As most of you have heard by now, the Jim Zorn era officially ended a little bit past 4 AM Monday morning when the coach was deported...I mean escorted by a security detail out of Redskins Park and into an SUV.
I have the utmost respect for Coach Zorn. The man is an outstanding coach of quarterbacks. I really think that Jason Campbell is a better passer from having worked with him. It goes without saying that the man deserved much better than what he got here in DC. His two years were marred by front office inefficiency, indecision, overspending, and lack of attention to one of, if not the most important aspect of the game of football: the offensive line. Unfortunately, Zorn will not have the luxury of working with one of the better GM's in the game, Bruce Allen (let that sink in for a moment...we actually have a GM!!!). Now, Allen had every right to fire Zorn, and quite frankly he should have. He needs to make his mark on the franchise, whether that's with Mike Shanahan or somebody else. Zorn was not his guy and he was well within his rights to can him.
Back to my commentary about Zorn. As most of us know, he wasn't originally supposed to be the head guy in the first place. After Coach Gibbs resigned, a fairly comical search for a head coach resulted in an OC (Zorn) and a DC (Greg Blache) in place without any head guy to oversee them, a highly unorthodox method of putting your staff together to say the least. What does this say though about coaching for the Redskins in the first place? I think that whole fiasco speaks volumes about the state of the franchise (of course now that Vinsanity is out of the picture...but anyway). Zorn was never in a position to succeed from the get go. He was a last-minute hire. Every other coaching vacancy was filled by the time he was hired, and Gibbs had tendered his resignation on the day after the regular season. As such, he virtually had no control over his staff. A coach needs to have the flexibility to pick his own people on both sides of the ball. All he had to work with basicially the leftovers from Gibbs's staff (since it was assumed, lest we forget, that Gregg Williams was the "heir apparent" who didn't get along with Sir Vinsanity...hmmmm). I hate to say it, but the jury's still out on the 3 amigos from the 2008 2nd round, although they have shown tremendous promise down the stretch this year, at least enough that I would bring them back in 2010. Obviously, Orakpo was a hit, even though the O-line was by far more of a "need" position.
After the 6-2 start in 2008, I'm sure the Danimal was patting himself on the back for such a "find," but all that did was delay the inevitable. Even during that run, there were signs things were about to fall apart. We never did break the 30 point barrier, we let the Lions hang around (this is their 0-16 season remember), and we lost to the Rams! Sure enough, things did fall apart and I was ready for Zorn to get canned after last year. Surprisingly (and in hindsight, unfortunately) Zorn was allowed to come back for 2009, and we all know how this season went. Seriously, how can you expect a guy to be an effective leader when you strip him of the one thing that he loved to do the most as a head coach (play-call) and give it to a guy who 5 days earlier was calling I-28!??!?! Zorn would've been more than justified if he had just decided to walk after that decision was made. Nevertheless, he scored points in my, and just about every other Skins fan's book when he decided he would stick around for the long haul and force Danimal to pay him that 2 mil he is owed for 2010. Despite the front office's best efforts, Jim Zorn would not lose his dignity and has to be saluted for that. For more, read the ESPN NFC East blog entry by Matt Mosely on this topic (I think it hits the nail on the head).
In summary, I (and I'm sure all Redskins fans would agree) wish Jim Zorn all the best and I hope he hooks on with another team somewhere. He got a raw deal from the start and was never given a legitimate chance to succeed. I think a great place for him would be Cleveland (as quarterback coach, or even OC). He's got Mike Holmgren back and a couple of projects in Quinn and Anderson. He is a great coach of quarterbacks, and could still someday elevate himself to a respectable head coach. Unfortunately, due to the knuckleheads that run the Washington Redskins, he never did get that chance here.
Hail.
I have the utmost respect for Coach Zorn. The man is an outstanding coach of quarterbacks. I really think that Jason Campbell is a better passer from having worked with him. It goes without saying that the man deserved much better than what he got here in DC. His two years were marred by front office inefficiency, indecision, overspending, and lack of attention to one of, if not the most important aspect of the game of football: the offensive line. Unfortunately, Zorn will not have the luxury of working with one of the better GM's in the game, Bruce Allen (let that sink in for a moment...we actually have a GM!!!). Now, Allen had every right to fire Zorn, and quite frankly he should have. He needs to make his mark on the franchise, whether that's with Mike Shanahan or somebody else. Zorn was not his guy and he was well within his rights to can him.
Back to my commentary about Zorn. As most of us know, he wasn't originally supposed to be the head guy in the first place. After Coach Gibbs resigned, a fairly comical search for a head coach resulted in an OC (Zorn) and a DC (Greg Blache) in place without any head guy to oversee them, a highly unorthodox method of putting your staff together to say the least. What does this say though about coaching for the Redskins in the first place? I think that whole fiasco speaks volumes about the state of the franchise (of course now that Vinsanity is out of the picture...but anyway). Zorn was never in a position to succeed from the get go. He was a last-minute hire. Every other coaching vacancy was filled by the time he was hired, and Gibbs had tendered his resignation on the day after the regular season. As such, he virtually had no control over his staff. A coach needs to have the flexibility to pick his own people on both sides of the ball. All he had to work with basicially the leftovers from Gibbs's staff (since it was assumed, lest we forget, that Gregg Williams was the "heir apparent" who didn't get along with Sir Vinsanity...hmmmm). I hate to say it, but the jury's still out on the 3 amigos from the 2008 2nd round, although they have shown tremendous promise down the stretch this year, at least enough that I would bring them back in 2010. Obviously, Orakpo was a hit, even though the O-line was by far more of a "need" position.
After the 6-2 start in 2008, I'm sure the Danimal was patting himself on the back for such a "find," but all that did was delay the inevitable. Even during that run, there were signs things were about to fall apart. We never did break the 30 point barrier, we let the Lions hang around (this is their 0-16 season remember), and we lost to the Rams! Sure enough, things did fall apart and I was ready for Zorn to get canned after last year. Surprisingly (and in hindsight, unfortunately) Zorn was allowed to come back for 2009, and we all know how this season went. Seriously, how can you expect a guy to be an effective leader when you strip him of the one thing that he loved to do the most as a head coach (play-call) and give it to a guy who 5 days earlier was calling I-28!??!?! Zorn would've been more than justified if he had just decided to walk after that decision was made. Nevertheless, he scored points in my, and just about every other Skins fan's book when he decided he would stick around for the long haul and force Danimal to pay him that 2 mil he is owed for 2010. Despite the front office's best efforts, Jim Zorn would not lose his dignity and has to be saluted for that. For more, read the ESPN NFC East blog entry by Matt Mosely on this topic (I think it hits the nail on the head).
In summary, I (and I'm sure all Redskins fans would agree) wish Jim Zorn all the best and I hope he hooks on with another team somewhere. He got a raw deal from the start and was never given a legitimate chance to succeed. I think a great place for him would be Cleveland (as quarterback coach, or even OC). He's got Mike Holmgren back and a couple of projects in Quinn and Anderson. He is a great coach of quarterbacks, and could still someday elevate himself to a respectable head coach. Unfortunately, due to the knuckleheads that run the Washington Redskins, he never did get that chance here.
Hail.
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