Tag: Harris Ownership Group (HOG)

The plan to buy the Commanders began 5 minutes after Dan Snyder announced his intentions

Commanders minority owner Mark Ein reveals when the plan to buy the franchise began.

Did you know that only five minutes after the announcement that Dan Snyder was going to sell, the mission to purchase the Commanders was begun?

Yes, the Josh Harris Ownership Group (HOG) couldn’t close the acquisition of the Washington Commanders until July 2023. Yet, so much hard work and perspiration went into finally purchasing the team away from Snyder.

Mark Ein, who was born in Chevy Chase, MD, and is a lifelong fan of the Redskins (now Commanders), was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast Saturday.

Ein told Sheehan that he and Harris, who were childhood friends, were actually together this week, marveling that it had already been a year since the NFL finally approved the purchase on July 20, 2023.

“Most deals of this size or complexity are not easy,” began Ein. This one had some unique components, as everyone can imagine. But you have to bring a lot of people together to pay the highest price ever for a sports franchise.”

When Sheehan asked Ein if he ever thought they would be unable to finalize the purchase, Ein didn’t hesitate to say, “Oh, sure. I mean, this started five minutes after the news hit the wire.”

“Which news, Mark?” inquired Sheehan.

“The news that Dan was really going to sell…literally within five minutes of the announcement, I texted Josh and said we have got to do this. It started then (November) and closed in July, so that is how long it took.”

Ein said that throughout the process, there were “lots of moments where it looked like it was not going to happen.”

“Our view was this franchise matters almost as much as anything in the community that we grew up in and love. With people who are deeply connected and committed to the community, there was an opportunity, and really a need for that set of people to come in and take it over and build it to the franchise we loved as kids.”

Ein is absolutely correct.

The franchise needed to be rescued.

They were rescued from not only being a losing NFL team on the field but also from those running the business side of the franchise who didn’t know what they were doing.

Thank you, Mark Ein, for taking the initiative, and thank you to the Harris Ownership Group for seizing the opportunity to bring this franchise back from the depths.

 

Commanders’ Jason Wright leaves behind a confusing legacy

We discuss the legacy Jason Wright leaves behind.

Jason Wright is no longer the president of the business operations of the Washington Commanders.

He leaves behind a somewhat complicated legacy. Of course, extreme positions are to be avoided.

A. He was working for Daniel Snyder, so you can’t blame him for anything.

B. Everything he did was a disaster.

It’s always easiest to take an extreme position because extremes require less wisdom, less discernment, and less thinking.

Working for Snyder, you can’t blame Jason Wright.

It is true the organization under Snyder was such an embarrassment because Snyder himself did not supervise, model or enforce a proper workplace culture. Even more, he was the subject of multiple investigations.

It’s hard to imagine the organization did not have an avenue to hold employees accountable. Wright no doubt helped in some regard by addressing some of the issues regarding improper behavior, and for that, he is to be commended. It also cannot be understated the overall mess Wright entered due to Snyder’s and former team president Bruce Allen’s lack of daily proper leadership.

Secondly, the team still doesn’t have a new stadium site, but that is mostly because of DMV’s opposition to Snyder himself. Thus, Bruce Allen and Jason Wright can’t entirely be blamed for the lack of progress on a stadium.

Everything Jason Wright did was a disaster.

Of course, this is too simplistic. Yet it is also true that Wright not only erred but also had colossal failures. Surprisingly, some of them involved simple principles of leadership, such as supervising, communication, and modeling.

Wright entered the scene, assuring the fan base of his impressive resume, previous success, and business acumen.

But not a few times did we find Wright smoothly articulating his message with an impressive vocabulary. Nevertheless, how effectively did Wright deliver actual substance?

Late in 2021, Wright tweeted a photo of Santa and a snowman urinating on a Dallas Cowboy helmet. When some objected to the juvenile, unprofessional behavior, which was unfitting for an NFL president, Wright responded on Twitter, doubling down and telling fans to “chill.” When that did not go over well, Wright deleted the original tweet.

Effective leadership requires clear communication of a vision and standards for your organization. Much too often, the non-football side of the organization was frankly falling over itself with comical or embarrassing errors: Sean Taylor’s family photo, the Sean Taylor mannequin, the mug of Washington state, not Washington DC, the plethora of errors when they were listing the 80 greatest and 90 greatest players in franchise history. All of these under Wright’s watch, but apparently not Wright’s supervision?

Finally, the rebranding event on NBC’s “Today” show led by Wright was so ineffective. But even more significant a question about Wright was when he then told a national television audience that Commanders was “something that broadly resonated with our fans.”

Did it? To this day, how many in the fan base have you met who suggested and supported “Commanders” before the announcement?

An anonymous connected source told Commanders Wire:

Wright came into the position with no actual experience of running an organization, especially one in such turmoil. He was unprepared, yet, believed he had all the answers.

There was a pride in hiring outside the box, not from a football background, or the area. This made for a lack of institutional knowledge and understanding of what was needed. In time, this led to a major lack of institutional knowledge.

The fan base was not easily fooled and trust was quickly lost inside and outside the organization. His role appeared to be more for show, but not one of actual effective long-lasting difference.

Some praised Wright after the announcement on Thursday, others were happy to remove another reminder of Daniel Snyder. Wright’s legacy is complicated.

Former Washington cap analyst praises Harris ownership group, Peters and other Commanders

Lots of praise for Washington’s offseason moves — on and off the field.

Former Washington Redskins salary cap analyst J.I. Halsell joined Al Galdi on his podcast Thursday, and Halsell had some direct comments regarding some current Commanders’ players and staff.

Josh Harris ownership group: “They have been willing to think outside the box in how they have gone about their process. To bring in Bob Myers was outside the box, but leadership is leadership, whether we are talking basketball or football. When you have a leadership group that is willing to think outside of the box, I think that is great.”

Jayden Daniels: “He is not much bigger than he was back then (Arizona State) and I know that is a concern around his NFL game, his stature, his frame. Look, the kid has a high ceiling. He has put up high numbers in the SEC, and it’s impressive…You take the guy with the high ceiling, potential (when drafting).”

Kliff Kingsbury: “That guy is a great OC (offensive coordinator). He’s proven he can orchestrate an offense. Now, if you want him to lead the entire team, he’s just shown mediocre results. But he’s shown he can orchestrate a high-powered offense. So, when you combine that with the upside of Jayden Daniels, you got to be excited as a Commanders fan.”

Brandon Sosna: “It’s been a very fast rise for him…his rise to this role has happened very quickly, over five years. Rob Rogers is going to be a tremendous resource for Brandon on the nuances of the negotiations and managing the (salary) cap.”

Adam Peters: “The end goal of cap management is to create enough flexibility so that you are not hamstrung in how you build the roster…It tells me they are thinking, ‘Let’s try to build this thing through the draft, cheap(er) rookie contracts and marginal to not expensive veteran free agent contracts’. Yes, I do like how they have gone about it, this first offseason.”

Jonathan Allen: “Roster construction, roster management is really an exercise in succession plan and risk mitigation…It’s not by chance that they drafted in the second round a defensive tackle out of Illinois…If we decide to move on from Jon Allen, then we already have his successor in place. We drafted him in the second round, so we think he can play.”

Samuel Cosmi: “If he is proven in the offseason weight program and as we go into training camp that he is going to be a scheme fit, then you do want to reward your young guy…but it is always cheaper to do the extension sooner, rather than later. ”

 

Why are the Commanders and Eugene Shen parting ways?

A closer look at why the Commanders and Shen amicably parted ways.

Last week, Commanders general manager Adam Peters continued his overhaul of the front office. It was surprising to read Eugene Shen was leaving the Commanders.

If Dan Snyder still owned the franchise and had hired Eugene Shen only eight months ago, only to announce now that he is leaving, wouldn’t you say this was simply another example of the franchise’s dysfunction and brokenness?

Josh Harris surprisingly hired Shen in October during the then-current Ron Rivera administration. The graduate of Harvard, who also earned an MBA from MIT, was hired, and a few days later, Montez Sweat and Chase Young were traded.

Shen had been announced as the overseer of all analytics and software development for the football operations. Why, after only eight months, is Shen now gone?

Didn’t you raise your eyebrows a bit when Shen was hired in October, prior to Harris hiring his new general manager (Adam Peters)? Since Peters was hired he has brought on Lance Newmark from the Detroit Lions as his new assistant general manager. Brandon Sosna, also of Detroit, was recently hired by Peters as the new senior vice president of football operations, who will lead the analytics department.

Shen was brought on to help Harris make some important decisions for the future of the team, which frankly reveals that Harris needed leadership he would not receive from Rivera’s administration.

In April, Harris made a very significant hire, bringing in Dave Gardi as Washington’s new senior vice president of football initiatives. Gardi came from the NFL league office after 21 years of experience. This was seen universally in the NFL circles as a very keen, sharp move by Harris, as Gardi is highly respected.

Shen was probably feeling pushed out because his role was being reduced, and his ability to influence was greatly reduced, so the Commanders and Shen parted ways.

However, it does appear that Harris and Shen have remained on good terms, as he is said to be taking on another role for Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment.

Thus, this is much more than a negative headline announcing a front office employee is out after only eight months. Might this be more about Harris being really impressed with Peters and providing Peters with increasing levels of power and influence over the football operations?

Longtime Commanders’ reporter deliveres a huge one-liner about the team

Some proper perspective after a hopeful June.

John Keim has been on the Redskins/Football Team/Commanders beat since the 1994 season.

That means Keim has reported on head coaches Norv Turner, Terry Robiske, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs (2.0), Jim Zorn, Mike Shanahan, Jay Gruden, Bill Callahan, Ron Rivera and now Dan Quinn.

The leading passers for those teams: Heath Shuler, Gus Frerotte, Trent Green, Brad Johnson, Tony Banks, Patrick Ramsey, Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell, Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman, Robert Griffin, Kirk Cousins, Alex Smith, Case Keenum, Taylor Heinicke and Sam Howell.

Keim sat down with the Team 980 afternoon host, Craig Hoffman, on Tuesday, discussing this current Commanders offseason practices. Yes, practices have looked good under Quinn. Thus, at one point, Hoffman reminded himself and his listeners, “Of course, it’s June. You always want to put that caveat on it.”

To which the veteran Keim succinctly replied, “It was June last year.”

Wow! Did Keim ever pack a punch with so few words?

In addition, Keim though quiet, was so confident. “It was June last year.” Hoffman clearly got the message, following up with Keim that he thought the overall process was cleaner this June than in recent years.

Keim, again, echoed his earlier declaration with, “It’s been a better June than they have had in a long time (pause), for sure.”

Every offseason, NFL fan bases are optimistic.  But this was John Keim. “It was June last year.”

Keim saw Ron Rivera desperate to keep his job and hire an offensive coordinator no one else in the NFL pursued. He saw what happened to the offense last offseason. By training camp, Ron Rivera had already heard and had enough.

The Harris Ownership Group was not permitted to begin until NFL owners finally officially approved their taking over the franchise in July.

Just how bad was last June, according to Keim?

Keim had heard Rivera vault untested Sam Howell to QB1 and not adequately replace defensive backs coach Chris Harris. Chase Young actually thought he should have been extended the option year, and Keim was unimpressed with the four Rivera draft classes and free-agent signings.

Now, of course, in 2024, they are still in shorts, and no one is getting hit.

To which Keim might most likely respond, “Yes, and that was the case last June.”

Because of Keim’s experience, it’s safe to conclude the Commanders are trending upward this June.

Commanders were in an unenviable position regarding McManus

The Commanders were in a tough position with McManus.

As reported earlier by our own Bryan Manning, the Commanders have released kicker Brandon McManus.

Consequently, the Commanders are going to this week’s Organized Team Activities (OTA) without a kicker on their roster.

When the Commanders signed McManus to a one-year deal, some of us thought, well, it was only a one-year deal because he did miss seven field goal attempts in 2023 for the Jaguars.

McManus was successful on 30-of-37 field goal attempts, but when looking a bit closer, one notices that the now-former Commanders kicker missed five of his attempts from 50 yards or more.

Yet, there is the reality that if five of his seven misses were from 50 yards or more, then why did the Jaguars not re-sign McManus?

Enter the story that broke last week when he was accused of sexual assault having transpired on a team flight to London in September 2023.

The Commanders were placed in a very unenviable position. Some in the fan base will no doubt want him severed from the team immediately. Their reasoning is that the franchise was a laughing stock that got so many things wrong for so many years. Those will point out that the new ownership needs to see this as an opportunity to proclaim it has not been business as usual in the past decades and this team is going to clean up its image.

Others in the fan base will be very upset that the Commanders have, in their view, prematurely released McManus prior to his day in court. They will say this new ownership group needs to show more class than the previous leadership of Daniel Snyder and Bruce Allen. They will criticize the Harris Ownership Group for not standing by one of their players who may have been unfairly accused.

Whatever position you take on the McManus issue, one thing is certain: the honeymoon is over for the Harris Ownership Group. They have made several moves this offseason, firing former coaches and not re-signing several in their personnel departments.

And they have been challenged to do something about the terrible brand (Commanders) they inherited…

U.S. Senator demands Commanders honor Native American family

A U.S. Senator speaks on the Commanders honoring the franchise’s past regarding a return to RFK.

RFK, the former home of the then-Washington Redskins, was in the news again Wednesday.

A U.S. Senate subcommittee met regarding the administration of RFK being transferred to the city (Washington) from the National Park Service.

However, Republican Steve Daines of Montana spoke up, saying he represents his constituents in Montana: “I’m here representing a voice that is not being listened to, and that is the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana and the Wetzel family. I serve them…”

The U.S. House has approved the transfer, which would provide the city the go-ahead to redevelop the area where RFK stands deteriorating presently. The District mayor has, in the past, declared she wished for affordable housing and retail shops in the area. However, then she was opposed to the former owner Daniel Snyder and the name “Redskins.”

Daines appeared at the hearing with two posters dating back to the Redskins history with Walter “Blackie” Wetzel and Robert F. Kennedy and the Redskins old logo, which was actually suggested by Wetzel and approved by the franchise, resulting in their iconic helmet worn from the 1972 through 2019 seasons.

The shorthand of the entire presentation by Senator Daines was that he was actually not demanding the Washington Commanders reach back and take on again the name “Redskins.”

He is, however, demanding the Commanders bring back the old historic logo. Daines threatens that if they do not, he will block the RFK site bill.

Prior to Wednesday’s subcommittee meeting, the Commanders released this statement, “We have spoken directly with the Wetzel family and are working collaboratively to recognize Blackie Wetzel for his contributions in creating our former logo,” a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement.

Commanders fans have no reason to get excited. Nothing here points to the Harris Ownership Group making a huge leap back to the team being named the “Redskins.”

However, perhaps there will be some sort of utilization of the old logo in limited circumstances.

In 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd death, former minority owner Fred Smith began an attack upon majority owner Daniel Snyder threatening Snyder should drop the “Redskins” name. Shortly afterward, Federal Express, Nike, and Pepsi withdrew their support from Snyder, and the name “Redskins” was dropped.

Overreaction Saturday to Commanders coach Dan Quinn’s T-shirt

Trying to make sense of some people’s overreaction to Dan Quinn’s shirt.

The most excitement at Commanders’ rookie minicamp Saturday was actually a T-shirt.

Yes, Dan Quinn’s T-shirt is what caused the biggest stir.

Quinn’s T-shirt was short sleeves, black in color, with a capital “W” above the word “Commanders.”

But the T-shirt also contained two feathers reminiscent of the old Washington Redskins logo.

Many Commanders fans were excited, seeing that they don’t like the “Commanders” brand, which dates back to the efforts of Daniel Snyder and Jason Wright.

Saturday, many fans declared the Harris Ownership Group (HOG) was again being subtle, asking Quinn to wear the T-shirt to honor the past when “Redskins” was the team name. While some, like Scott Abraham, simply voiced their approval of the shirt.

Actually, we have no idea if the HOG was involved in this in any way. It could actually be something as simple as Dan Quinn played his college ball in the area, is familiar with the history, saw the shirt and thought it was a neat reminder of some of the glory days of Joe Gibbs’ teams.

ESPN’s Jason Reid disapproved, tweeting Quinn alone was responsible for what he wore Saturday and that others in the organization should have taken great measures to stop Quinn from wearing the shirt.

Goodness, why was Reid suggesting Quinn’s shirt was so horrible and ill-advised? Had Quinn worn a shirt endorsing Joseph Stalin?

Reid tweeted several more times, insisting his concern was not about racism but more interested in the shirt, bringing up the old name of the team again. He later suggested a concern was the licensing of the shirt.

Were we supposed to believe that was why he had earlier tweeted, “Why? I mean, why?”

Also, he posted the Commanders “can’t get outta their own way, my man.” Why was Reid suggesting Quinn had really done something wrong? Quinn’s shirt had illustrated this team simply can’t help itself? Really?

Quinn committed no great blunder on Saturday. Plain and simple, Quinn was not an example Saturday of the organization simply not being able to get out of its way.

Nor did Quinn’s T-shirt prove the HOG is dumping the “Commanders” any day now. Yes, the HOG has inherited a branding flop, but if there is going to be a name change, it will most likely not be “Redskins,” nor will it occur anytime soon.

Harris Ownership Group addressing Commanders branding botch

The Commanders give a nod to the franchise’s past with “Raise Hail” slogan.

Some of you have noticed that the marketing team out in Ashburn is up to something new.

Some may have observed that when you go to the Commanders’ official website, the first item of business is the announcement that season tickets are now available.

However, above that headline is the all-important header. Now, a header is something the web designer places at the very top of a web page, and for very sound reasons.

As the headlines will vary from week to week, the header will remain constant until the Commanders adjust their message.

The Commanders did make the adjustment, recently launching a new header that reads, “RAISE HAIL.” This is clearly intentional.

This, of course, is a direct shorthand reference to the team’s once-popular fight song, “Hail to the Redskins.” For instance, several years ago, while attending a high school football game in Florida, while climbing the bleachers, I noticed a male wearing a Redskins tee-shirt, so I voiced to him, “H-T-T-R.” Without blinking an eye, he replied, “Hail.”

The Harris Ownership Group (HOG) possesses acute business acumen. They are well aware that Daniel Snyder and Jason Wright were unsuccessful when they came up with “Commanders.” Even more, they know that Wright’s declaration that the fans were in on the choosing of “Commanders” is largely not true.

Has a transition been smoothly launched by the Harris Ownership Group (HOG)? They know so many outside the fan base would give them much grief if they attempted to return to “Redskins.” So, they won’t. Yet, isn’t this obviously an indirect reference (code) back to the historic name?

If no transition is being launched toward a new name, the HOG is at least unquestionably attempting to please its fan base in some small way. After all, this fan base has made it clear that they don’t like “Commanders,” nor do they like the uniforms that take on an ‘expansion team’ look rather than the once bold burgundy and gold.

Yes, the HOG was in a great position taking over for an owner who was not liked by the fan base. However, the HOG was also in an unenviable position when they inherited Snyder and Wright’s terrible new brand, “Commanders.”

Consequently, the HOG is stuck with “Commanders” for now. Yet, they are much more aware than the fan base of what this poor branding effort has done for the franchise financially.

This was illustrated when John Riggins, part of the most famous offensive play in franchise history, immediately proclaimed he felt “disenfranchised,” declaring he didn’t play for the “Commanders;” he played for the “Redskins.”

In addition to the new website header, Wednesday, the Commanders on X (formerly Twitter) announced a new rookie wallpaper, “Raise Hail.”

The HOG has the problematic obstacle of overcoming Snyder and Wright’s colossal branding failure. In fact, it was revealed days ago that “Commanders” merchandise sales are among the lowest in the NFL.

“Hail to the Redskins,” HTTR,” “Hail,” “Raise Hail,” and “Hail to the Harris Ownership Group,” who is addressing the monstrous branding/marketing wreck they’ve inherited.