Sports Radio Interviews

Washington Redskins Shake Things Up In Front Office, Name Bruce Allen To Be General Manager

Vinny Cerrato is out in Washington D.C. as the Redskins personnel man. Owner Daniel Snyder has replaced him with Bruce Allen, the son of legendary former Redskins coach George Allen. Allen becomes the first executive to hold the title of General Manager under the Daniel Snyder regime. It comes as no surprise around the league that Snyder has looked for ‘fall guys’ for the Redskins latest disappointing season. Allen joined 980 ESPN D.C.with John Thompson to talk about what his title as GM entails, what timetable he’s set for himself for making a plan for the 2010 season and beyond with the ‘Skins,

On what exactly the role of GM entails:

“Well, the general manager is in charge of a lot of things behind the scenes. You get to see the players on the field, yep, I’m a part of that. You know Coach, it’s nice to talk to you because you understand building a team. Yes it’s a nice title, but my job here is to build a team on the field and off the field that has one common objective, and that’s to win.”

On what timetable he’s set for himself for making a comprehensive assessment of the team for the 2010 season:

Well, we have the time table of a football season. We have three big games coming up, two NFC East games. That’s really the timetable. Obviously most evaluation happens after the season. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to actually be a part of the Redskins for these three games, to have intimate knowledge of what went in to decision not only on gameday, but how people perceived and viewed the upcoming season. So, I’m going to get a lot access that you can’t get from a new job starting in the offseason.”

On what he sees as the biggest challenge with this organization at the present moment:

“Well Coach we’re 4-9 and we’ve got to work on fixing that right column. So it’s going to be a lot of analysis to what went in to those.”

On if there’s been any talk about what to do with Jim Zorn’s future as head coach of the Redskins:

“I just met with Coach Zorn today for lunch. It was our first time really meeting and discussing. We were scheduling some times to get to know each other better. I’m very interested in his opinions and ideas. I want to share my thoughts with him. So we’re going to have a few weeks to get to know each other and I think that’s the best thing to do with everybody in the organization.”

On what he sees his relationship with owner Daniel Snyder being like:

“Well I see two people with a common vision, a common objective. And I think it’s our job to make sure that everybody in this building has that view. His enthusiasm and his urgency to win is no different that what I was raised with. I see that as an attribute and look forward to working with him, because I think I’m more impatient than anybody I’ve ever met.”

Listen here to Allen with 980 ESPN D.C. with John Thompson

Tags: biggest disappointments in NFL, Bruce Allen replaces Vinny Cerrato, Daniel Snyder, Vinny Cerrato fired, Washington Redskins 980 ESPN Washington D.C.