Another coaching staff has joined the Redskins to come out in opposition of the NFL Coaches Association brief filed earlier this week that sided with the players.
“It was awful presumptuous on their part that they would represent all the coaches on our staff,” Saints linebacker coach Joe Vitt told to Mike Triplette of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Vitt said Saints coaches were “appalled” by the NFCA briefing. The entire Saints staff chose not to be part of the NFLCA when Sean Payton started his staff in 2006.
“We’re supporting the owners. I’ve said this a million times, our organization has been built on trust. [Owner Tom] Benson has been great to us. Unequivocally, we support our ownership,” Vitt said.
(It’s nice to hear from Vitt again. He and Jim Tomsula were the most fun interim head coaches of the last decade.)
No matter the motivation beyond Vitt’s words, they come as a blow to the NFLCA, just like the Redskins statement. By going public with the brief and having no signatures attached, the NFLCA invited scrutiny.
NFL coaches don’t have a union, and this issue helps to illuminate why it will be difficult to put one together. It also shows how the NFLCA doesn’t speak for everyone.