If you’re a fan of Washington sports, it’s likely you know the names Mike Rizzo, and Dan Snyder. Rizzo was one of the top general managers in Major League Baseball in 2019, leading the Washington Nationals to their first World Series Championship.
Snyder…well we all know how Snyder’s last year has gone.
Rizzo reached the pinnacle of success this past season by sticking to his values and committing to his roster. Now, with the 2020 MLB season set to get underway in the coming months, the Nationals will be looked at as one of the premier teams in the sport, with a good shot to make another title run. In a perfect world, the Redskins would be on a similar path to success, and Rizzo thinks that success can be realized.
Ahead of Super Bowl LIV, Rizzo sat down with the Redskins Talk podcast to talk about what Snyder can do to better improve his team, not from a roster standpoint, but from the ownership and executive level. His advice started with being transparent and honest with the fanbase.
“It’s very difficult. It’s more difficult towards the fan base,” Rizzo explained, via NBC Sports Washington. “With them, we were honest and upfront and kind of mapped out what our blueprint was for how we were going to develop this thing. From that day on we had a blueprint and a plan of how to do this. When I took over as GM in 2009, we started implementing the plan.”
You could argue that the Redskins have started this process. As 2019 came to a close, it seemed that Snyder finally started to realize that a bright future couldn’t be realized in Washington while Bruce Allen was still in the building. Snyder’s firing of Allen, along with Head Trainer Larry Ness, signified that he is aware that change is needed in order for the team to move forward. His hiring of Ron Rivera — a two-time Coach of the Year — further strengthened the belief that it’s a new day in Washington.
“Sometimes you have hiccups and take steps sideways or even take steps backward,” he said. “Ownership better be on board, you better have their support, they better have the blueprint in front of them and believe in the dream. And you better have the personnel in the front office and the decision-makers to make sometimes scary decisions. You can’t be afraid to make big decisions and bold decisions to accomplish big things.”
If it happened with the Nationals, it can happen with the Redskins. It may not seem likely now, but in 5-years’ time, there is a scenario where the Redskins can join the ‘Title Town’ narrative that is starting to grow in Washington. It starts with keeping the fans involved and aware of what’s going on at the base level.
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