1. He was the best person I’ve dealt with in that position in pro sports » It’s really not even close. It wasn’t just because Zorn was accommodating, but he was a genuinely good person who, even late in the season when he could have been self-absorbed about his own situation, would seem interested in others’ plights. He approached the Washington Times beat writers and expressed his concern. It’s doubtful many coaches who were about to be fired would do such a thing. Zorn has a zest for life and trying new things, which is why I don’t worry what this will do to him. He looks at life as an adventure and this one ended after two years. But he had his shot, he walks away with a few million, and probably land another job. Life could be a lot worse.
2. The scene I have a hard time getting rid of occurred after the home loss to Kansas City » It was a tough press conference, one that included Zorn being asked if he feared for his job. At that point, you knew he was on the hot seat. Sure enough, later in the night, we learned that he had been stripped of his play-calling duties. Anyway, as we left the room, I saw Zorn walk out with his teenage son who had been in the room. At that point, he was not the head coach; he was someone’s dad. A good one at that. It had to hurt his son to hear his dad come under fire. But, knowing Zorn, my guess is that he turned it into a learning situation, showing his son how to handle the heat. Indeed, it never beat him. Zorn remained the same until the end.
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3. I’m not sure what sort of job he’ll get next in the NFL » Would it be as an offensive coordinator? That’s hard to imagine considering, for whatever reasons, he did not succeed as the play-caller. He could return to being a quarterbacks coach and be a good one and maybe in a couple years get another shot as an OC. I could also see him being an excellent college coach, but my hunch is that he wants to remain in the NFL.
4. I liked his honesty » In his first season, he criticized the rookie receivers for not being in better shape; he jabbed at Shawn Springs for missing the OTA’s and he’d tell you why a play didn’t work. But that honesty worked against him, too. It took him a while to learn you had to point fingers at yourself sometimes. And I was surprised how he handled two things: Jon Jansen’s benching and Clinton Portis’ removal from the Ravens’ game. First, Jansen was not informed that his job was even in jeopardy until he was contacted by the media after Zorn said it in a press conference. And Portis was confused why he did not play more in that loss in Baltimore last year. Zorn could have cleared that up the next day – his reasons were fine – but he did not. So Portis, still ticked off, spouted off on his Tuesday radio show. He should have been fined by the team for what he said, mocking Zorn at times, but, because he had almost a free reign in that place, he was not. Still, with Portis, you had to anticipate problems and nip them; Zorn did not do this. Is that a pain to do? Yes. But it’s what you have to do.
5. I’ll also remember doing things, like talking football, with Zorn after a practice » Once, I wanted to know why Santana Moss could not be freed from double teams. Zorn then showed me how difficult it could be, lining up in different positions and then saying if Moss does this, this is how the defense reacts in a certain coverage. Wasn’t as easy as many made it seem. That’s when the job is a lot of fun.
