Anyone wanting to be the next head coach in Washington may have to get a stamp of approval from Robert Griffin III.
That’s the word from backup quarterback Kirk Cousins, who said after Mike Shanahan was fired that Griffin and owner Dan Snyder will have input in determining who the next head coach will be.
“I’m sure Mr. Snyder and Robert and those people will have a lot of input as to who the hire is,” Cousins said, via Adam Schefter of ESPN.
It should go without saying that Snyder will have a lot of input into the next head coach, but Griffin’s involvement in the interview process may lend credence to the idea Griffin has too much power within the organization. When reports surfaced in December that Shanahan had been so unhappy at the end of the 2012 season that he considered resigning, those reports said Shanahan was particularly concerned about Griffin’s relationship with Snyder.
On the other hand, Washington invested three first-round draft picks in making Griffin the franchise quarterback, so it makes sense for Snyder to want to be sure Griffin can work with his new coach. The Lions reportedly had Jim Caldwell meet with Matthew Stafford during Caldwell’s interview in Detroit on Friday, so Washington isn’t the only place where the franchise quarterback may be getting involved in the process of hiring a new coach. Washington is just the only place where the franchise quarterback is involved in hiring the coach weeks after stories surfaced that the last coach thought the franchise quarterback had too much pull with the owner.