It's no secret that Dan Snyder is one of the least popular owners in all of American sports. Whether it's Washington Football Team fans lamenting the lack of success the franchise has achieved over the last two decades or the employees forced to fold his toilet paper into neatly styled points, Snyder has never lacked for critics.
You can now add former head coach Jay Gruden to that ever-growing list of detractors. Speaking with Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post in the aftermath of vice president of player personnel Kyle Smith leaving the organization, Gruden didn't hold back:
“Every year that I was there, we had a pretty good draft class, with a couple exceptions,” Gruden said. “[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.”
While the Washington Football Team franchise has long struggled to draft and develop marquee talent over recent decades, Gruden's defense of Smith seems to corroborate earlier reporting that Snyder's meddling is the root cause of the front office's failings.
Most notably was the report that Snyder not only overruled Smith and other members of the personnel department in deciding to draft quarterback Dwayne Haskins but that he pressured the coaching staff to insert the QB into the starting lineup.
Unless the Washington Football Team owner is willing to change his ways, Jay Gruden won't be the last disgruntled ex-employee to speak his mind.
Follow Us
Subscribe