It appears Jay Gruden will return to be the head coach of the Washington in 2019. Gruden was officially told by team officials he will return for 2019, per JP Finlay of the NBC Sports Washington.
The decision was expected for some time. The dealings of the team also suggested it, as Gruden was not part of the “Black Monday” firings.
Still there was so doubt, at least on Gruden’s end, as he hinted to during his end of the season interview with the media last week. He stated he hadn’t met with owner Dan Snyder about his future.
According to Burgundy Blog, Snyder met with team officials that included team president Bruce Allen Sunday night following Washington’s 24-0 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the season finale until 3:00 am Monday morning before heading out for vacation. Gruden was not present according to the report.
But, Gruden’s job had seemingly been safe. In five seasons, the Redskins are 35-44-1 under Gruden with one NFC East division title and playoff appearance. They have finished 7-9 in back-to-back seasons. Both seasons have been marred by injuries, including 24 players on injured reserve this season. Gruden is the only coach under Snyder to have coached the team for five years.
With his return there still may be changes, as Gruden acknowledged previously.
“There’s some frustrating things we have to correct and we have to get better at without a doubt,” Gruden said on the Redskins Talk podcast. “Third down on defense is a glaring one. Obviously offensively at the end of the year it was hard to evaluate but defensively I think there are some things we can fix.”
At the top of the list may be defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, who has been often criticized by fans and was the target of safety DJ Swearinger’s ire following a Week 16 loss against the Tennessee Titans. Swearinger’s criticism got him released, but that does not mean the decision makers in Washington don’t necessarily disagree with him.
Nonetheless, one of the changes won’t be head coach as Gruden reportedly is set to return.
