Most, if not, every team in the NFL has various studio shows for local affiliates. It may be with the head coach, or the quarterback, or the team captain and they break down some game film from the last game and preview their upcoming game. It’s usually pretty painless and since the team is typically involved, it shouldn’t result in hard hitting questions if things haven’t been going well.
For the Washington Redskins, head coach Jay Gruden takes part in the Redskins Coaches Show with Jay Gruden along with former tight end Chris Cooley and “Voice of the Redskins” and team Chief Content Officer Larry Michael. On this show, an unfortunately titled segment really took on another meaning throughout the season.
At the start of this season, the name “Bob’s Discount Furniture Store Hot Seat Challenge” seemed rather innocuous. Gruden and the Redskins may have taken a couple losses but they started the season 5-2 and were well on their way to a possible division title. It wasn’t until the Texans game where Alex Smith broke his leg when Washington’s season turned for the worse, losing four straight and currently sit at 7-7. Now with Gruden’s job being on the line, that “hot seat” brings on a different meaning. As noted in this compilation video from Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, just look and see when things take a turn.
Every week on Jay Gruden's show he is given the "Bob's Discount Furniture Hot Seat Challenge." See if you can tell at what point in the season they started second-guessing this segment… pic.twitter.com/fs1a8HPKFF
— michael phillips (@michaelpinRVA) December 22, 2018
I’m going to give credit to Gruden for keeping his sense of humor throughout the season because this situation gets pretty awkward as the season goes on. Gruden could have made it even more awkward but he knows the situation and he knows we know the situation so you may as well have fun with that while you can.