Skins fire Zorn early, could strike deal with Shanahan on Tuesday
ASHBURN – One worst-kept secret ended in the morning, when Jim Zorn was fired before dawn. The other ended later in the day, when Mike Shanahan arrived at Dulles International Airport before sunset.
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As of last night, the deal had not yet been announced. Shanahan arrived on Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s plane — and has been talking with Washington for some time. There’s no doubt he is Washington’s top candidate and that a deal could be struck by Tuesday.
One NFL source said last week that his agent called Chicago about its possible interest, but was told there wasn’t any. Houston will keep coach Gary Kubiak, removing another possible destination.
Shanahan was scheduled to meet with Snyder and executive vice president/general manager Bruce Allen into Monday night.
Shanahan, who won two Super Bowls with Denver, would be the seventh coach in 11 seasons under Snyder. He’s known as an offensive whiz. During his 14 seasons in Denver (1995-2008), the Broncos led the NFL in yards gained, were first in rushing and were third in points scored. His son, Kyle, is expected to join him as the offensive coordinator if and when he’s hired. Kubiak told reporters he expects to lose Kyle Shanahan to Washington.
Allen declined to say whether or not he had interviewed Shanahan or that he would be introduced as the head coach. However, multiple outlets saw Shanahan exit Snyder’s plane at Dulles and get into the owner’s personal limo.
One source close to Bill Cowher said the ex-Pittsburgh coach spoke with Allen in the morning, but came away convinced the job was Shanahan’s.
“It’s real clear that we’re going to be aggressive,” Allen said.
It’s uncertain if any of the current assistant coaches will be retained. Or if they’ll re-interview secondary coach Jerry Gray. He already interviewed for the position during the season and NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in-season interviews would count toward the Rooney Rule compliance. John Wooten, the chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance — which monitors minority coaching interviews to help the league — said he would like Gray to interview with Allen, who joined the Redskins after Gray’s first meeting.
The players know what they want.
“I hope it’s someone who is a strong leader,” Redskins center Casey Rabach said, “that guys are willing to follow that has discipline. Not so much an iron fist, but who lets everyone know their role on this team. That would be something really good for this team. It’s something we’ve struggled with quite a bit, knowing your role and knowing the chain of command.”
Redskins corners DeAngelo Hall and Fred Smoot both received rave reviews about Shanahan from ex-Redskin, and current Broncos corner, Champ Bailey.
“I think a lot of people are kind of hoping it’s him,” Hall said.
Zorn’s firing had been expected since early in the season, especially when he was stripped of play-calling duties before the Oct. 26 game vs. Philadelphia. In two seasons, he went 12-20 and lost 18 of his last 24 games. The offensive-minded coach could not produce offensively; Washington ranked 22nd in offense this season and 19th in 2008.
“Coach Zorn was a different guy,” Redskins running back Rock Cartwright said. “He gave everything he had and I definitely appreciated that. He was a good guy. We’ll miss his personality. But it’s, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ and we didn’t get the job done when he was here.”
