The Redskins front office and coaching staff has begun its offseason scouting process at home -- by scouting the existing roster. [That must be fairly depressing.] Offseason workouts begin on March 15, but the guys who don't play are already at work trying to find out what areas of the roster need improvement [lots] and then moving on to solutions.

Redskins GM Bruce Allen is typically close-mouthed about team intentions, but an interesting nugget was picked up by beat reporter John Keim.

Allen said the staff has talked to quarterback Jason Campbell, who has told numerous people that he expects to return. Campbell has been around Redskins Park often. As for running back Clinton Portis, Allen said, "Every player is getting the same scrutiny." But he did not say whether or not Portis would return.

Redskins management must have told Campbell that he is in their plans for next season, at least. That would explain his constant presence at Redskins Park. Campbell is a naturally hard-working and conscientious player, but even he wouldn't stick around if it had been made clear he wasn't in the team's plans for 2010.

As for Portis, it's pretty clear the pressure is going to remain on him. Head Coach Mike Shanahan made it obvious when he was hired that he believes Portis' offseason training regimen is poor [or perhaps non-existent] and he expects the tailback to train has hard and regularly as any other player on the roster. In other words, if Portis wants a job in Washington this year, he better show up on time for that March 15 date at Redskins Park.

We and the Redskins will learn a lot about Portis if he is at the training session and he works as hard as the other players do.

Discuss this in our Redskins forum!

Mike Shanahan continues to tinker with his staff.  Larry Hess has been promoted to head athletic trainer.  He has spent the last 4 years as Director of Rehabilitation for the Redskins.  Paul Kelly was also named Assistant to Mike Shanahan and will be involved in football operations and communication between Shanahan and staff and the players.

Nothing earth shattering, but we felt obligated to report it.

Some small rumor mill stuff (hey, it is the Redskins off-season)

PFT and ESPN both report the Redskins may have interest in DE Leonard Little.

Brian Stull of ESPN 101 in St. Louis reports that Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett has "let it be known" he believes Little could still be very productive if used correctly.

Little has played his entire career in St. Louis, but he's familiar with Haslett's system after playing under him from 2006-2008.  It's a logical fit.  Washington needs pass rushers, has money, and Mike Shanahan hasn't shied away from picking up veteran free agents in the past.

March 5 begins the NFL free agency period.  As we all know, the Redskins are a team that appears in nearly every single rumor out there for any single player available.  How different will it be under Shanahan/Allen?  We will soon see.

Earlier today we mentioned reports that retired linebacker/steroid enthusiast Bill Romanowski would interview for the job of strength and conditioning coach with the Washington Redskins. It seemed crazy to me then and it still seems crazy to me hours later. The jokes about hiring a 'roid abuser like Romanowski to be the strength coach of an NFL pretty much write themselves. And the Redskins have spent enough time being a joke for the past decade, dontchyathink?

Jason Reid of The Washington Post writes that

it'd shock many if he received serious consideration for the one in Washington. The league would likely have to sign off on any team hiring a strength and conditioning coach who has admitted to using steroids and HGH in the past.

Well, that was a point I made in my original post: How would the NFL react to the public relations nightmare of having an admitted steroid and HGH user running the conditioning program of an NFL team? I don't think they'd be too comfortable watching Romanowski mixing up all those "protein shakes" for the players to down two or three times a day. And the accusations of cheating from opposing teams would be immediate and constant. The entire thing would be a nightmare. If there is any way the Redskins could make themselves more of a running national joke, this would be the way to go.

Romanowski does have a history with Redskins Head Coach Mike Shanahan, having played for him from 1996-2001. Let's hope that isn't enough to get him past the interviewing stage. It would be very disappointing if the NFL had to intervene and explain the obvious to Mike Shanahan.

Frankly, I'm disappointed that a cheater like Romanowski is even getting an interview.

With many of their special teams units languishing near the bottom of league rankings, the Redskins hired an assistant coach to work the Special Teams Coach Danny Smith. Richard Hightower coached wide receivers for the University of Minnesota last year, but he will assist Smith on the Redskins staff in 2010.

"We knew we would need someone with a lot of energy to keep up with Danny Smith, and Richard is that coach," executive vice president/head coach Mike Shanahan said. "He has both youth and experience, and he will be a great asset to our special teams and our organization."

If you're wondering where the connection to Shanahan might be, look no further than the Houston Texans, where Redskins Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan coached the past few years. Hightower was a coaching administrator [whatever that is] in 2005 and 2006 and a special teams assistant coach in 2007-08 before moving on to his most recent job with the University of Minnesota.

Hightower was a walk-on player at the University of Texas, where he played as a defensive back, wide receiver, and, of course, on special teams.

Hightower has no connection to Danny Smith that I can find, meaning he's a Shanahan guy, not a Danny Smith guy. In other words, it might be a good idea for Smith to improve the efficiency of his special teams; a replacement for his job is already on the payroll.

The St. Louis Dispatch is reporting that Jim Haselett has cancelled trip to New York to meet with the Giants and is on his way to Washington to accept the position of Defensive Coordinator under Mike Shanahan.

Jim Haslett is headed to Washington as the Redskins’ defensive coordinator under new coach Mike Shanahan, league sources told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday evening.

After three seasons in St. Louis, including the last 12 games of 2008 as the Rams’ interim head coach, Haslett spent this past season as head coach of the Florida Tuskers of the fledgling United Football League. The Tuskers went unbeaten in the regular season, but were upset by the Las Vegas Locomotives in the UFL title game.

Haslett met with Washington team officials earlier this week. Haslett became the front runner for the job once Mike Zimmer agreed to stay in Cincinnati as Bengals defensive coordinator.

It was unclear Tuesday evening when the Redskins would officially announce the hiring. Haslett did not respond to phone messages Tuesday.

As Comcast SportsNet's Kelli Johnson first reported, Haslett has been at Redskins Park interviewing for that position for the past two days. He became the front-runner once Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer re-signed with Cincinnati on Tuesday.

Mike Shanahan brings an experienced coach to the Redskins. From 2000-05, Haslett was the Saints head coach. He was fired after the 2005 season and was hired by the St. Louis Rams as their defensive coordinator in 2006. In the middle of his third season in St. Louis, he served as the interim head coach for 12 games. He spent last season coaching the Florida Tuskers of the UFL; they reached the title game but were upset by Las Vegas.

The man seemingly left out in the cold is secondary coach Jerry Gray. He also met with the Redskins on Tuesday afternoon for a formal interview for the job. His future with the Redskins remains unclear.

More soon.

New Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan runs a version of the west coast offense, something he learned from the inventor of it, Bill Walsh. The central premise of the west coast offense is reliance on a short passing game that essentially serves as an extension of the running game -- quick, high percentage passes thrown within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. The passes are thrown quickly -- often after a 3-step drop -- and the receivers get into the open field, using their superior athleticism against bigger defenders like linebackers. It's a way of bypassing the defensive line altogether, throwing the ball beyond them and throwing it so quickly that they don't have a chance to reach the passer. Some who run the west coast offense, like Eagles coach Andy Reid, sometimes forget to run the ball altogether.

Mike Shanahan's version of the west coast offense is different. He doesn't use the short passing game as an extension of the running game, he prefers to rely on his running game to help the rest of the offense work. There isn't anyone else running the west coast offense who relies on the running game as much as Shanahan does.

For all Shanahan's success as a head coach, though -- the two Super Bowl titles and four division championships -- he is known, more than anything else, as an offensive innovator. Twice during his 14-year tenure in Denver, the Broncos led the league in total offense. Seven of those seasons his offenses ranked in the top three. And though the defining player from his career there is undoubtedly Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, Shanahan's offense -- the offense he will ostensibly bring to Washington, where the Redskins have ranked in the top three in total offense just once in the past 15 years -- is based on the premise that running the ball, and sticking with the run, is paramount to opening up anything else.

"He's going to run the football," said former coach Herman Edwards, who regularly competed against Shanahan during his stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets. "He's always had that ability. His style of football is that you pass to score, but you run to win. He lives by that philosophy."

Interestingly, Shanny uses multiple formations to confuse defenses, as Joe Gibbs did, but he favors smaller, quicker linemen, whereas Gibbs was known as the first head coach to insist on having a line of giants in front of his ball carriers.

Nine times in Shanahan's 14 seasons, the Broncos ranked in the top five in the NFL in rushing yards per game. In the early days, it was easy to see why. When Shanahan took over as the team's head coach in 1995, the Broncos selected running back Terrell Davis out of Georgia. Shanahan put him behind a line that included several players who would make multiple Pro Bowl appearances -- center Tom Nalen, guard Mark Schlereth, tackle Gary Zimmerman -- and went to work.

"He just kind of said, 'Keep it simple, stupid,' " said Schlereth, now an analyst with ESPN. "We were simple and we were consistent. I think one of the things that Mike was able to do was take essentially six or seven running plays and make it look like 36 or 37 running plays. He used different formations, different adjustments, motion.

It is now commonly thought in the NFL that you don't need to spend a first round pick on a running back because good ones can be found later in the draft and a strong running game does not depend on a guy who was a superstar in college. It wasn't always that way, though. At one time, the NFL rushing attacks were led by first round picks like Earl Campbell, Billy Sims, George Rogers, Thurman Thomas, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith and Eddie George. Then, in the mid-to-late 1990s, Mike Shanahan drafted Terrell Davis in the 6th round, put him behind a line of quick and undersized blockers and Davis quickly became the best running back in football, rushing for over 6400 yards in his first 4 years in the league. Injuries destroyed the rest of the Davis' career, but not before the Broncos had ridden to two Super Bowl championships on his back. Davis retired in 2001, but Shanahan continued to have one of the league's best rushing attacks with a rotating stable of running backs -- including Clinton Portis -- none of whom were taken earlier than the 2nd round and some much later than that. The identity of the running back seemed less important than the fact that he was running in Shanny's offense and behind Shanny's offensive line. If you were a running back in Denver, you had big yardage seasons.

What this means for the Redskins is that Shanny won't insist on giants along the offensive line [though he won't necessarily run off any giants who are already there and can learn his offense -- start studying Derrick Dockery]. It also means the Redskins are going to run the ball, which always makes offensive linemen happy. But who runs the ball isn't as important to Shanny as it is to other coaches. The job won't belong to Clinton Portis because he has a big name. Shanny will find a running back who understands his offense, can execute those one-cutback runs and comes to training camp in first class physical shape.

Since 1982, great Redskins teams have been teams that run the ball as well as anyone in the NFL. If Mike Shanahan returns Washington to football greatness, he will almost certainly do it by leaning on a few strong running backs -- maybe guys who haven't even heard of yet.

The Washington Post is reporting that Mike Shanahan may retain at least two current Redskins coaches, Sherman Smith and Stump Mitchell.  There really does not seem to be room for both, and both are likely being consdiered for running backs coach.

Meanwhile, the Bengals are preparing to enter into contract extension talks with current defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.  Thye have plenty of time now as well, since the NY Jets booted the Bengals from the playoffs today.  Zimmer was among the name frequently mentioned as possibilities to become the new defensive coordination in Washington under Shanahan.  However, we are not at this point going to remove Zimmer from our coaching table.

According to a source, the Washington Redskins are interested in hiring Zimmer to join new coach Mike Shanahan’s staff as defensive coordinator. If it becomes a bidding war, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has shown the willingness to pay what is needed. The Bengals tend not to spend excessively.

As we reported earlier in our constantly updated coaching staff post, the Redskins and Mike Shanahan had interest in interviewing current Denver Broncos coach Bobby Turner.  Turner is the current Denver Broncos runnings back coach and Shanahan likely wanted to interview Turner for the same position in Washington.  The Broncos have denied the Redskins the opportunity to interview Turner.  We will now delete Turner from the coaching table.

In a new wrinkle to the Shanahan staff, Football News reports that recently terminated Giants coach Mike Waufle will interview next week with the Redskins for Defensive Line coach. Waulfe's dismissal in New York was more of an overreaction from the Mara ownership on a disappointing 8-8 Giants season.

Check here for out latest Coaching staff rumors and conformations table tracker.

Discuss the Redskins coaching staff

This post, which will be updated as necessary, is devoted to giving you the latest rumors & reports about the Redskins coaching staff and front office moves.

UPDATE:  Redskins coaching staff is now complete.  The Redskins have hired former Redskins receiver Keenan McCardell as wide receivers coach. McCardell was drafted by the Redskins in the 12th round [326 overall] in 1991 and spent that Redskins Super Bowl season on injured reserve. He went on to play for Jacksonville, Cleveland, San Diego and Tampa Bay before finishing his career with the Redskins in 2007, when he caught 22 passes for 256 yards and a TD. For his career, McCardell had 883 catches for 11,373 yards and 63 TD. He had at least 1100 yards receiving in a season five times and made 3 Pro Bowls. McCardell cleverly went to Mobile this week where NFL coaches have gathered to scout the NFL Draft at the Senior Bowl. His decision was rewarded by Mike Shanahan's decision today to hire him as the new wide receivers coach of the Washington Redskins.

UPDATE: The Redskins reportedly will interview Ike Hilliard, former wide receiver for the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for the position of Wide Receivers Coach.

UPDATE:  The Washington Redskins will have new strength and conditioning staff.  Thge current staff has been let go.  [LINK]

UPDATE:  Jason LaCanfora reports on his Twitter that the Redskins are interested in former Redskins WR Keenan McCardell as wide receivers coach.

UPDATE:  The Redskins have hired Sean McVay as an Offensive Assistant.

UPDATE: The Redskins hired Bob Slowick to be the new Secondary Coach and Jacob Burney to be the defensive line coach today. That leaves only the wide receivers coach spot to be filled. [LINK]

UPDATE: Chris Foerster has been named the offensive line coach of the Washington Redskins. For a full profile of Foerster, read this new profile of him from DC Pro Sports Report.

UPDATE: John Embree, formerly at the University of Colorado, has been hired as the Redskins' new tight ends coach and Matt LaFleur, as earlier reported, has been hired as an offensive assistant. LaFleur is a Kyle Shanahan protege who worked in Houston with receivers in 2008 and quarterbacks in 2009. Two of Embree's players in college won the Jon Mackey award for best college tight end -- Daniel Graham and Marcedes Lewis. Embree coached future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez at Kansas City and was a top offensive assistant coach with UCLA. [LINK]

UPDATE: Special Teams Coach Danny Smith and Safeties Coach Steven Jackson will be retained by Mike Shanahan. Receivers Coach Stan Hixon, Defensive Line Coach John Palermo, Offensive Assistant Chris Meidt and TE Coach Steve Wachenheim will not be back with the Redskins in 2010. [LINK]