Washington Redskins team president Bruce Allen was fired Monday after a tumultuous and loss-filled decade with the NFL team once coached by his father.
Owner Dan Snyder announced the move early Monday. From the outset of the 2010 season, the Redskins went 62-97-1 with Allen serving as owner Daniel Snyder's right-hand man, a stretch that featured only two playoff appearances and zero playoff victories — along with plenty of public relations disasters.
“As this season concludes, Bruce Allen has been relieved of his duties as president of the Washington Redskins and is no longer with the organization," Snyder said. “Like our passionate fan base, I recognize we have not lived up to the high standards set by great Redskins teams, coaches and players who have come before us. As we reevaluate our team leadership, culture and process for winning football games, I am excited for the opportunities that lie ahead to renew our singular focus and purpose of bringing championship football back to Washington.”
Allen was hired as Washington's executive VP and general manager in December 2009, then promoted to president in May 2014.
Allen infamously boasted at a news conference after the 2014 season that the Redskins were “winning off the field” under his watch. He was mocked more recently for objecting to reporters' questions about widespread criticism of the organizational culture by asserting, “The culture is actually damn good.”
Despite playing in the league-worst NFC East, where every club has a losing record, Washington went 3-13 this season and officially was eliminated from playoff contention with Sunday's 20-15 loss at the Green Bay Packers. Only two teams in the NFL currently have a worse record.
Jay Gruden, who was given a contract extension by Allen, was fired after an 0-5 start to this season, his sixth — the longest stint for a head coach under Snyder — and replaced by offensive line coach Bill Callahan on an interim basis.
So the always-in-disarray Redskins are now in need of a president, a general manager and a coach; whoever is hired to those jobs will need to oversee a massive rebuilding project.
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