Tag: Jason Wright

Commanders hire new team president

The Commanders have a new team president.

The Washington Commanders have a new team president. The team revealed Tuesday that Mark Clouse would be Washington’s new team president, replacing Jason Wright.

Who is Clouse?

Clouse comes to the Commanders from The Campbell’s Company, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer since 2019. As President and CEO of Campbell’s, Clouse oversaw numerous well-known brands, such as Campbell’s, Goldfish, Rao’s, Pepperidge Farm, and others.

Washington managing partner Josh Harris said the following via a team statement.

In Mark we have found a dynamic leader with a stellar track record of guiding organizations to excellence, building brands that connect deeply with consumers, and ultimately delivering best-in-class experiences and lasting memories. Mark shares our commitment to using the power of the Commanders franchise to bring people together. As a military veteran and accomplished business builder, he has a proven ability to strengthen both the organizations he leads and the communities he serves. I am confident in Mark’s dedication to building a championship-caliber organization and to support football operations in our drive for excellence on the field.

Clouse has over 30 years of leadership experience, first graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Clouse spent six-and-a-half years as a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Army before rising to the rank of captain.

After completing his military service, Clouse joined Kraft Foods, where he spent 15 years in various leadership roles.

Clouse released the following statement through the team:

I am incredibly grateful to Josh Harris and the Washington Commanders ownership group for the opportunity to lead this iconic franchise into a new chapter of growth. The Commanders’ passionate fanbase, which has stood by this team for decades, deserves nothing less than our unwavering commitment to excellence. I look forward to supporting ownership, as well as Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, in doing everything in our power to build a championship-caliber organization.

Clouse will begin his new role in late January and will oversee all facets of the franchise’s business operations. General manager Adam Peters and senior vice president of football operations Brandon Sosna will handle all football-related matters.

Wright was named Washington’s team president in August 2020, one month after former owner Dan Snyder was forced to abandon the franchise’s popular but controversial former name. Wright and former coach Ron Rivera led the process for Washington’s new name, which was revealed as the Commanders in February 2022.

It was revealed in July that Wright would no longer serve as Washington’s team president but would stay on through the season as a senior adviser.

Commanders suspend VP for disparaging comments on players, fans and Roger Goodell

Commanders suspend VP of content over disparaging comments made about players, fans and Roger Goodell.

The Washington Commanders suspended vice president of content Rael Enteen on Wednesday after a video emerged of Enteen making disparaging comments about NFL fans, commissioner Roger Goodell, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Washington players.

The comments from Enteen were made to an undercover reporter from the O’Keefe Media Group.

The Commanders released the following statement:

“The language used in the video runs counter to our values at the Commanders organization,” a spokesperson said in the statement. “We have suspended the employee pending an investigation and will reserve further comment at this time.”

In the video, Enteen said the following, as transcribed by ESPN.

He told the undercover reporter that, “over 50% of our roster is white religious, and God says, ‘F— the gays.’ Their interpretation. I don’t buy any of that. Another big chunk is low-income African Americans that comes from a community that is inherently very homophobic.”

Enteen said players are “dumb as hell” and referenced them getting hit in the head too many times.

He said the following about Goodell and Jones:

Enteen also said, “I don’t think the commissioner of the NFL hates gay people, hates black people. Jerry Jones, who really runs the NFL, I think he hates gay people, black people.”

Enteen then said it was his job to sell hope and mentioned the incident at the former FedExField in 2021 when some pipes burst. The Commanders, at the time, denied it was sewage pipes, even though fans said they smelled sewage. Enteen said he tweeted out that it was just water and commented: “That……..is state-run media.”

Enteen was hired in September 2020 and was one of former team president Jason Wright’s hires.

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.

Jason Wright out as Commanders’ team president

The 2024 season will be Wright’s last with the Commanders and he will serve as an adviser until the team lands a replacement.

The Washington Commanders and team president Jason Wright are parting ways, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. Wright will move out of his role as team president and assume the role of senior adviser as the team begins an immediate search for a new team president. He will depart the organization by the end of the upcoming 2024 season.

Wright was hired in August 2020 as the organization had just changed its name from the “Redskins” to the “Football Team” after pressure from sponsors. He replaced Bruce Allen in the role, and he was in charge of leading the franchise’s business operations, financing, and marketing.

Washington first came under investigation for its workplace culture under former owner Dan Snyder in 2020. It wouldn’t be the first investigation into Snyder, who sold the team in July 2023 to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris.

Two of Wright’s primary goals were to help the team find a new stadium and rebrand the organization. The team still doesn’t have a location for the new stadium, which had more to do with Snyder, not Wright, but the team’s rebranding in 2022 was met with anger from most of the remaining fan base.

There would be other issues, too, from the misspelling of the team’s legends’ names on graphics to the Sean Taylor memorial outside of FedEx Field. These types of gaffes didn’t go unnoticed, and Wright took much of the blame in the eyes of fans. Many of the hires Wright made have since left the organization.

Jhabvala notes that Wright informed the team last week of his pending exit.

Wright released the following statement:

This feels like the right moment for me to explore my next leadership opportunity. I’m extremely grateful to my Commanders colleagues, our fans and this community for all that we have accomplished these past four years, and am looking forward to the start of a very successful season for the Burgundy and Gold.

Josh Harris also released a statement thanking Wright:

Jason has made a remarkable impact on the Commanders organization since he joined four years ago. He stepped in at a time of immense challenge and has led this organization through an incredible transformation that set that stage for everything that is to come. I am extremely grateful to Jason for his partnership to me and the rest of the ownership group over the past year. His guidance has been invaluable and his leadership has helped reshape our culture.

Harris and Tad Brown, the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, will lead the search for the next team president.

 

Commanders president Jason Wright was a finalist to be Packers CEO and team president

The Packers were reportedly interested in Jason Wright.

Washington Commanders team president Jason Wright almost landed a new job. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Wright was a finalist for the Green Bay Packers president and CEO position.

The move would’ve represented a step up for Wright as the Packers are the NFL’s only publicly-owned, nonprofit organization, meaning he would’ve essentially operated as owner.

The Packers hired Ed Policy, who had been with the organization since 2012. Policy first served as Green Bay’s vice president and general counsel before he was promoted to COO in 2018.

Wright, 41, joined Washington in 2020, becoming the NFL’s first Black team president. His time in Washington has been full of ups and downs. Wright led Washington’s rebranding to the Commanders in 2022, which didn’t go well with a large portion of the fan base.

There have been other mishaps, such as the Sean Taylor Memorial. However, Wright entered an impossible situation working directly under former owner Dan Snyder. When Snyder sold the team to Josh Harris last summer, Harris retained Wright.

Mark Murphy, who played eight seasons for the Redskins from 1977-84, is retiring in 2025 as Green Bay’s president and CEO.

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.

Commanders make another key off-field hire

Josh Harris continues to make positive changes for the Commanders, hiring a new senior director of player health and performance.

Josh Harris is slowly remaking the Washington Commanders to his liking. It began in October when Harris made his first big hire, naming Eugene Shen as Washington’s senior vice president of football strategy.

In January, Harris hired Adam Peters as Washington’s new general manager, followed by head coach Dan Quinn. Quinn then proceeded to assemble an excellent coaching staff that has drawn praise from around the NFL.

Earlier this week, the Commanders hired Jim Rushton as the franchise’s new chief partnerships officer. Rushton will oversee all aspects of sponsorship and report directly to team president Jason Wright.

On Wednesday, Harris made another hire, naming Tim McGrath as senior director of player health and performance. McGrath initially joined Washington as a consultant toward the end of the 2023 season. He will oversee all athletic training, strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports science and player wellness programs in the organization.

McGrath comes to Washington with a wealth of experience in pro sports (20 years) and clinical experience (22 years).

McGrath will use sports science to develop individual plans for every Washington player. This is another big-time hire by Harris, who has proven in each of his other organizations he will do everything in his power to make life better for the players.

Peters released the following statement:

“Tim McGrath has been an incredible resource for our players since joining the organization as a consultant towards the end of last season,” said Peters. “I’m excited to officially welcome him to the organization in a full-time capacity as our senior director of player health and performance. I’ve been impressed with the time I’ve spent with him since I was hired here in January. He has a vast knowledge in all areas of player wellness and athlete performance and will play a vital role in improving our overall athletic training and athlete care services here in Washington.”

 

Commanders make a key off-field hire

The Commanders make a key hire to the business side of the organization.

Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris continues to remake the franchise he purchased in July. Harris’ first hire occurred in October when he hired Eugene Shen as Washington’s new senior vice president of football strategy.

Harris made his most significant hire in January, naming Adam Peters as the new general manager. From there, Harris and Peters hired Dan Quinn as head coach.

Now, Harris is making moves on the business side. After FedEx announced it was backing out of the final two years of its naming-rights partnership with the Commanders, it left the former FedEx Field without a sponsor.

On Monday, Washington announced the hiring of Jim Rushton as the new chief partnerships officer. Rushton comes from the Los Angeles Chargers and will help in Washington’s search for a new stadium naming-rights partner. Rushton will oversee all aspects of sponsorship and help shape the franchise’s revenue generation strategy.

“Jim is a dynamic sports and entertainment sales and marketing leader with a unique ability to combine vision, strategy, and execution to deliver quantifiable revenue growth,” team president Jason Wright said.

“He brings both creative and analytical skills to his work and is an inclusive leader who will be able to make an immediate impact in this role.”

Rushton will report directly to Wright.

 

New Commanders assistant Anthony Lynn loves the team’s leadership

Lynn praises Dan Quinn and Adam Peters’ leadership and explains why he left the 49ers for Washington.

Two weeks ago, San Francisco’s assistant head coach and running backs coach, Anthony Lynn, was coaching his team to a tie in the Super Bowl, which they eventually lost in overtime.

He was not fired, and yet he decided to come to Washington, where he will not be an assistant head coach.

Nor will Lynn be the offensive coordinator. That job had already been filled by former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. So why did Lynn decide to leave a better organization with much better offensive personnel?

“I love the leadership here; that’s what brought me here, Dan Quinn and Adam Peters and even the president Jason Wright.”

“Dan and I came up the same way; we had the same agent. He connected us together and said you guys are so much alike; I want you to meet each other. We’ve been friends ever since.”

An opportunity appeared, and so Quinn offered Lynn to come be his running game coordinator. Lynn jumped at the chance.

“We’ve talked about doing it together one day. He went to the Falcons, and I went to the Chargers as head coaches, so it didn’t work out for us, but now we are here.”

Why would Lynn leave an offense that included Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams, Brock Purdy and George Kittle? In addition, why would he leave the NFC Champions and come to the last-place Commanders?

“I just know what type of man he is. I know what type of leadership the organization has now. You bring Adam Peters here, I’ve worked with Adam the last two years in San Francisco. He is awesome.”

When asked by Scott Abraham what he thought the coaching staff may have in common, Lynn responded succinctly, “Good people; Dan brought the right people into the building.”

You can listen to Lynn here, courtesy of 106.7 The Fan.