Redskins Park Opens to Coaches
When Ron Rivera and Kyle Smith finally get to see each other in person at Redskins Park on Friday, they will certainly enjoy a chat and perhaps a laugh about how crazy these last few months have been.
It's been since March that Redskins coaches have not been allowed in the team facility.
That is no longer an issue. At least for now.
While players won't be allowed back in just yet, expect the coaches to tighten up their scheme plans and evaluation of players while avoiding the pitfalls of constantly having to meet in person with players which reduces time they can focus on the little details.
My understanding is that all NFL teams can return to their facility today but that the San Francisco 49ers were the only known team that had to overcome a few logistics.
That does not mean all will or that there won't be some staffs that do it differently as Adam Schefter pointed out.
It appears that the Detroit Lions are taking their time.
The Redskins have some coaches that are also not "local" and therefore will not be returning today.
Here's a fun and perhaps worrisome scenario that I cooked up about what could happen Friday and if not very shortly around the water cooler at Redskins Park.
Don't worry Redskins fans - this is not five minutes despite being labeled as such but you should give it a listen.
In case you didn't, the future of Kyle Smith is a very interesting one.
Ron Rivera has been asked about it and he kicked the ball right into Dan Snyder's lap.
The last time we heard from Snyder was Rivera's opening press conference and he said very clearly that the Redskins were now a coach-centered organization, meaning the head coach makes the football decisions.
So which is it?
Here's what I've heard and reported in this space and in other forums for several months before the NFL Draft.
The Redskins have not been planning on hiring a general manager as many thought, reported and speculated on.
From March 16th via TheFANDC.com and the Junkies (the earliest I can track me mentioning it publicly): "But my understanding is Ron Rivera and Kyle Smith, who's gonna be essentially – I mean, he is the GM right now, and I don't think they're gonna hire a GM from the outside, based on common sense and based on also what I've been told – those two guys are running the show."
I feel confident still in this regard even though all eyes are going to be on the Redskins when it comes to the new guidelines of the Rooney rule set forth last month at the virtual league meetings.
From what I understand, Rivera is more than comfortable with Smith and it could just be a matter of the Redskins organization not wanting to publicly announce two promotions in the same offseason for one guy (Smith).
Or it could be that Dan Snyder didn't learn his lesson from losing Sean McVay when Snyder and many others did not think the young phenom would be hired away as quickly as he was.
We'll see what happens. It could make for an interesting dynamic to watch out for. The Redskins better hope another organization doesn't get an itchy trigger finger when it comes to Smith, because if they do, he's gone barring Snyder stepping up to the table.
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Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.
