After Jim Zorn’s first press conference, more than a few media members offered a dire prediction: his reign would be a disaster. I remember more than a few 3-13 predictions. It wasn’t just the maroon-and-black comments, it was a feeling of the way he carried the room. It was not the same as, say, a Joe Gibbs or a Marty Schottenheimer. Steve Spurrier appeared clueless in his first presser, but at least he had a strong resume. Zorn went from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator to head coach in a matter of weeks.
But the more we talked to Zorn, the more you thought, “Maybe.” He was honest and refreshing — one player called him a refreshing change — and you could see certain qualities. But that honesty became a bit much and it caused some bad feelings with certain players. Also, Zorn had a penchant for blaming the player and not the play. Whether he believed it or not, Gibbs used to always blame himself. It became ridiculous at times, but he always put it on himself. It wasn’t until late last season that Zorn started to blame himself for certain things that had gone wrong.
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And it was clear this season that the Redskins wanted to limit what he could say. His Monday press conferences, for example, were routinely half of what they had been last year — and were the shortest, by far, of any coach since 1994, when I started covering the Redskins.
In the end, though, it was about wins and losses. And Mike Shanahan. When they pursued Jay Cutler last year, I’d heard from one GM that if they got Cutler, it was a package deal and that Shanahan would come shortly thereafter. But they failed to land the ex-Denver quarterback. Still, one NFL source told The Examiner’s Rick Snider in June that Shanahan would be the next coach.
Anyway, here’s a few reasons why Zorn did not succeed here:
Lack of authority » One complaint among players, those not considered to be stars, was the ability for certain teammates to head directly to Dan Snyder’s office with complaints. The main player? Clinton Portis. In his teammates’ eyes, he showed up to camp out of shape and could say, or do, most anything. One player called Portis his “worst teammate ever.” Zorn lacked the authority to punish him. When players rip coaches, as Portis and Albert Haynesworth both did in his tenure, without consequence that’s a bad thing. The only coach who had proper authority under Snyder was Joe Gibbs. Other coaches were undone by players who aired grievances to the owner.
Offense » Zorn was hired because he was an offensive-minded coach with a reputation for developing quarterbacks. He also favored the West Coast offense, which the front office liked. In his first eight games, Zorn’s offense scored at least 23 points six times. But injuries soon hit, the schedule got tougher and they surpassed that figure once in the next eight games. Before this season, it was widely known that Zorn’s offense must show improvement for him to continue. But in the first six games, they scored a combined 79 points and never surpassed 17. He was relieved of play-calling duties and, coincidence or not, the offense scored at least 24 points four times in the next seven games.
The personnel » This was a big one, especially along the offensive line. Despite having an aging line, with key veterans having injury concerns, the Redskins failed to add quality backups. In fact, their solution was to think a once underachieving right tackle who had been out of the league for three seasons (Mike Williams) could start. Imagine someone trying to sell that to, say, Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick. Not one of their backups at season’s start appeared in a game for them last season. This was a gross error, one that was evident in training camp. When Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas were hurt and lost for the season, the slide began. The offense had to be tweaked to compensate for a line that could not sustain blocks. Even when the offense improved, it was in spite of the line, not because of it. Portis, being out of shape, lacked any sort of burst and was eventually lost for the season with a concussion. All totaled, they started six different right guards and four different running backs.
