Updated recap of Redskins head office and coaching changes

On Monday, I published an article aimed at summarizing where we were in the whirlwind re-structure taking place in Ashburn.

There have been a number of announcements and reports since that time, each one quickly published here on Hogs Haven by Scott Jennings.

Still, it can be hard to keep everything straight when so much is happening, so I thought I’d take a moment to update the chart that I used on Monday to keep track of the key changes.

I’ve tried to sort through the flurry of Twitter reports and team announcements, but this is such a fluid situation that this chart may not be a perfect match for the current situation. Still, I think it will be helpful for the average fan just trying to keep it all straight.

Working from the top of the chart, the key developments since Monday’s article was published:

• Doug Williams’ area of responsibility has changed. He is still a senior vice president, but he will no longer oversee player acquisition; instead, he will be responsible for player development, along with Malcolm Blacken, who has been with the Redskins player development department for some time.

I wrote this on Monday, and I feel like the subsequent announcement has borne out its accuracy:

I imagine that, whatever the structure is that emerges, the former Redskins Super Bowl MVP will have a job at Ashburn as long as he wants to keep showing up to the office.

• Monday’s recap relied on reports that said Eric Schaffer would leave the Redskins in May. On Thursday, the Redskins announced that Schaffer was leaving now, and would be replaced by Rob Rogers, who is leaving a position with similar responsibilities (contracts and salary cap management) with the Carolina Panthers. Rogers has worked in the NFL for 25 years.
• The team announced this week that Kevin O’Connell has been given permission to interview with other teams. It has been widely reported that his close relationship with Josh McDaniels makes him the top candidate for the OC job if McDaniels is hired by the Browns, who are interviewing him today. The Eagles, Cowboys and others have been mentioned as other possible landing spots for O’Connell.
• Scott Turner, son of former Redskins head coach Norv Turner, has been hired as offensive coordinator. Turner was the quarterback coach under Ron Rivera in Carolina.
• Randy Jordan will remain with the Redskins in his position as running backs coach that he has held since being hired by Jay Gruden in 2014.
• The 52-year-old Ken Zampese (yep... Ernie’s son) will take over the role of quarterback coach. Zampese has had a long career in both the NFL and college coaching. His most recent NFL position was with the Cleveland Browns in 2018, where he was credited with helping Baker Mayfield succeed in his rookie year.
• Pete Hoener is the new tight ends coach after holding the same position in Carolina for nine seasons.

In addition to the positions that have been filled in the past several days, one major item of note is that Bruce Allen has not been replaced as president, and no one has been promoted or hired for the position of General Manager.

The reports I have seen, when pieced together, indicate an organization with Ron Rivera at the head of everything, reporting to owner Dan Snyder.

It will be fascinating to see what front office structure emerges — in particular, if the Redskins appoint a General Manager, which is a position that has not been filled since Scot McCloughan was fired three years ago.

So far, there has been only speculation about the expected future structure of the player acquisition staff of the front office. Presumably any GM will report to Rivera, given the structure that is emerging at Ashburn, but Riverboat Ron said in his initial comments to the press that he didn’t need to have total control over player acquisition; he simply wanted control over which 46 players were active on gameday.

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A few names have been mentioned in the press as possible candidates for a GM spot, if it were created. The key internal candidate seems to be Kyle Smith, while external candidates mentioned in the press include former Redskins director of player personnel, Morroco Brown, current Panthers GM, Marty Hurney, and long-time NFL personnel executive, Joe Shoen.

While most analysts seem to expect any front office restructure, including the potential hiring or promotion of a GM to take place post-draft in May, the seeming change in timing of Eric Schaffer’s departure indicates that things could move more quickly, and that the team may look to complete front office changes this month, rather than waiting until after the draft.