. They were desperate for stability and Callahan knew for at least 11 games, he could provide that while seizing power.
