Dan Snyder has taken his time and interviewed several head coaching hopefuls for the position left vacant by Joe Gibbs. In the duration of a month, names such as Jim Fassel, Steve Mariucci, Ron Meeks, Jim Schwartz, Steve Spagnuolo and a handful of others emerged. The decision was made over the weekend, and none of the leading candidates were offered to lead the Skins. Instead, recently hired offensive coordinator and ex quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks was offered the job.  

Jim Zorn, the former Seahawks quarterback from 1976 to 1982 and Seattle’s quarterbacks coach the past seven years was brought to Washington two weeks ago to run the Redskins offense and work with quarterback Jason Campbell. While preparing for the adjustment to Washington, Zorn stood by while Snyder interviewed candidate after candidate, and after Steve Spagnuolo dropped out of the coaching race, Snyder decided to interview Zorn for the position. A short time later he was asked to lead the franchise.

The hire was an unconventional hire for Snyder in the sense that he is known for making the “big splash.” He likes the big names and he signs the big checks and Zorn does not fit the bill. He was a quarterbacks coach with no professional coordinator experience and no head coaching experience. He was not on many people’s radar, to say the least.

 “We’re proud that our search was diligent, thorough, and resulted in today’s announcement,” Snyder said. “Jim’s track record and reputation as a player, great teacher, and as a coach makes us confident that they will translate to success for the Redskins.” 

Zorn, whose fat new contract is for five years and approximately $15 million, will now need to find someone to replace him at offensive coordinator. It is assumed that Zorn will install a version of the West Coast offense, and with most of his assistant coaches already in place, he’ll have to make them adapt to his style.

I was excited when Zorn was hired as the offensive coordinator because of his success with Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle. He shaped and molded Hasselbeck and seemed to be on track to do the same with Jason Campbell. As the head coach he will need to put coaches in place to do this, and he will not be able to spend as much time with Campbell as hoped. A head coach is more of a CEO of the organization and will not be able to spend as much one on one time with the players as he did as a quarterbacks coach.

Zorn will also not be a quick fix. The playbooks and personnel will most likely be altered slightly, and this next season will be a transitional one. If Snyder can be patient and give the system time to work, good things could happen. If not, the Redskins might be in this position again shortly.

As far as the hire is concerned, if it was not Gregg Williams, the franchise would be headed in a different direction, and the question is; what direction will that be? The verdict is still out on the quality of this hire, but Zorn seems to be a reputable coach with many great coaches in place under him. Snyder took his time and deviated from his typical head coaching hires. Along with being excited for the possibility of Zorn molding Campbell, I feel good about this hire and believe that this could be a move in the right direction.

Will he be the next Joe Gibbs, or will he wind up being just another on the carousel of coaches that we’ve seen since Snyder took over the team in 1999? It won’t take long to find out.

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