While discussing the departure of popular executive Kyle Smith, former Washington Football Team head coach Jay Gruden took a clear shot at owner Dan Snyder.
“Every year that I was there, we had a pretty good draft class, with a couple exceptions,” Gruden told Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “[Smith] was really good about listening to the coaches because the coaches also did evaluations. … When it came our time to pick, we’d always talk about the picks, where we’d like to go, what happens if [the player] is gone, and did all our scenarios. And then [owner Daniel Snyder] would come in off his yacht and make the pick.”
One of the most notable examples to what Gruden was referencing was the selection of quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Washington selected Haskins in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. It was a selection that didn’t go over well with some in Washington.
That is because Snyder overrode Smith and the coaching staff’s evaluations. According to a report, Smith vehemently disagreed with Snyder’s choice.
The discord within the team over the selection could have contributed into Haskins’ rocky relationship with both Gruden and his successor Ron Rivera. Haskins was cut by Washington two seasons after being picked 15th overall.
Gruden was fired by Washington five games into his sixth season as head coach. There, he compiled a 35-49-1 record. But won an NFC East division title in 2015. The team never progressed from that season missing the playoffs each of the four seasons that followed under Gruden.
Smith spent 11 years with Washington moving up to vice president of player personnel last year. Smith also ran lead in Washington’s most recent drafts — albeit when he wasn’t overstepped by Snyder.
Now, Smith has left the team for the same position with the Atlanta Falcons. His departure comes as part of Washington’s front office overhaul, in which the team hired Martin Mayhew as general manager to report to head coach Ron Rivera.
Snyder, meanwhile, has seemingly learned from his mistakes, giving control of the football operations to Rivera. Hopefully in doing so, Rivera won’t have to deal with some of the same hindrance Gruden underwent.
