Redskins Prez Bruce Allen On McCloughan

With one month to go until the NFL Draft, the Redskins are without a general manager and they will wait until after the draft’s conclusion to fill the vacancy. After a drama-filled offseason which saw Scot McCloughan ousted for alleged issues with alcohol, team president Bruce Allen spoke publicly for the very first time this week when he sat down with Liz Clarke of The Washington Post. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from their chat:

On firing McCloughan:

I thought it was the right thing to do for where we were at the time. We wanted to give clarity to our free agents and to our staff of where we were going. For Scot, it was good timing because it allows him to be hired by anyone right now before this draft…I enjoyed working with [Scot’s father and brother] and the success we had in Oakland. Obviously that’s what I envisioned when I brought Scot to the Redskins. So, yes, I’m disappointed it didn’t work out. I hope it works out for him in the future. My responsibility is to the Redskins and the organization and the scouts and the players on this team.

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On reports that McCloughan’s dismissal was driven by the jealousy of Allen and others in the organization:

Scot and I had a wonderful relationship. I do like him as a person. And I wanted him to do great. And it just didn’t work out.

On Daniel Snyder’s decision to give an extension to coach Jay Gruden:

[Gruden] has established himself as a good leader for our team. Our players have responded well to him. His honesty and his directness and his sense of humor have taken us through some speed bumps in the season. His ability to creatively come up with new ways to attack a defense is something that we’re very fortunate to have.