Jay Gruden, who spent the past three years as offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, was named on Thursday as the new coach of the National Football League’s Washington Redskins.
Gruden replaced Mike Shanahan, who was fired one day after the Redskins completed a disastrous 3-13 season, dropping their final eight games of the campaign.
“I look forward to the challenge,” Gruden said of his first NFL head coaching post. “I don’t know what happened last year [in Washington] and I don’t care what happened last year. I am only concerned about the future.”
The Redskins went 24-40 under Shanahan, winning an NFC East division title in 2012 but flopping badly this past season despite some moments of success for run-pass double threat Robert Griffin III at quarterback.
Gruden has worked well with Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and Cincinnati have reached the NFL play-offs the past three seasons, although they were eliminated from the Super Bowl hunt last Sunday by the San Diego Chargers.
“We were looking for a leader, someone who could lead this team,” Redskins general manager Bruce Allen said. “Fortunately for us the Chargers beat the Bengals and we were able to bring Jay in.”