In a world where there are so many legitimate reasons to slam Redskins owner Dan Snyder, why are all the commentators groping for a weak one? Of course, I’m referring to the outcry over how he has handled hiring a replacement for Team God Joe Gibbs. I have trouble finding any columnist, any fan, who’ll stand up and defend the owner for doing what he’s doing.

And that’s a damn thorough job of interviewing candidates for an important position. For weeks, several promising head coach candidates have been rotating in and out of Redskins Park. I guess former defensive guru Gregg Williams had four interviews, former Giants head coach Jim Fassel has had several, Ron Meeks is at a similar frequency, and there are others too.

Can someone please tell me what’s wrong with working your ass off in the interview process, hashing it out with every decent candidate possible? According to the Washington Post, the ‘Skins appear interested in extending the search beyond the Feb. 3 Super Bowl. There are probably plenty of assholes out there who have a problem with that. Oh, they’re not going to be ready for the draft, or somesuch.

There are probably some nincompoops, too, who feel that the Skins’ recent moves to lock up a D coordinator and and O coordinator were stupid moves, considering that, hey, they haven’t even hired a head coach yet. Well, here’s a preemptive strike against any such moron: Snyder knows that head coaches are cronyists: They’ll hire who they know, no matter how good or bad they are. Coaches just want their buddies sitting alongside them in the film room as they all chew tobacco.

It’s about time that someone put the merit back in the hiring process. Thank you, Dan Snyder. (And that’s sincere.)

And one more thought: Over the weekend, the Post‘s Mike Wise advanced the laughable argument that Williams should have been retained or treated better because he was the team’s strongest link to the Sean Taylor tragedy. Here’s what Wise wrote:

For everyone other than Snyder, this job search hasn’t been about Gibbs at all. It’s been about Taylor and how the team and coaches banded together to reach the playoffs without him. The healing was still progressing when Gibbs suddenly left. Williams was seen as the one link that could keep the chain of emotional recovery together.

Yes, the Taylor episode was and is an emotional hell. But I’m sorry: The search for a head coach is about moving on. If Williams was the best candidate to coach the Redskins for the next decade or so, then he should’ve been picked. If not, not.

I love the way the punditry says Williams got sandbagged, mistreated, etc., etc. Wise finds it outrageous that no one from the Redskins called Williams for more than a week after his last interview. Jeez, what a white-collar felony! Wake up—the guy got four bites at the apple. Don’t you think there’s a chance he said some stupid stuff in those sessions?