Perhaps Daniel Snyder’s largest error as owner of Washington

The mistakes were countless, but what do you think Snyder’s biggest mistake was?

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What do you recall as one of the biggest Daniel Snyder mistakes as owner of Washington’s NFL franchise?

During the hugely disappointing 2000 season in which Washington was 7-6, Snyder feeling he needed to make a splash fired head coach Norv Turner, and Washington finished 8-8.

After that 2000 season Snyder then hired a very hands-on football coach in Marty Schottenheimer. Marty felt he needed to get his message across to his team that the culture was going to be much different with Marty at the helm. He angered veterans in training camp, cut starting quarterback Jeff George after only two games, and the team went on to start 0-5.

But say what you will about Marty Schottenheimer, the man could coach a football team. He had taken the Cleveland Browns to consecutive AFC Championship games (1986-87). If that wasn’t enough, he coached the Kansas City Chiefs to a 101-58-1 .634 winning percentage.

Can Washington fans even imagine their team going an entire decade with a .634 winning percentage? Well not one of them under the age of 30 can do so.

Joe Gibbs in his first coaching term in Washington was 124-60 (.674). He also won 4 NFC Championships and 3 Super Bowls. George Allen in his seven seasons as Washington head coach (1971-77) was 67-30-1 (.691), winning one NFC championship, losing one Super Bowl.

Back to Marty. After being 0-5 the team was 6-8 when they traveled to New Orleans for a Sunday Night national television broadcast. Washington was physical, aggressive and frankly manhandled the Saints 40-10. Schottenheimer must have been so proud of his team’s performance.

When the 2001 team finished 8-8 there was a real hope, a real confidence that Marty could bring seasons of winning to Washington. But there was Schottenheimer and Snyder unable to form an agreement on how much power Marty would have over the football team.

Snyder had badly disrupted the 1999 playoff team, playing general manager ruining team chemistry. In Schottenheimer he saw someone strong enough who would seize and demand more control than made Snyder comfortable.  Snyder fired him, went out and hired Steve Spurrier, promising him a general manager that according to Spurrier, never truly materialized.

Schottenheimer never won a Super Bowl, but in his 21 years of NFL head coaching experience he did win 200 games (200-126-1 .613).  Had Snyder simply let Marty do his thing, and Snyder simply given up wanting to be head of player personnel, Washington fans most likely would have enjoyed winning football for a decade and not experienced the Steve Spurrier and Jim Zorn eras.

Might this have been the biggest mistake Snyder made in his years as owner?