February 11, 2008
Everybody congratulate me, I’m the new head coach of the Redskins!
Oops. I meant Jim Zorn. But if its any consolation to me, and it is, I was in the running until this past weekend. Zorn signed a five-year contract Saturday, with club options for the fourth and fifth years, which could potentially keep him with the “Maroon and Black” (the most awesomely bad start to a head-coaching career, ever) until 2012. This Synder hire is the sixth head coach since 1999. Yes, its only 2008. Go and check your calendars…Go ahead, I’ll wait. I know what you’re saying, “Snyder hired a new head coach, he had to do it, after Gibbs left, so why do you think he’s a bad GM?” Well, honestly, this whole hiring process was done as backwards as humanly possible. Let’s review.
First off, Snyder went and hired all of the offensive and defensive coordinators, leaving the head coaching spot vacant while
he continued his search. Many think Snyder was holding the head coaching job open for Giants defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, and I agree. After interviewing with the ‘Skins last week, Spagnuolo turned down the job. Apparently, the joy of being a head coach was outweighed by the idea of having no control over your team or your coaches.
Secondly, its not like Spagnuolo was the only potential candidate for the job. In fact, there were actually candidates who would have been happy with the coaching staff Snyder had already hired, i.e. Steve Mariucci and Jim Fassel, with Fassel being all but named the new coach until this weekend. While many are continuing to speculate why Fassel didn’t get the job, I find it much more poignant to focus on why Zorn was given the job. To review: Zorn was hired as the offensive coordinator, some more qualified people were interviewed, they either weren’t chosen or backed out of the job, then Zorn got promoted. Let’s not forget that Zorn has 0 years experience as a coordinator, let alone head coaching experience. This would be like somebody graduating from college, getting a job at a major corporation as an analyst, then being chosen as CEO a few weeks later, because a suitable CEO replacement couldn’t be found. For everyone saying, “What about Andy Reid! He was a QB coach and was promoted straight to head coach in Philadelphia!” I say…do you think Jim Zorn was on the same level as Andy Reid? Do you honestly think that Zorn and not Mike Holmgren, was coaching Matt Hasselbeck? If you can honestly tell me that you think Zorn is on the same level as Reid in ’99, then you’ve probably already stopped reading, so I won’t have to worry about offending you.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if Zorn ends up being the greatest coach of all-time, the point is that Daniel Snyder is not a good owner. He’s a profitable owner, but not a good owner. He’s consistently shown that he’s nothing more than a VERY successful business man who happens to own a football team. But in terms of hiring players and coaches? Snyder has been laughable. He’s either chosen coaches who have no business being hired (Steve Spurrier) or he’s fired good coaches over control issues or without giving them enough time to be successful (Marty Schottenheimer). As far as players? I think Redskins fans are still waiting for that Brandon Lloyd to become a superstar and for Randle El to be worthy of his $30 some odd million dollar contract. Remember when Adam Archuleta came in to shore up the secondary? When they decided to wait on LeVar Arrington to see how he panned out? Since Snyder has been in control, the Redskins have made it a habit of overpaying mediocre free agents, in hopes of winning the Super Bowl that same year. Obviously, everybody wants to win the Super Bowl every year, but how realistic is that? It’s like being a seven year old owner.
So, welcome to the Redskins, Mr. Zorn. Enjoy your stay, that is until Snyder puts his blindfold back on and throws darts at a board to choose the next head coach.
4 comments
Redskin fan here, now I’m not going to argue that Snyder is in any way a good owner, or that this coaching search went smoothly or even with any semblence of a plan, but you are off on a few things here.
First of all, the Redskins have made the playoffs 2 of the past 3 seasons, more than a lot of teams including the respected Eagles. They aren’t some sort of laughing stock.
Secondly, they never offered the job to Spagnuolo, so he didn’t decline it. I’m not sure I get the point about Reid and Zorn either. You are basically saying that Reid gets the credit for being the QB coach of Favre under Holmgrem, while Zorn gets no credit for holding the same job under Holmgrem. They held the exact same position under the exact same coach, I don’t see much of a difference there.
Snyder is bad, but there are much worse out there. Bidwell in Arizona, the owner of the Clippers and other guys who are unwilling to even try to win. Snyder is misguided, but he’ll fork out the dollars to improve the team.
Interesting read.
I’ll answer in turn.
First, I never said the Redskins were a laughing stock, far from it actually. What I did say was that Snyder has made some extremely questionable moves during his tenure. For example, I’m from Pittsburgh, so I knew how good Randle El was, he was a glorified punt returner who could throw passes on a reverse. The Redskins gave him a $30 million dollar contract (or somewhere around there). My point is that, had a capable owner been involved, I think the Redskins would be in a better position than they are presently.
Fine, maybe they didn’t offer the job to Spagnuolo, but clearly he was the guy they were waiting on, and I guess technically he withdrew before they could even get to the point of offering him the job. The point about Reid is that some people, in response to a questioning Zorn’s abilities, are saying that Andy Reid was in the same position in 99, so it would be foolish to dismiss Zorn so quickly. When Reid was named head coach in 99, people weren’t so surprised that he was named head coach. They were saying he was already prepared, ready for the position etc. (example here: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-95678358.html). I might be mistaken, but I haven’t been hearing the same sort of stuff about Zorn, so yes, I think people, myself included are giving Reid more credit for shaping the QB that they were in charge of.
Finally, I never technically said Snyder was the worst owner out there, I just said he’s on a quest. The Ford’s, who own the Lions, are definitely worse than Snyder, for example. I just think that Snyder is constantly doing things to undermine what I think should be a more successful team. He’s reminiscent of the old Al Davis, except not as good at picking talent. (not as bad as the new senile Al Davis, but I do worry what will happen if he keeps a bunch of control and owns the team 30 years from now).
Being an Eagles fan and more focused on NFC East teams as a result, I have to say my opinion on Snyder is still mixed. I don’t think he’s been that bad of a owner but I do find some of the things that go on in Washington baffling. The replacement of Gibbs is one of them. I’m not sure how Gregg Williams went from being interviewed to being let go, and I surely can’t figure out how a guy went from being brought on board in a lesser capacity getting to run the show days later. I think I actually read he went home to change before returning to interview for the head job…why can’t you interview in the clothes you already had on? Maybe we in Philly aren’t getting the whole picture on our neighbors to the south, but we certainly do respect the fact they’ve been competitive the last couple of seasons trying to bring a new QB into the fold, overcoming Gibbs’ senior moments, etc. As for Snyder, let’s see what happens a couple of more seasons before rendering a final verdict.
As long as Tom Hicks is still alive.. Dan will NEVER be the worst owner in sports!!