ANALYSIS/OPINION:
What did we know about Jay Gruden when he walked into Redskins Park to become the Washington Redskins’ coach?
He wasn’t Marty Schottenheimer, walking in with 153 NFL victories under his arm.
He wasn’t Steve Spurrier, walking in with an NCAA national championship to his credit.
He certainly wasn’t Joe Gibbs, returning home as the savior.
Heck, he wasn’t even Jim Zorn. At least Zorn had played in the league.
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If you looked up his resume, you found that Gruden was ranked as the fourth-greatest player in the history of the Arena Football League. If you did more research, you found that he coached in the United Football League.
Not exactly bowled over yet?
Well, he was the offensive coordinator for three years with the Cincinnati Bengals — hardly a pedigree position.
But what did we really know about Gruden when he was introduced to Redskins fans on Jan. 9, 2014?
He was Jon Gruden’s brother.
Jay Gruden may be about to change the first paragraph of his obituary.
He is being heralded and recognized as the coach who may be on the verge of turning around a giant steamship of a franchise which has been slowly sinking now for decades.
The Redskins have gone from a bottom feeder to NFC East champs and are preparing now to host a playoff game — something few people predicted when training camp opened in Richmond in July — and Gruden is getting much of the credit for it.
In particular, Gruden is being praised for gambling on Kirk Cousins as his starting quarterback, when the world inside Redskins Park demanded Robert Griffin III. Sports Illustrated called it the decision of the year in the NFL.
“I credit Gruden because sometimes a coach has to look at his team and decide what’s best for it, and sometimes he has to be willing to lose his job over it,” SI’s Peter King wrote in a column. “And that’s what Gruden was willing to do. He knew that the owner, Daniel Snyder, was partial to Griffin and wanted him to have one more real chance to be the long-term quarterback in Washington. And Gruden planned to give him that chance. But then training camp and the preseason games and the summer practices happened and he thought Cousins was better.”
We should have seen this coming, because Gruden told all of us the day he was hired — when his credentials were questioned — that he knows players.
“Whatever level you’re coaching, whether it’s Arena League or the UFL, you still have to motivate and coach and teach players to compete and motivate different types of players — good guys, bad guys,” Gruden told reporters. “You have to weather storms, losing streaks, fumbles, interception, losing in the playoffs, losing three games in a row, winning three games in a row. There’s a lot of things that you can learn from whatever league you coach to get yourself ready.
“My strength, I believe, is dealing with players, motivating players, keeping players excited to come to work and plan and not letting them get too high or too low, but keeping them even keel and letting them understand that, honestly, as a head coach, I have their best interest at heart,” he said. “My only thing is to make them and provide them with every resource that they can get better and win games and compete every week. And, I think as a football player, they’ll appreciate that. That’s really at the end of the day all they want.”
We should have been paying attention last season, because despite the 4-12 season and the Griffin circus, we never saw any evidence that Gruden had lost the locker room or that he had lost his connection with players.
If anything, his decision to turn to Cousins over Griffin — and put his job on the line in the process — spoke to his connection with his players, who also recognized who was the best choice for their quarterback. He knew what was best for his players, which put him at risk.
“He listens to the player and he knows what it’s like to be a player,” free safety Dashon Goldson recently said, according to ESPN. “His coaching goes a long way with the players. … He has a good feel for the locker room.”
Gruden still has a ways to go before he can carve out his own legacy. Others have been where he is right now with this organization, and still fell victim to the aura of self-destruction that has seemingly engulfed this franchise.
Today, Jay Gruden will be known as the head coach of the NFC East champion Washington Redskins — who just happens to be Jon Gruden’s brother.
⦁ Thom Loverro is co-host of “The Sports Fix,” noon to 2 p.m. daily on ESPN 980 and espn980.com.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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