Former Washington Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan has been fairly quiet since he was ousted from the role, and he continues to take the high road in his first full interview since leaving the organization.
Speaking to Liz Clarke of the Washington Post, McCloughan defended his tenure as GM, but refused to throw the organization — particularly president Bruce Allen — under the bus for how he was treated.
“I know who I am and what I did there,” McCloughan said of his Washington tenure. “Did I build a Super Bowl champion? No. But I did a good job, along with other people there, of making the roster better. I did a good job, with [head coach] Jay [Gruden], in making the quarterback change [to Kirk Cousins].”
McCloughan confirmed that he had filed a grievance with the NFL over the fact that he was fired for cause and is seeking the remaining money he was owed. Still, he refused to say anything bad about Allen.
“I don’t want to take shots at Bruce. It just didn’t work out,” McCloughan said. “I helped the organization to back-to-back winning seasons. I’m not saying we were great, but we had a chance to go to the playoffs back-to-back seasons.
“He let me do my job. He did what he thought was right. I did what I thought was right. If I was successful, that’s great. If I wasn’t, he has the right to fire me. Coaches, scouts, GMs get fired every year. It’s part of the business.”
Given that McCloughan was the victim of what some believe was an Allen-led smear campaign — the explanations for some of the false rumors that came out were quite vague and unconvincing — you have to tip your cap to McCloughan for taking the high road. It would have been quite easy for him not to given the circumstances.
