Redskins' mystery coaching candidate revealed

by Jay Glazer

Updated: January 22, 2008, 4:41 PM EST 167 comments

Sources say former Giants head coach Jim Fassel on Monday conducted his second interview for the Redskins head coaching job.

Fassel originally interviewed a couple weeks ago when team brass flew to Arizona. At the time, it was incorrectly reported the Redskins contingent flew there to interview Cardinals assistant Russ Grimm, when in fact Fassel was their target.

At this point, Fassel and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams are in the running. Fassel was heavily liked by owner Dan Snyder the last time the Redskins had a vacancy and may have gotten the job had Joe Gibbs not come out of retirement.

The players clearly want Williams, but Snyder has yet to pull the trigger and, in fact, was even dabbling with bringing in Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin for the defensive coordinator post before Kiffin re-upped in Tampa.

Gibbs resigned two weeks ago, and Snyder has interviewed five potential successors: Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks, Seattle Seahawks defensive backs coach Jim Mora, Redskins assistant Gregg Williams and Fassel.

Mora withdrew his name from consideration last week. Williams has met with Snyder four times and offered the best scenario of continuity for a team coming off a playoff season, but the fiery assistant was unsuccessful during his only stint as a head coach with the Buffalo Bills from 2001-03.

While the coaching search continued, the Redskins solidified their front office structure Tuesday by adding the word "executive" to Vinny Cerrato's title, making him the executive vice president of football operations. The team said Cerrato will assume responsibility for all aspects of the team's football organization, including the roster, scouting and salary cap management.

The move appears to offer a hint the next coach will have a less influential role than Gibbs, who also served as team president and often consulted with Snyder and Cerrato on equal footing. The Redskins have functioned without a general manager since Snyder bought the team in 1999.

Fassel, 58, took the Giants to the Super Bowl following the 2000 season and went 60-56-1, including 2-3 in the playoffs, during seven seasons in New York. He was the AP's NFL coach of the year in 1997, when he led the Giants to an 11-5-1 record as a rookie head coach.

Fassel was fired following a 4-12 season in 2003 and became a senior consultant to the Baltimore Ravens staff in 2004. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2005 but was fired in October 2006 in a midseason shake-up by coach Brian Billick when the Ravens were struggling offensively.

Although he has frequently been mentioned as a coaching candidate for several teams and has had multiple interviews, Fassel spent this season away from the sideline, working as an analyst for CBS Radio Sports/Westwood One.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.