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Good thing those silly games are out of the way. Now the Washington Redskins can get back to defending their title as the NFL's most intriguing offseason team.
Will coach Steve Spurrier return? What exactly does he have in mind when he talks about the need to ``restructure'' the team? Is he positioning himself for a showdown with owner Dan Snyder? Will the players accept him if he turns into a tough-guy coach after two years as a softy? Will Snyder go on yet another free agent spending binge?
It's never a dull moment from January to June, not in Redskinsland.
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``People are trying to figure out where they're going to be next year, if our
coach is going to be here. We hear all that stuff all the season,'' said cornerback
Champ Bailey, who has played for four head coaches and five defensive coordinators
in five seasons. ``Nothing would surprise me.''
When the players arrived for their final team meeting Sunday, they were greeted by a sign on the door that read: ``Winning starts in the offseason. No distractions.''
No distractions? With this team? Who are they kidding? No wonder the sign was taken down by a coach within a couple of hours.
``It's crazy,'' running back Chad Morton said. ``You're just sitting here waiting to see what's going to happen.''
Spurrier gave no hint as to his plans in the players' meeting, which lasted less than two minutes. He also left his assistants hanging, telling them in a separate meeting to keep their cell phones on -- unless they want to learn their fates by reading the newspaper. Then he left for a vacation in Florida, departing for his home state less than 48 hours after the final game.
Spurrier made vague promises about badly needed changes concerning ``players, coaches and so forth.''
``Everybody's going to take a few days off and see where we are, try to get rejuvenated and move on from there,'' Spurrier said.
The future of the team could be determined by whether Spurrier and Snyder work out a compromise over assistant coaches and player selection. Neither can boast much leverage, given their respective track records in the NFL.
The regression under Snyder shows on the scoreboard. After making the playoffs with a 10-6 record in Snyder's first year of ownership in 1999, the Redskins have slid to 8-8 (twice), to 7-9 -- and now to this year's 5-11.
Spurrier is 12-20 and has lost 10 of his last 12 games. By the end of the season, players were bemoaning a lack of discipline from a coach who wouldn't crack down on tardiness and halfhearted effort.
``It is a problem, anytime you've got guys coming late or not showing up,'' Bailey said. ``It is a distraction, whether you like it or not.''
Spurrier, if he's back next season, said he'll be more demanding, as he was in college, and not ``let the inmates run the asylum.''
Spurrier has final say over the makeup of a coaching staff very inexperienced in NFL terms, while Snyder has last word over player signings. Each could ask for changes in the other's domain. Defensive coordinator George Edwards is one of many assistants who could be forced out, while Spurrier is unhappy over Snyder's decision to cut QB Danny Wuerffel at the end of training camp.
Both sides publicly indicate peace will prevail, which means Spurrier would return for the third year of his NFL-record, five-year $25 million contract. Snyder has said ``absolutely'' that Spurrier will be back, while the coach says he ``plans'' to give it another try.
Of course, Spurrier's abrupt departure from Florida two years ago proved how difficult it can be to anticipate the coach's plans. Also, for the last half of the season, he carried the defeated look of a man who wished he were elsewhere.
Whoever the coach, the Redskins have some roster work to do. The defensive line needs an overhaul, and running-back-by-committee didn't work this season. Tight end and safety are also top priorities.
The major free agent is four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Bailey, a very popular player who clearly has mixed feelings about working for Snyder. The Redskins plan to make Bailey a franchise player if he doesn't agree to a contract, but that could create as much bad will as it would to let him sign elsewhere.
Just a little more drama for a team that makes better headlines in March than in November.
``I just hope there's not
a lot of changes,'' cornerback Fred Smoot said. ``I just hope it's all the right
changes.''