The Washington Football Team looked to be in an enviable position entering the 2013 season.
The franchise returned to the playoffs in 2012 behind a brilliant season from Robert Griffin III, in which then-offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan engineered one of football's most inventive schemes. But the wheels quickly came off for the franchise after the brief postseason appearance.
Washington went just 3–13 in 2013 and 4–12 in 2014, and the organization has struggled to truly return to contender status since Griffin's brief run of stardom. One potential culprit for the continued slump? Perhaps a brain drain among the coaching staff is to blame.
NFL analyst Warren Sharp tweeted a photo Wednesday highlighting three members of the 2013 Washington staff. While Jay Gruden led the organization as head coach, a trio of current NFC playoff coaches worked on his staff. Kyle Shanahan worked as the team's offensive coordinator, while Matt LaFleur served as quarterbacks coach. Sean McVay worked as the tight ends coach, and he would later become Washington's offensive coordinator before leaving for Los Angeles.
All three are now head coaches of teams still active in the NFC playoffs, with Shanahan leading the 49ers, LaFleur with the Packers, and McVay with the Rams.
All three standout coaches left Washington before landing new roles outside the organization. Shanahan became Cleveland's offensive coordinator in 2014 before joining the Falcons, while LaFleur left Washington to become Notre Dame's quarterbacks coach that same year. McVay stayed with Washington through 2016, and he was hired by the Rams before the 2017 season.
Washington finished 7–10 in 2021, and the franchise has returned to respectability under Ron Rivera. Though if any of the three aforementioned coaches were still in town, perhaps we'd be watching the Football Team in the divisional round.
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