I am liking everything I am hearing from Ashburn about Jim Zorn. It would be easy to say that he is a wet-behind-the-ears rookie head coach whose almost-to-a-fault honesty can be compared to the aw-shucks naivete of Steve Spurrier.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no comparison. Steve Spurrier looked at the Redskins as a test lab for his mad scientist-like fun and gun, let the D-linemen and linebackers knock the crap out of Patrick Ramsey offense (I think Patrick Ramsey flinches every time he hears the name Spurrier). Spurrier might have been able to send five wideouts deep and run up the score on Vanderbilt but was in way over his head in the NFL and it showed.
On the other hand, Jim Zorn knows the National Football League. I grew up watching him (the one or two times we got Seahawk games in DC). He, Steve Largent and coach Jack Patera (brother of pro wrestler and Olympian Ken Patera) was all I knew about the Seattle Seahawks as a kid. He was a more than competent QB who became a more than competent QB coach that, last time I checked, help his QB (Matt Hasselbeck) get to the Super Bowl, somewhere that our Burgundy and Gold warriors haven't sniffed of since a Cyrus named Billy Ray, not Miley Ray, had a number one hit (remember Achy Breaky Heart?).
Jim Zorn's infectious, energetic attitude and wide open, West Coast offense has players energized. So what he's a first-year head coach? Everybody's gotta start somewhere and let's be honest, Bill Cowher ain't walking through that door today or tomorrow. Neither is Joe Gibbs (been there, done that).
We have to remember that when Joe Jackson Gibbs walked through the doors at the old Redskin Park in 1981, we all went, Joe Who? He was a not-so-well known outside of football circles offensive coordinator from the left-coast San Diego Chargers and before that had the keys to the high-powered St. Louis Cardinals (yes, youngsters, they were in St. Louis) offense known as Air Coryell. Jim Zorn had a profile when he walked in to the new Redskin Park as a player and a coach.
Maybe if the media back in 1981 had the in-depth coverage and analysis that it has in 2008, Joe Gibbs would have been more well-known by the DC faithful. Maybe if one of the cavalcade of coaches the Skins interviewed before promoting their OC to the head job had convinced Daniel Snyder that he was the man, this entry would be a moot point. And if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas. Jim Zorn is our coach so we owe him the benefit of the doubt and need to sit back and see how this thing pans out.
And don't judge him after the first, second or third preseason game. Heck, forget the preseason altogether. With all of the guys that will be going back to driving FedEx trucks after they get cut, the rhythm of the offense will be off and it will sputter worse than my old '91 Camaro that had fuel injector problems.
Wait until the season opener against the Giants to make your first judgment. And before you open your mouth, watch the Saints game, the Cardinals game and then the Cowboys game. Then on September 29th, you can call ESPN980 and either sing Zorn's praises or his requiem.
Jay-Z (Zorn), J-Cam (Jason Campbell), Native Dancer (Jason Taylor), The Mouth of the South (Fred Smoot), CP (Clinton Portis) and LL (LaRon Landry) along with the rest of the Asburn Mafia belongs to us, so let them play the hand that their dealt and let's sit back, save the hand ringing and enjoy the show.
So to you, Coach Zorn, in the words of your namesake's hit song, show me what you got.
