January 16, 2014

The Curious Case of Redskins Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett

Four years ago, to the day, I wrote the piece linked below when new Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan first brought in defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. The piece was written in reply to a response then-Redskins.com blogger Matt Terl wrote about an earlier piece I had done about Haslett:

Digging Deeper: Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett

Well, four years later, Mr. Haslett is still the Redskins DC, and nothing--nothing--in his record, before or since, has provided the slightest empirical, objective reason for me to believe it's going to change now.

The only X-factor I can see that make any sense are that new HC Jay Gruden has enough history with Haslett (who hired him as an assistant when Haslett coached in the United Football League) that he was too uncomfortable and/or unwilling to let him go.

And maybe, just maybe, the last four years of general defensive ineptitude really weren't Haslett's fault. Maybe he really did fall victim to some witches brew of inadequate talent, the cap penalty, and Shanahan's rumored heavy-handedness. One can only hope.

One can also only hope things will change in 2014 and beyond. Unfortunately, there is nothing that would stand up in court as evidence to support that notion.

I've been asking for four years, and have yet to get a substantive answer.

Why Jim Haslett?