I'm Feeling Zorny!
by Chris Brophy
10/2/2008
 
Over recent weeks, since the (second) retirement of Joe Gibbs, I've sat at my laptop night after night trying to find whispers, rumours and any official news on who will be the new Head Coach of the Washington Redskins. A few false dawns came and went - Jim Fassel a few weeks back, then Steve Spagnuolo after the Super Bowl before bouncing back to Fassel. It seemed Fassel was all but a done deal once Spagnuolo decided to remain with the Giants but as time drifted on as the news on Spagnuolo broke, it became clear Redskins Owner Dan Snyder was preparing to throw a curve ball.
 
And what a curve ball! It went right out of the stadium before the batter could even swing and miss! Not one media pundit and I think I can confidently say, not one Redskins fan, had any idea Jim Zorn was on the radar.
 
But what has prompted this? Is it all part of a cunning plan (Vinny Cerrato plays Baldrick here you understand) that has finally come off or is it just a desperation move? It'll be spun as the former. It stinks of the latter. The truth might just be somewhere in between.
 
Over the course of the Redskins process to find a new coach, it's clear they would take their time. It's also clear that as keen as Snyder was on Jim Fassel, he clearly got the vibe from the fan base that it was going to be an extremely hard sell. Fassel for his part, might have been his own undoing. He suggested Zorn as part of the staff he would like to make up so Snyder goes and finds out about him, speaks to him and hires him! Now, after two weeks of running the offense, Zorn has gotten the fastest promotion ever. Well, credit where credit is due, I've seen no bad plays from the Redskins offense in that time!
 
The biggest surprise in all this is it is so not Snyder to go for the unknown - big names, flash and splash - that's the usual Snyder way but maybe that way has led to this, looking for a coach when most coaches wouldn't touch the Redskins with someone else's bargepole. Backed into a corner between the coach no one wants and the coach no one knows, Snyder has decided to take a chance because he knows that if it comes off, he looks (to quote Joe Gibbs) super smart and if he dies on his feet, he at least tried to go in a different direction knowing the other option was something his paying public were totally against.
 
With Zorn effectively jumping straight from being a position coach to a Head Coach, comparisons will be made with the likes of Andy Reid, who comes from the same coaching tree and made the same jump. The vital difference though is that Reid jumped into a situation with a quality front office. Zorn has jumped into a situation where Blackadder and Baldrick fumble their way through things in a yearly repeated comedy scene (the problem being, of course, that they don't intend to be funny). He's also come into a situation where he is effectively taking over Joe Gibbs old staff minus the co-ordinators. Will they adapt to his way of doing things quickly enough? How will the players, who strongly endorsed former Assistant Head Coach/Defence Gregg Williams, feel about this? None of that should matter because change is part of the NFL but it will matter just because it is human nature to be cautious about change and whilst most will move on with Zorn, it will likely upset a few who might feel change effects them the wrong way.
 
The other main question I find repeating in my head is how much influence Zorn will get in shaping the roster. Part of what has gotten him the job has surely being the feeling he can help young Quarterback Jason Campbell but will he try to influence Snyder into acquiring as many former Seahawks as possible or will Snyder throw big names like Chad Johnson at Zorn and tell him to "entertain me (and the Redskins fans)".
 
What I have read of Zorn as a coach is pretty positive. He seems to come from a different direction and be open to new ideas. What he has to do now is show he can communicate his ideas over a whole roster and a full coaching staff rather than just a select group of players from one area of the team. It's a big ask, maybe too big. If he fails, the foundations laid by Joe Gibbs and the steadying the ship effect he eventually brought will all be washed down the plug hole in an instant and the Redskins next coaching search might have to move to Assistant Head Coaches at the High School level because Snyder will have put off any NFL calibre coach by then. As someone who was firmly against a retread coach (especially Fassel) though, I can firmly say as I finish writing this and prepare to go to bed that I'm feeling Zorny! How long feeling that way will last is anyone's guess (who said about 5 seconds!!??).